Free US Law Dictionary

Retrial

New trial refers to the retrial of a court case. Depending on the rules of the jurisdiction, a new trial may occur if:

• a jury is unable to reach a verdict (see hung jury);
• a judge grants a party's motion for a new trial, usually on the grounds of a legal defect in the original trial; or
• the losing party in an original trial wins on appeal.

In some types of cases (for example, if the original trial court was not a court of record) or in some legal systems, if the losing party to a case appeals, then the appellate court itself will hold a new trial, known as a trial de novo.

In the United States, if a defendant is acquitted of a crime, the Fifth Amendment generally prohibits a retrial; thus, with few exceptions,[1][2] a retrial only can occur if the verdict in the first trial was "guilty," or if there was no verdict. In other legal systems, the rules may be different.