Did the district court err in overruling Veatch’s motion for mistrial?
The Court said that this issue concerned the fact that one of the jurors became ill and was hospitalized briefly during the jury’s deliberations, causing the jury to be adjourned for several days before reconvening and reaching a guilty verdict. Veatch moved for a mistrial at the beginning of the delay and did not renew the motion at any time during the delay. On the record presented, the Court did not find an abuse of discretion by the district court in denying Veatch’s motion for mistrial. On the Monday on which the motion was first made, the court specifically ruled that it was premature to conclude that the delay in resuming deliberations would warrant a mistrial. The Court did not find an abuse of discretion in that conclusion. At that point in time, there was no determination about how long the delay in resuming deliberations would be and there was nothing to indicate that the delay in resuming deliberations would have a damaging effect such that it would prevent a fair trial. As
