There are two possibilities that could bring about a mistrial. A mistrial can occur when a jury is unable to reach a verdict and there must be a new trial with a new jury. The other situation that can bring about a mistrial is when there is a serious procedural error or misconduct that would result in an unfair trial, and the judge ends the case without a decision on the merits and awards a new trial. If something like this did happen to you, you should call your Bucks County criminal lawyers and get this taken care of quickly.
In the case, Commonwealth v. Brooker, the court did not make a mistake in denying Brooker’s request for a mistrial. Brooker requested a mistrial because the common wealth insinuated that Brooker was a drug dealer.
In this case, the Commonwealth insinuated that Brooker was a drug dealer, and that a dispute over drug turf was Brooker’s motive for the murder. While the question of whether or not Brooker sold drugs may have been improper to ask the police, the error was harmless. The question merely stemmed from an accumulation of independent evidence indicating that Brooker was a drug dealer; a witness made an in-court identification of Brooker and stated that she knew Brooker because she sold him drugs. These independent forms of evidence made the court dismiss the Commonwealth’s improper question and reject Brooker’s request for a mistrial. For your information the cite for Brooker is Commonwealth v. Brooker 103 A.3d 325 (Pa.Super 2014).