But if a mistrial takes the case out of Ellis' court, it might be worth it to Mueller.
A mistrial is what Mueller wants. After the dissection of his key witness Gates, the best he can hope for is a hung jury, which would be very good for Manafort. A mistrial gets him another crack, a more compliant judge and a chance to correct his approach.
If the prosecution believes that the judge's remarks have prejudiced the jury against them, then a mistrial would help them. New judge, new jury, fresh start. On the down side, the defense has seen the prosecutions case and would have more time to prepare. It all depends whether they think the judge's bias has caused more damage than a new trial would cause. At the end of the day, it's mainly a paper case. They have the tax records. They have the bank loans. They have the fraud documented. The defense can't change that.
Does a mistrial help or hurt the prosecution? I think it generally would help the defendant, especially at this point since the prosecution is the only side to have presented a case.
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It can help, but usually the government can still bring the case. It is expensive, and weak, but a prosecutor who is determined, malicious, or both can keep on bringing the case. It is a humiliation but not a defeat, and the defendant citizen is ground under the weight of government resources that cannot be matched.
There is zero sense of proportion with these cheap imitation Berias, so it would just set it up for another round.