The following excerpt is from Rodriguez v. Marshall, 125 F.3d 739 (9th Cir. 1997):
We agree with the district court that none of these actions taken in isolation requires a new trial. We leave the question of whether to declare a mistrial to the sound discretion of the trial court, which is in the best position to determine the likelihood that a jury will be able to reach a verdict. See United States v. Sommerstedt, 752 F.2d 1494, 1497-98 (9th Cir.), modified, 760 F.2d 999 (9th Cir.1985). Here, the jury declared itself to be deadlocked on four occasions, and yet when the judge offered supplementary instructions and ordered the jury to continue deliberations the jury continued to request additional instructions, new testimony to be read back, and "remained properly focused on the evidence." Rodriguez, 230 Cal.Rptr. at 696, 726 P.2d at 142. There is no indication here that the judge's decisions to require
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