Judge Declares Mistrial Over Coin-Toss Verdict
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Reuters
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A judge has declared a mistrial in a case because the jury decided the defendant was guilty of murder with the flip of a coin.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Kenneth Conliffe ordered a September retrial Monday after the jury foreman admitted the panel tossed a coin to decide whether Phillip Givens was guilty of murder or manslaughter.
Givens, 28, had been charged with killing his 29-year-old girlfriend. Word of the coin toss spread by gossip and eventually reached the judge.
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