He was not found "Not Guilty" by a jury but the trial was ended early because the state did not have enough evidence....
Iran is not a terrorist country!...LittleZeke aka: "LittleBrain" 3/10/15
I agree, but for a different reason than what you gave... I found it ridiculous that they can find him not guilty of attempted murder, but re-try him for "murder." It was still the same action that resulted in the unsuccessful attempted murder becoming a successful murder, so I think Double Jeopardy applied here. He didn't try to murder her again, it was still the same thing he was initially on trial for.
shareEvery crime has a list of elements of the crime. The way Double Jeopardy works is that any crime that consists solely of elements common to the crime that was tried cannot be retried. For example, if a DA tries someone for "Possession and Sale of Narcotics" and the jury returns a not guilty verdict, he can't refile for simple possession.
But Hopkins was tried for attempted murder. The crime of "Murder" has the additional element that the victim actually died. So it's a different crime, and the state can refile.
--
Philo's Law: To learn from your mistakes, you have to realize you're making mistakes.
It's actually mentioned in the trivia section. There is a court case in California that sets precident for just this sort of case.
shareYes, it isthere, thanks, nice to know what to look up. Something about the codes that lead to a Blockbuger test. There's been a few cases. Check out the true crime about Jeffrey McDonald.
shareHe wasn't found "not guilty" by a jury, that's correct. But he made a motion for "acquittal" (due to insufficient evidence, I think). It sounds like you're looking at it as the case just being thrown out. And that's what I would think made sense to do. But the judge actually acquitted him. So, as far as I know, he's protected under the DJ.
shareRemember the scene where Willie was reviewing past cases of law. I believe he was reviewing to see if there was a way to charge Crawford for murder and get around Double Jeopardy - plus the judge acquitted him but didn't specify "with prejudice." There's always a loophole if you can find it.
shareThe critical issue in a trial is "when does jeopardy attach" which is the point where double jeopardy prevents the accused from being retried.
In a jury trial jeopardy attaches when the jury is empaneled (at the beginning of the trial). If a not guilty verdict is handed down or the case is dismissed after that point, the accused cannot be retried. A judge can actually dismiss a case before that and note "with prejudice" barring retrial if the judge feels the DA has been mucking around.
If a mistrial is declared, it depends on why the mistrial happened.
--
Philo's Law: To learn from your mistakes, you have to realize you're making mistakes.