Criminal jury verdicts require unanimity in nearly all states

Evidence

In most states, a jury verdict in a criminal case has to be unanimous. (Louisiana and Oregon are the outliers in felony cases—​Louisiana requires only ten of twelve jurors for most crim­ inal cases, unanimity for capital cases; Oregon requires ten of twelve for most cases, eleven of twelve for murder or aggravated murder). Sometimes a jury “hangs,” that is, the members absolutely fail to agree. When this deadlock happens, the trial is at an end; the prosecution will either have to start over again from scratch with a brand-​new trial or give up completely. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 838

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Supreme Court allows states to use juries smaller than twelve and nonunanimous verdicts. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 873