People v. Hicks

In each of these consolidated cases, the trial judge recused herself midtrial, stating that an appearance of impropriety on her part may have existed. In People v Hicks, the successor judge gave the defendant three options; in People v Bellew, the successor judge did not. The successor judges both declared mistrials. The Court of Appeals held that retrials were barred by double jeopardy.1

In its analysis, the lead opinion focuses on one distinction between the two cases: whether the successor judge gave the defendant options before declaring a mistrial. The lead opinion does not address the…