I don't know you but I love you and you're brave and you would have protested the Vietnam War and ended it that's this is a modern equivalent to that so thank you all got you on a holiday you should be at a beach and you're here on a corner no way no way would wouldn't want to be anywhere else ah can you win a trial with a kiss a kiss is an acronym for keep it simple stupid in 1960 a naval engineer wanted designs for repairing warplanes to be simple because in combat conditions you do not have time to be messing about with complicated instructions they needed it to be simple and what's the first thing you do if you buy something that needs to be put together if the instructions are complicated what do you do you might start to read them and then after a few hours you toss them aside and figure it out logically can you relate hello legal minded friends I'm Karen Cole and we will find out how this kiss concept plays a role when a jury is deciding a verdict on a case in just a bit but first some of you following the Karen Reed case probably know Karen Reed is accused of being criminally responsible for the death of her boyfriend officer John O'Keefe check out my playlist for a catchup after a very long 9we trial and 5 days of jury deliberations the jury failed to return a verdict so the judge declared a misrial and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts said they intend to retry Karen Reed and the judge has scheduled a retrial date to start on the 27th of January 2025 so when they say intend that doesn't mean that they will will have to see if that happens now I've seen some chatter on the internet that a retrial normally favors the prosecution meaning that they normally win and ultimately the defendant is found guilty but is that a given so I thought it would be interesting to follow a few trials that ended with a mistrial and see how their outcomes turned out after being retried some of the cases you may have heard of and some maybe didn't get so much media coverage so let's get started the first trial up is Andrew Mitchell from Columbus Ohio he was a police officer accused of killing a woman after she according to him turned violent when he was arresting her let's have have a listen to the news you're hearing from the family of Donna Castleberry after a mistrial was declared in the case related to her death former Columbus Police Officer Andrew Mitchell shot and killed Castleberry back in 2018 at the time he was working as an undercover officer he says he acted in self-defense after 2 and a half days of deliberations jurors told the judge that they were deadlocked well yesterday afternoon jurors told the judge at the time that they were at an impass with seven St Andrew Mitchell's actions were were reasonable two say it was unreasonable and three were undecided so earlier this afternoon the jurors once again told the judge they couldn't decide he gave them additional instructions to continue and about an hour later they came back and told the judge they could not come to a unanimous decision this has been an incredibly difficult couple of weeks on both families who have S through hours of testimony and video and audio EV evidence we're proud of the job that the prosecution did uh trying this case and as family we're disappointed in the outcome yeah again they're disappointed but they respect the process they know that those jurors tried the best that they could and they have faith in the system so the defense says they plan on the case being retried MIT crisp 10TV news Lacy thank you so what do you think happened at his retrial do you think he was found guilty or not guilty well let's find out uh the first verdict uh state of Ohio versus Andrew Kirk Michael case number 19 cr1 1662 we the jury Upon Our oath and law and evidence in this case find the defendant not guilty of murder as charged and count one of the indictment signed this 18th day of April 2023 by each and every juror second verdict state of Ohio uh versus Andrew Kirk Mitchell uh 19 cr1 166 two we the jury Upon Our Oaths and law and evidence in this case find the defendant not guilty of voluntary manslaughter as charged and count two of the indictment signed this 18th day of April 2023 by each and every juror do you guys want the jury pulled no all right ladies and gentlemen thank you on behalf of the community on behalf of the court and on behalf of the parties thank you so much for being responsible citizens and coming down here you are now discharged from all admonitions and instructions thank you again so the next case up is darkus Allen it's very interesting and uh let's just have a listen prosecutors say Allen drove Clemens to and from a coffee shop where Clemens murdered the officers Clemens a felon entered the shop and shot and killed Lakewood Police Sergeant Mark rener officer Greg Richards officer Tina Griswald and officer Ronald Owens as they prepped for a Sunday morning shift on November 29th 2009 Allan has said he did not know what Clemens was going to do and didn't know what what occurred inside the coffee shop until they were driving away his first trial ended in a mistrial in 2015 when a judge declared there were flaws in a trial so what do you think happened in his second trial a judge has declared a second mistrial against darkus Allen Allen was the getaway driver for the man who killed four Lakewood officers in a coffee shop this was in 200 9 Fox 13's Dan Griffin is in The Newsroom with what happened in that courtroom and what we can expect to happen next Dan hey good morning to you yes so jurors deliberated for more than 6 days and could not make a decision when it came to murder charges against darkus Allen yesterday the case ended with a hung jury and a mistrial hardly