Ryan Smith on HLN said this morning that the DA has already decided to follow through with the penalty phase and has given JM the go ahead. Did anyone else hear that?
I heard him say that, but afaik his comment was based on the statement released by the county attorney shortly after the hung jury was announced. The statement was this (bbm):
"We appreciate the jury's work in the guilt and aggravation phases of the trial and now we will assess, based upon available information, what the next steps will be. As of this point in time, the Court has set a Status Conference for June 20 and we will proceed with the intent to retry the penalty phase. Because, for purposes of a jury determination on punishment, this is still a pending matter, there will be no further comment."
Imo, they definitely have not yet decided whether they'll re-try it. Even if that's what they're thinking, they're not going to commit one way or the other at this early point.