WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court seems divided on whether to allow an Arkansas man to be retried on murder charges even though a jury forewoman said in open court that they were unanimously against finding him guilty.
Justices quizzed Arkansas lawyers on Wednesday on when a verdict becomes irreversible as they considered Alex Blueford's appeal.
Blueford's murder trial ended in a hung jury. The jury forewoman told the judge before he declared a mistrial that the jury voted unanimously against capital murder and first-degree murder. The jury deadlocked on a lesser charge, manslaughter, which caused the mistrial.
Blueford argued that statement meant he has been acquitted of capital murder and first-degree murder and cannot be retried on those charges. The Arkansas courts have disagreed.
The high court will decide later this summer.
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