the result either side wanted to see disappointed uh there are a lot of people in the law enforcement Community especially that uh cared about this case was disappointing um because we've always believed that he's innocent we do have to respect the jury's decisions and they work very hard they just couldn't come up with a solution so we'll have to do it again for now Allan remains in the Pierce County Jail the Lakewood Police Union tells Fox 13 news they are disappointed with the outcome of the case they are encouraged that yet another retrial is expected to start in January and as for the next court date that's even sooner a hearing is set for December 16th to determine an ex back date for the new trial live in The Newsroom Dan Griffin Fox 13 news so in his second trial the jury still could not deliver a verdict and did you know that the government can keep retrying a defendant as many times as they want so what do you think is the third time a charm for the defendant or the prosecutor well let's find out because this is um something that happens in a lot of Trials and you'll find out why in a minute the man accused of being the getaway driver after four Lakewood police officers were shot and killed at a coffee shop in 2009 has pleaded guilty darkus Allen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder the Pierce County prosecutor's office says he will soon be released after 13 years in custody so after so many years in 2023 instead of going to trial he decided to plead guilty he had been in custody for so long that he thought it's not worth going through another trial so he pled guilty and of course they gave him time served so that's another outcome that sometimes happens defendants you know just can't go through it anymore next up is Ryan whir in Cincinnati he was accused of drowning his wife in the bathtub let's have a listen to the outcome of his first trial Ryan Whitmer Sarah Stewart two young professionals brought together on a blind date soon after Ryan and Sarah bought a house in Hamilton Township wedding invitations followed he was just as happy as I I mean happier than I've ever seen him with with her in April of 2008 the two said their I dos they had everything to live for then just 114 days after they vowed till death do us part that day came that she hadn't been feeling well all day and um she decided that um she would go up to take a bath eight months after Sarah's death the trial by that time for reasons they wouldn't discuss support from Sarah's family had faded the circumstantial evidence included a sleep expert who said it was impossible to fall asleep in a bathtub and drowned friends say Sarah would fall asleep all the time at family functions during her lunch breaks and even Bengals games the defense argued Sarah may have had an underlying health condition bruises on her scalp and neck resuscitation efforts the defense says as for Sarah's wet head and dry body the body Ryan's attorney says dries quicker than hair but could it have dried in the 6 and A2 minutes between the 911 call and the time police arrived after 23 hours of deliberations jurors reached a verdict verdict on count one aggravated murder we the jury in this case duly impanel and sworn an affirmed find the defendant Ryan K Whitmer is not guilty of aggravated murder at first relief from Ryan's supporters but it didn't last we the jury in this case duly impanel and sworn and affirmed finded the defendant Ryan K Whitmer is guilty of the Lesser included offensive murder I love my wife I did not hurt her I was never given a chance the day after she passes away they charge me with murder Ryan Whitmer was sentenced to 15 years to life then a Twist a juror notified the defense that other jurors conducted home experiments to see how long it took a body to dry four months after Ryan's conviction the judge ruled Ryan deserved a new trial citing juror misconduct now Ryan will be retried with a new defense team jury selection is scheduled to get underway on Monday the not guilty verdict on the aggravated murder charge still stands and prosecutors can only retry him on one count of murder Karen Johnson News 5 so what happened in this second trial let's have a listen because I think there are some similarities with the Karen Reed case just in the last two or three minutes judge Neil Bronson declared this a hung jury he just dismissed the jurors so what happens now that has been the question all day long there have been numerous defense attorneys who've been here following the case I've been asking what happens if it's a hung jury and from what I understand there are several things that can happen for one it can be a whole new trial it's up to the prosecution whether they want to retry this case and if they decide to do so then we'll have to start all over here also though most likely the defense attorneys in this case will file for a a rule 29 which means basically they're saying there's not enough evidence please just throw out the charges and dismiss the case completely and judge Neil Bronson does have the authority to do that he can do that but whether he will whether he won't we don't know at this point I believe he has two weeks to decide that if the attorneys defense attorneys do indeed file for rule 29 which they most likely will but right now just in the last few moments Ryan Whitmer his family all of his supporters who have been here all along just learned that this is a hung jury reporting live in Lebanon Karen Johnson News 5 Karen what was the reaction in the courtroom this has been a long process this is the second trial now what was the reaction from both sides if both were there well you know what sh I was literally walking out here to do this live shot so I couldn't be in the