Impaired hearing? (8)

I believe the answer is:

mistrial

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'impaired hearing?' is the definition.
'mistrial' can be an answer for 'hearing?' (I have seen 'Defective hearing ' mean 'mistrial' so perhaps 'hearing' could also mean 'mistrial'). I'm not sure about the 'impaired' bit.

'impaired hearing?' is the wordplay.
'impaired' becomes 'mis' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'hearing?' becomes 'trial' (as in a court case).
'mis'+'trial'='MISTRIAL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mistrial that I've seen before include "Failed court action" , "When it's declared, the case must be heard again" , "legal process going wrong" , "bad hearing" , "Court proceedings gone wrong" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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