If the Jury Remains Deadlocked, Should the D.A. Retry the Case?

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

With the jury off today, it’s a good time to speculate about if the jury remains deadlocked, should District Attorney Seth Williams retry the case?

Will Spade, a former Philadelphia assistant district attorney who worked on the 2005 grand jury investigation of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, says it’s a no-brainer.

“I really do think they have to because it’s such an important case and because they’ve staked so much on it,” said Spade, now a defense lawyer. “To Seth’s credit he’s the first prosecutor in America to actually hold the Catholic hierarchy responsible for this stuff. I think there’s too much riding on it, so they have to do it.”

Spade even volunteered to help the war effort.

“If the jury does hang or there’s a less than completely successful verdict, I will volunter to go back to the D.A.’s office and help them out with this retrial,” Spade said.

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