courtroom but I can tell you if you want to take a look right now uh they are all walking out this is um an emotional day you can see reporters photographers running out this that's Ryan's family that's his father up at the front that's Ryan Whitmer actually leading the pack you could see dozens of supporters behind him I can't really see their reaction we do have Terry Daniels one of my colleague that is right on top of it I see him right now so we will will bring you the reaction in uh the next few minutes hopefully by 5:30 we can get this on the air and tell you the reaction I can tell you though what it's been like all day I I spent some time talking to his father earlier today who's been here all day and he's just they were just nervous they didn't know what to think anxious I know his mother Jill Whitmer she has spent a lot of like a lot of Friday and this morning at home I'm told because she just couldn't take not knowing they said that was the worst part but you can see from them walking out I bet it was a very very emotion decision and hopefully uh within the next hour we'll find out what may be the next step one more question Karen do you have any breakdown of what the polling of the jury was how many were undecided or what the split was you know what Shu in some court cases the judge will tell you in this one I even asked his attorneys they said they don't they didn't know they didn't know if you know if it was just two people holding out or we just don't know at this point that's something though that could be released now that it is a hung jury but it's up to the judge basically everything is up to the judge at this point all right Karen I know it's all unfolding right now we'll be checking back at 5:30 and again at 6:00 Karen Johnson live thank you so what happened in Ryan Wood's third trial on the 15th of February 2011 he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison he filed several errors the court made and here's some of the similarities with the Karen Reed case that the court aired in failing to properly instruct the jury on the Lesser included offenses sound familiar I think this is why the jury was unable to understand the judge's instructions on the Karen Reeds case with the verdict slips and you can see my video on this he tried several appeals and the court of appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence so he had several more appeals here's another example of uh something that he appealed the admissibility of an expert witness because the defense did not seek to voer the expert's qualifications he was admitted without objection and because the trial judge has discretion to allow an expert well the appeals court felt this was not an abuse of discretion where the testimony is relevant basically he lost all his appeals and due process is only violated when a jury cannot draw inferences from the evidence and do you remember the news reporter saying that his defense would appeal uh that there was sufficient evidence well after viewing the evidence the uh appeal court decided that you know the evidence is always looked at uh most favorable to the prosecution any rational Tri of fact could have found elements of the crime Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and and here's an example the uh appeal court gave they said that Ryan whitmar told the N1 dispatcher that he found his wife with her face down in the tub and then he told the nurse in the emergency room he found her face up in the tub so they said this was an example of uh testimony conflicting statements to various individuals and we have a similar thing that happened with the Karen Reed trial which I did a video on so when various people said Karen Reed said I hit him I hit him this would be an example of evidence that favors the prosecution's case so you know technically the prosecution could have enough to go forward and this leads nicely into keep it simple stupid kiss a study by the national Center for state and courts has indicated that 6% of felony cases disposed by a jury are hung if the case is more complicated and this complexity is underestimated by both the attorneys and judges especially if the evidence is open to more than one interpretation this case has caught worldwide attention and my playlists go through a lot of the issues that I found with the trial so having a retrial I think will be difficult for the Commonwealth given the evidence they produced although there are people that think Karen Reed is responsible for her boyfriend's demise I just don't think the evidence is there well I hope I haven't over complicated things in this video for you and you've got three uh potential outcomes that I thought were you know kind of like main outcomes that could come out of a retrial and we've also got um you know the case that I think is similar to the Karen Reed case and how appeals really didn't work what are the what's going to likely happen who knows we'll see but anyway what's your comments let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment you may help someone else that will read your comment and of course I love to read all comments as they are valued and together we can be more informed and this information may help you or someone you know in the meantime on this channel you'll find a variety of playlists to suit every curiosity about the justice system and we provide you with a visual to information and the process so please like this video If you like this kind of content hit the Subscribe button and the notification Bell if you want to be notified when I'm going live or upload another video I'm Karen Cole from leg of minded friends information is power meaning if you know something you can make decisions that are right for you