SANDERSVILLE, Ga. — It's been six weeks since a Washington County jury could not reach a verdict for three former deputies accused of fatally tasing Eurie Martin. On Oct. 27, Judge H. Gibb Flanders declared the case a mistrial.
So far, District Attorney Tripp Fitzner has not filed a request to re-try Henry Lee Copeland, Michael Howell and Rhett Scott. He also hasn't returned phone calls from 13WMAZ to discuss his plans for the case.
But Peter Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said there are several possibilities when a trial ends in a mistrial.
He said there's no time limit on when a district attorney could ask to re-try the case. The case gets put back on the court circuit's calendar -- and in theory, could stay there forever.
Skandalakis says judges will often ask prosecutors whether they plan to take the case before a jury again. The judge will typically ask them to either move forward or drop the charges.
When a trial ends in a deeply split jury, he said, a prosecutor may decide “the chances of moving that are slim.”
Defense lawyers sometimes will file motions asking that the case be dismissed. They may argue that a second trial would result in "double jeopardy," but Skandalakis said those arguments rarely succeed.
On Tuesday, Superior Court Clerk Megan Cramer said neither side has filed new motions in the case since the trial ended Oct. 27.
The former deputies were charged with murder after they tased Martin by the side of Deepstep Road in July 2017. Prosecutors said Martin had done nothing wrong and the officers had no reason to stop him.
Last month, Francys Johnson, one of the attorneys for Martin's family, urged Fitzner to push for a second trial.
"The public wants an answer as to whether this was a crime or not. The public wants a resolution, and Sandersville will never be the same until there is one,” he said.
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