Quoting%20commentary for Sanhedrin 157:10

בשלמא לרבנן דאמרי נתכוון להרוג את זה והרג את זה חייב דכתיב (שמות כא, כב) וכי ינצו אנשים ונגפו אשה הרה ואמר רבי אלעזר במצות שבמיתה הכתוב מדבר דכתיב (שמות כא, כג) אם אסון יהיה ונתתה נפש תחת נפש

— The verse is necessary only if there were nine Jews and one heathen, so that the heathen [though in a minority] is 'settled' there, and every 'settled' [minority] is as half and half.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This is a general rule in the Talmud. Although the majority is always followed, that is only when the minority is not [H] Kabua', fixed, settled in a certain place; but otherwise, it is equal to the majority. The following example from the Talmud will make it clearer. If there are ten butcher shops in a street, nine of which sell only kosher meat, the tenth selling terefah meat, and a piece of meat is found in the street, it may be assumed to be kosher, as the majority is followed. But if meat was bought in one of the shops, and it is not known from which, this assumption may not be made, because the doubt arises not in the street but in the shop, and the minority is in a settled place. Thus here too, since the company is all together, the place of the heathen is known and fixed, as it were. The verse under discussion teaches that the murderer in this case is not liable: hence it becomes the source of the principle that a 'settled' minority is regarded as equal to the majority. ');">⁸</span>

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