EXPLAINER: What is a mistrial?

The House prosecution panel on Tuesday withdrew three of the four Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, a move which was accepted by the Senate impeachment court and earned a strong rebuke from the defense team.

Prosecutors dropped Article I on confidential funds, Article III on bribery, and Article IV on assassination plot, grave threats and inciting to sedition against the President. They will now only pursue Article II on Duterte's alleged failure to fully declare her assets and divest from business interests, raising questions about her unexplained wealth.

Defense lead counsel Sheila Sison said the prosecution's decision to drop three of the four Articles of Impeachment against Duterte would not affect the defense panel's presentation of its own evidence.

However, Sison said that if dropping the three articles was intended to shorten the proceedings, the resulting process would "bear unmistakable characteristics of a mistrial" as they would be unable to present their own witnesses and evidence on the corresponding allegations.

Erroneous, invalid, nugatory

According to Black's Law Dictionary, a mistrial is defined as "an erroneous, invalid, or nugatory trial; a trial of an action which cannot stand in law because of want of jurisdiction, or a wrong drawing of jurors, or disregard of some other fundamental requisite."

The American Bar Association (ABA), meanwhile, defines mistrials as "trials that are not successfully completed."

"They re terminated and declared void before the jury returns a verdict or the judge renders his or her decision in a nonjury trial," ABA said.

Right to due process

Lawyer Rico Domingo, former president of the Philippine Bar Association, explained that there is a mistrial if the court procedure was not observed correctly.

"Ibig sabihin nu'n, hindi in-observe ang tinatawag na procedures correctly, kaya mistrial. So, that would impinge on the due process right ng defendant," Domingo said in an interview with GMA News.

(It means the procedures were not observed correctly, resulting in a mistrial. So, that would infringe upon the defendant's right to due process.)

"Kaya mayroong defect sa pagkaka-hear ng, let's say, criminal case, kaya mistrial, na hindi in-observe ang mga rights ng accused, for example," he added.

(So, there is a defect in the hearing of, let's say, a criminal case, resulting in a mistrial, because the rights of the accused were not observed, for example.)

Domingo also clarified a mistrial does not mean that the case is back to zero and should be refiled.

Among the characteristics of a mistrial is when a defendant was not given a chance to present their evidence.

"Hindi binigyan, for example, ng pagkakataon ang depensa na mag-present its own evidence or, mayroong nagsasabi na defective ang ruling ng judge, for example, on certain basic things, like self-incrimination or hindi binigyan ng in-admit ng mga ebidensya na hindi dapat in-admit," Domingo said.

(For example, the defense was not given the opportunity to present its own evidence, or the judge's ruling was defective regarding certain fundamental matters, such as issues of self-incrimination or the admission of evidence that should not have been admitted.) — VDV, GMA News