Mistrials

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A legal proceeding that is terminated without reaching a verdict due to issues like juror misconduct or errors during the trial
2. A court session that ends prematurely and is declared invalid, often needing a retrial due to significant problems during the process
3. An instance where a judicial trial fails to produce a conclusive decision, typically because of procedural irregularities or substantial discord among jurors

Etymology: "Mistrials" is the plural of "mistrial", a legal term for a trial that ends without a valid verdict, usually because of a procedural error or a jury that cannot agree. The word combines the prefix "mis-", meaning wrongly or badly, with "trial", so it literally describes a trial that went wrong. The prefix has a long pedigree. It comes from Old English "mis-", which carried the sense of error or failure, and it descends from a Germanic root that also gave modern English "miss" in the sense of failing to hit or reach something. "Trial" arrived by a more roundabout route: it passed from Anglo-Norman "trial" into Middle English, and behind that lies Old French "trier", meaning to sort, select or test. Because "mis-" is productive, English speakers have long attached it to ordinary words to mark failure, as in "misfire" or "misjudge". "Mistrial" follows the same pattern, though its legal sense is what has kept it in common use.

Synonyms: invalid trials, hung juries, null trials, retrial, court errors

Antonyms: trials, convictions, prosecutions