ATLANTA – A Georgia man whose murder trial was scrapped after eight days because jurors worried it would interfere with the Christmas holiday argues a new trial would violate his constitutional rights.
The Georgia Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Monday on a claim by Verlaine Laguerre that a judge improperly declared a mistrial and a new trial would amount to double jeopardy, which is when a person is improperly tried twice for the same crime.
After eight days of a trial in December 2014 for Laguerre and another man, the judge held a hearing to determine whether the rest of the trial should be postponed until after the holidays.
The judge ultimately decided over the objections of Laguerre's attorney to declare a mistrial and try the case later.
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