Hung jury
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A hung jury is a jury whose required majority cannot reach or agree upon a unanimous verdict after an extended period of deliberation and are deadlocked with irreconcilable differences of opinion.
In the United States, the result is a mistrial and the case may be retried.
In jurisdictions giving the litigants a choice of jury size (as between a six-person and twelve-person jury), defense counsel in both civil and criminal cases frequently opt for the larger number of jurors, the saying being "it only takes one to hang", and a hung jury being regarded as the next best thing to a defense verdict. Template:Law-stub