And they will perhaps change the likelihood of a conviction."

This was because of the well-established fact that, should a Jew be in the dock, the likelihood of a conviction was near five times that of any other Londoner.

"Because the victim in this case refused to testify, the judge felt that the likelihood of a conviction was slim," David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the Office of Court Administration, said.

One of the rabbi's lawyers, Dennis Wixted, argued today that the jury's split eliminated two legal standards for denying bail in the case: the likelihood of a conviction in a second trial, and the reasonable possibility that a new jury would return a death sentence.

Mr. Wixted also argued that the likelihood of a conviction was further undercut by the weakened credibility of the state's chief witness, Leonard Jenoff, who testified that he and a roommate killed the rabbi's wife, Carol, at the couple's Cherry Hill home in 1994, after the rabbi offered him $30,000.