§ 136.475 Verdict as to some of several defendants; retrial of others

When several people are charged together in the same case, sometimes a jury can agree on a verdict for some defendants but not others. This rule says the jury doesn't have to reach a deadlock on everyone before doing anything. Instead, they can go ahead and decide the cases where they do agree, and the judge will issue a ruling based on that partial verdict.

For the defendants the jury couldn't reach agreement on, their case isn't over. A new jury can be brought in later to hear the evidence and decide their case separately. This means one person's fate in a group case doesn't get held up just because the jury is stuck on someone else's charges.