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Trials & Litigation

Lawmaker wins election, is convicted of lesser counts in barratry case, then wins a mistrial

Over the past seven days, a Texas lawmaker has been tried in a barratry case, won reelection, been convicted on lesser included misdemeanor counts and seen the verdict thrown out due to claimed juror misconduct.

On Monday, a lawyer for state Rep. Ron Reynolds expected to begin the sentencing phase. But when Vivian King walked into court, one of the jurors was talking to the judge in the Mongomery County case. The juror said she had been swayed toward conviction when she heard other attorneys had taken plea deals in similar cases, according to the Houston Chronicle and Texas Lawyer (sub. req.).

Other jurors said the plea information had been provided–apparently by one or more jury members who surfed the Internet–only after the verdict, according to the prosecutor in the case. However, State District Judge Lisa Michalk declared a mistrial.

Now at issue is whether double jeopardy will prevent the state from retrying Reynolds on the barratry charges the jury rejected.

“This doesn’t come up too often,” King told Texas Lawyer, explaining that she believes double jeopardy allows the state only to retry Reynolds on the misdemeanor charges but is going to do further research.

Also headed to the law library is assistant district attorney Kelly Blackburn. He says he thinks double jeopardy will not prevent Reynolds from being retried for barratry.

“Our position at this point—unless we find different—is, ‘No, the judge found the jury deliberations and the misconduct that occurred in the jury room on the felony charges is what tainted the whole trial and what forced her to declare a mistrial,” Blackburn said.

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: “Briefly Jailed for Barratry, Prominent Texas Lawyer Accused of Using Runner to Seek Attorney’s Case”