Supreme Court Bars Georgia From Retrying Mentally Ill Man for Murder

The Constitution’s ban on double jeopardy also applies to inconsistent jury verdicts, the court holds.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the nation's highest court, speaks at the 60th Commemoration of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Ala., on Sept. 15, 2023. Butch Dill - Pool/Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled this week that Georgia is not allowed to try a mentally ill man for a second time despite conflicting jury verdicts.

The case goes back to 2012 when Damian McElrath, then 18, killed his mother, a struggling single parent who had adopted him when he was two years old, the court noted.