Byrd v. State

Adams, Judge.

Jason Lee Byrd, Arthur Wayne Hall, and Jonathan Brooks were indicted on 41 counts of criminal damage to property arising from the ransacking of Floyd County’s historic cemetery known as Myrtle Hill. When their trial resulted in a mistrial, Hall and Byrd moved for discharge and acquittal on the ground that the prosecutor engaged in intentional misconduct to cause the mistrial, purposefully designed to secure an opportunity to retry the case. The trial court denied their motion, and Hall and Byrd appeal that decision.

Prosecutorial misconduct will bar retrial of a case if the…