A panel of the state Court of Appeals has upheld a Cobb County judge who said she was “in uncharted territory” when she declared a mistrial in a medical malpractice case last year.
State Court Judge Kathryn Tanksley declared the mistrial after learning the jury had reached an agreement on one defendantthe hospital where the plaintiffs’ severely brain-damaged baby was bornbut not on the delivering obstetrician. After learning the jury had been prepared to rule in its favor, the hospital challenged the mistrial on appeal, but the Nov. 27 appeals court ruling says the hospital can’t win on that basis because it went along with the judge when she called the trial to an end.
