A new trial or retrial is a recurrence of a court case. A new
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...
may potentially be ordered for some or all of the matters at issue in the original trial. Depending upon the rules of the jurisdiction and the decision of the court that ordered the new trial, a new trial may occur if:
*a jury is unable to reach a verdict (see
hung jury
A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. Hung jury usually results in the case being tried again.
...
);
*a trial court grants a party's motion for a new trial, usually on the grounds of a legal defect in the original trial; or
*an appellate court reverses a judgment under circumstances requiring that the case be tried again.
In some types of cases (for example, if the original trial court was not a
court of record
A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written recor ...
) 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
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, if a defendant is acquitted of a crime, the
Fifth Amendment generally prohibits a retrial; thus, with few exceptions, 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. For example, in Canada, the Crown (prosecution) may seek leave to appeal an acquittal; if such an appeal is successful, a retrial may be ordered.
''Criminal Code'' (Canada), (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46), s. 686(4)
References
Legal procedure
{{law-term-stub