A new trial or retrial is a recurrence of a court case. A new
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...
may potentially be ordered for some or all of the matters at issue in the original trial. Depending upon the rules of the jurisdiction and the decision of the court that ordered the new trial, a new trial may occur if:
*a jury is unable to reach a verdict (see
hung jury);
*a trial court grants a party's motion for a new trial, usually on the grounds of a legal defect in the original trial; or
*an appellate court reverses a judgment under circumstances requiring that the case be tried again.
In some types of cases (for example, if the original trial court was not a
court of record
A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written record ...
) or in some legal systems, if the losing party to a case appeals, then the appellate court itself will hold a new trial, known as a
trial ''de novo''.
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, if a defendant is acquitted of a crime, the
Fifth Amendment generally prohibits a retrial; thus, with few exceptions, a retrial only can occur if the verdict in the first trial was "guilty", or if there was no verdict. In other legal systems, the rules may be different. For example, in Canada, the Crown (prosecution) may seek leave to appeal an acquittal; if such an appeal is successful, a retrial may be ordered.
''Criminal Code'' (Canada), (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46), s. 686(4)
References
Legal procedure
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