Number of Jurors Who Must Agree to Result in Tennessee Personal Injury Trials

My truck wreck case is coming to trial before a Nashville, Tennessee jury soon. There will be a 12-person jury.  Must they all agree on the result?

Yes, unless the lawyers agree otherwise, all 12 jurors must reach an agreement on the result in the case.

In some states, the law permits jurors to reach a result based on the votes of a "super majority" of the jurors.  For example, some states allow 9 jurors to agree or 10 to agree on one result and the other 3 or 2 jurors can reach a different result.   That is not true in Tennessee – all 12 must agree.

If all the jurors do not agree, the judge declares a "mistrial."   When that happens, the case must be re-tried. 

 

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