Bell v. State

Gregory, Justice.

Bell was indicted and tried on two felony counts — arson in the first degree and felony-murder — after a fireman was killed while putting out the fire caused by the alleged arson. After several hours of deliberation, the jury reached a verdict on the count of arson in the first degree, but they were unable to reach a verdict on the count of felony-murder. The jurors were then released for the evening.

The next morning, defense counsel moved for a mistrial on both counts because an allegedly prejudicial newspaper article on the case appeared in the morning paper. The jurors…