The term “partial verdict” is used here to refer to the situation in which the jury after some deliberation returns a verdict as to only some of the counts or some of the defendants prior to the remaining matters before it. In the federal system partial verdicts are permitted by Rule 31(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure: “A jury is entitled to report partial verdicts as to less than all defendants and as to less than all counts.” Such verdicts are also permitted in many state jurisdictions, such as New York and California. A defendant may be retried for any submitted offense upon which the jury was unable to agree upon.
See also verdict.
[Last updated in August of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team]