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Another mistrial in Gwinnett Co. child cruelty case
After two mistrials, the Gwinnett County District Attorney's office plans to try Cledir Barros for a third time in connection to his eight-year-old daughter Sayra's beating death.
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - After two mistrials, the Gwinnett County District Attorney's office plans to try a father for a third time in connection to his eight-year-old daughter's death.
RELATED: Cledir Barros child cruelty retrial: Second mistrial declared
Cledir Barros faces a child cruelty charge in connection to the death of his eight-year-old daughter Sayra back in January. His wife Natiela, Sayra's stepmother, is accused of beating her to death with a rolling pin.
Prosecutors say Barros didn't do enough to protect his daughter, but the defense says he didn't know any abuse was happening in his home.
Two juries failed to reach a unanimous verdict. The first deadlocked at 11-1 and the second at 7-5, causing the judges to declare a mistrial. Now, prosecutors plan to try again with a third trial.
"The things that can be fixed factor into the prosecutor's decision about are we going to go forward knowing that we're spending a lot of time and a lot of resources, and it's all taxpayer funded in order to see if we can actually secure a conviction," Emory Law Professor Kay Levine explained
Levine said there's no limit to the number of times prosecutors can re-try a case when there's a mistrial.
"It's not uncommon to have two, but a prosecutor's office really needs to have, like, a sit down with the trial team, the leaders of the office and the trial team, to figure out what is going to happen in the third go-round. That would lead us to think we're going to real a different outcome than we got in round one and round two. So, three really is at the upper limits," she explained.
Levine said double jeopardy would only apply when a trial reaches the end, resulting in a conviction or acquittal.
"Mistrial is a short circuit of that trial. It keeps it from reaching its natural conclusion. So, even though jeopardy, attached at the beginning of the trial when the first witness was called, the mistrial sort of resets the button, and we no longer say that the double jeopardy clause prevents the second trial," Levine explained.
Jury selection for the third Barros trial begins Sept. 9.