A prosthetic eye popped out as a victim testified from the witness stand, prompting a Philadelphia judge to declare a mistrial.

John Huttick wept in the witness box as he recounted an early morning fight outside a tavern in 2011. The 48-year-old told jurors he tried to intervene in a fight and was punched by 23-year-old Matthew Brunelli, costing him his left eye.

But in mid-testimony, Huttick’s prosthetic eye literally popped out of its socket, causing jurors to gasp and rise as if to get away from the gruesome sight, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In general, a mistrial means that a judge will cancel a trial before a verdict is read. The judge will then reschedule a new trial and essentially start over from scratch.

Given that mistrials can lead to a waste of time for both parties and may not be fair for a defendant, judges are typically wary of declaring mistrials. Most commonly, a judge will declare a mistrial in the following circumstances:

  • When evidence was improperly admitted,
  • When there’s misconduct by one of the parties,
  • When there’s misconduct by a juror, and
  • When the jury is unable to arrive at a decision.

In this case, the judge has not alleged misconduct. However, the unfortunate accident of the eye popping out may have influenced and biased the jury against the defendant.

For example, a jury may more likely sympathize with John Huttick as they now have the image of his dislodged eyeball seared into their memories. Or the jury may just have a general distaste and displeasure for Brunelli after seeing, with their own eyes, the injury he allegedly caused.

Related Resources:

  • Pa. Mistrial Declared When Prosthetic Eye Pops Out (The Associated Press)
  • Legalese 101: What is a Mistrial? (FindLaw’s Law & Daily Life)
  • Reprosecution Following Mistrial (FindLaw)
  • Middle Finger to Judge Gets Fla. Woman 30 Days in Jail (FindLaw’s Legally Weird)

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