State v. Jones

Defendant, Charles Boyla Jones, appeals a conviction of second degree rape. His first trial in September 1980 was declared a mistrial after the judge determined that the jury could not agree on a verdict. After a second trial in November 1980, defendant was convicted. The issue is whether the trial court prematurely discharged the jury before ascertaining that it was genuinely deadlocked, and if so whether defendant's second trial violated his rights under constitutional proscriptions of double jeopardy. For the reasons stated below, we hold that the judge in the first trial did not have…