Fenstermaker v. Halvorson

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The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of habeas relief to petitioner based on double jeopardy grounds. Before petitioner was tried and convicted in state court, a jury had been impaneled in the prosecution of the same charge against him but the state trial court declared a mistrial before the trial actually began because the prosecutor sustained an injury.The court held that the Minnesota Court of Appeals' determination that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting a mistrial based on manifest necessity was not an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. In this case, the state court did not violate petitioner's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights by concluding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by declaring that manifest necessity justified the mistrial grant. View "Fenstermaker v. Halvorson" on Justia Law