Because a judge jumped too quickly to declaring a mistrial, a man charged with a murder in Macon four years ago—when he was 17—will soon walk free and cannot be tried again, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled.

“The court said that the deliberations were contentious and that it declared the mistrial ‘in the interest of juror safety.’ Having reviewed the record, we conclude that the trial court declared the mistrial without sufficient factual support and without considering less drastic alternatives to terminating the trial. Because there was no manifest necessity for a mistrial, we reverse,” Justice David Nahmias wrote in a unanimous opinion released Monday.

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