If John Wiley Price Jury Is Hung, Would Feds Try Case Again to ‘put Lipstick on That Pig'?

Heading into the corruption trial of Dallas County commissioner John Wiley Price, legal observers thought his best hope was a jury that couldn’t reach a verdict. All it takes is one juror who disagrees with the others for a hung jury. And the prosecution’s evidence against Price underwhelmed even the judge.Now the government, not the defense, may be longing for a jury that can’t unite. If jurors can’t unanimously decide Price’s guilt or innocence on all or some of the counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and tax fraud, prosecutors can try him again.“It would not at all be unreasonable if the government would be really happy with a hung jury,” said defense attorney Scottie Allen, who defended Dallas City Council member Al Lipscomb in a bribery case in 2000. “They’d, in theory, get another shot. The government ought to want it.”  Continue reading...