Al Cannon, Sheriff, Charleston County, South Carolina v. Broderick William Seay, Jr.

I. In review of a state decision under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, when a federal appellate court must determine if double jeopardy protection bars retrial after a mistrial is granted over a defendant’s objection based upon the absence of a critical prosecution witness, does the required strict scrutiny applied to the legal determination of manifest necessity constrain in equal or greater measure the deference universally accorded a trial court’s fact-finding. II. Whether in granting relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 the Fourth Circuit egregiously failed to apply clearly established federal law as determined by this Court in Arizona v. Washington and accord deference to the state court’s ruling finding manifest necessity for mistrial when it resolved that omission of a reference to consideration of alternatives in the court’s oral ruling made the ruling fatally insufficient even though the record shows the state court did not act rashly in granting a mistrial, but pursued a cautious approach that included suspending the trial to allow a search for the missing witness prior to considering and granting the State’s mistrial motion.