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83 Judicature 59 (1999-2000)
How Much Justice Hangs in the Balance - A New Look at Hung Jury Rates

handle is hein.journals/judica83 and id is 61 raw text is: Concerns about hung juries have prompted calls for reform, but new research suggests these calls may be premature. E arlier this year, U.S. dis- trict judge Claude M. Hilton declared a mistrial in the case of United States v. Julie Hiatt Steele when the seven- woman, five-man jury deadlocked, unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Steele had been charged with four counts of lying to the FBI and two federal grand juries in connection with the Independent Counsel's in- This project is supported by Grant No. 98-IJ-CS- 0048, awarded by the National Institute of Jus- tice, Office ofJustice Programs, U.S. Department ofJustice to the National Center for State Courts. Points of view expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. De- partment of Justice or the NCSC. The authors wish to extend their thanks to vestigation of President Bill Clinton. In light of the jury's dispositions in the trial of Susan McDougal a month earlier, many political pundits attrib- uted the disposition in the Steele trial to growing public hostility to the In- dependent Counsel's prosecutions stemming from the Monica Lewinsky investigation. The hung juries were regarded as a reflection not of the juries' inability to agree Robyn Finkelman, Brian Potter, and Ana Watkins for research assistance, and to Shari Diamond for comments on an earlier version of the manu- script. For additional information about this on- going project, please contact Paula L. Hanna- ford, National Center for State Courts, 300 Newport Ave., Williamsburg, VA 23185; (757) 259-1556; e-mail: phannaford@ncsc.dni.us. on the facts of these cases, but rather of their perception of the le- PAULA L. HANNAFORD is a senior re- search analyst at the National Center for State Courts. VALERIE P. HANS is a professor of criminal justice and psychology at the University of Delaware and a research affiliate with the National Center for State Courts. G. THOMAS MUNSTERMAN is director of the Center for Jury Studies, National Center for State Courts. gitimacy of the prosecution. But is that conclusion warranted? September-October 1999 Volume 83, Number 2 Judicature 59

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