Online Attorney

Online Attorney

Personal-Injury-Law

Personal-Injury-Law





Online Attorney







ing that defendant by his timing brought about foreclosure of opportunity to stay before the same trial). their constitutional rights. 84 Refusing to permit retrial, the Court observed that the ‘‘doctrine of manifest necessity stands as a command to trial judges not to foreclose the defendant’s option [to go to the first jury and perhaps obtain an acquittal] until a scrupulous exercise of judicial discretion leads to the conclusion that the ends of public justice would not be served by a continuation of the proceedings.’’ 85 The later cases appear to accept Jorn as an example of a case where the trial judge ‘‘acts irrationally or irresponsibly.’’ But if the trial judge acts deliberately, giving prosecution and defense the opportunity to explain their positions, and according respect to defendant’s interest in concluding the matter before the one jury, then he is entitled to deference. This approach perhaps rehabilitates the result if not the reasoning in Gori and maintains the result and much of the reasoning of Jorn. 86 Of course, ‘‘a motion by the defendant for mistrial is ordinarily assumed to remove any barrier to reprosecution, even if the defendant’s motion is necessitated by a prosecutorial or judicial error.’’ 87 ‘‘Such a motion by the defendant is deemed to be a deliberate election on his part to forgo his valued right to have his guilt or innocence determined before the first trier of fact.’’ 88 In United States v. Dinitz, 89 the trial judge had excluded defendant’s principal attorney for misbehavior and had then given defendant the option of recess while he appealed the exclusion, a mistrial, or continuation with an assistant defense counsel. Holding that the defendant could be retried after he chose a mistrial, the Court reasoned that, while the exclusion might have been in error, it was not done in bad faith to goad the defendant into requesting a mistrial or to prejudice his prospects for acquittal. The defendant’s choice, even though difficult, to terminate the trial and go on to a new trial should be respected and a new trial not barred. To hold otherwise would necessitate requiring the defendant to shoulder the burden and anxiety of proceeding to a probable conviction followed by an appeal, which if successful would lead to a new trial, and neither VerDate May<19>2004 12:55 May 20, 2004 Jkt 077500 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 8222 Sfmt 8222 C:\CONAN\CON030.SGM PRFM99 PsN: CON030 AMENDMENT 5—RIGHTS OF PERSONS 1377 90 Compare United States v. Dinitz, 424 U.S. 600, 611 (1976), with United States v. Tateo, 377 U.S. 463, 468 n.3 (1964). 91 456 U.S. 667, 676 (1982). The Court thought a broader standard requiring an evaluation of whether acts of the prosecutor or the judge prejudiced the defendant would be unmanageable and would be counterproductive because courts would be loath to grant motions for mistrials knowing that reprosecution would be barred. Id. at 676–77. The defendant had moved for mistrial after the prosecutor had asked a key witness a prejudicial question. Four Justices concurred, noting that the question did not constitute overreaching or harassment and objecting both to the Court’s reaching the broader issue and to its narrowing the exception. Id. at 681. 92 United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 571 (1977). 93 United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 91 (1978) (quoting Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 188 (1957)). For the conceptually related problem of trial for a ‘‘separate’’ offense arising out of the same ‘‘transaction,’’ see discussion under ‘‘The ‘Same Transaction’ Problem,’’ infra. 94 Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 16 (1978); Fong Foo v. United States, 369 U.S. 141, 143 (1962). For evaluation of those interests of the defendant that might support the absolute rule of finality, and rejection of all such interests save the right the public interest nor defendant’s interests would thereby be served. But the Court has also reserved the possibility that the defendant’s motion might be necessitated by prosecutorial or judicial overreaching motivated by bad faith or undertaken to harass or prejudice, and in those cases retrial would be barred. It was unclear what prosecutorial or judicial misconduct would constitute such overreaching, 90 but in Oregon v. Kennedy, 91 the Court adopted a narrow ‘‘intent’’ test, so that ‘‘[o]nly where the governmental conduct in question is intended to ‘goad’ the defendant into moving for a mistrial may a defendant raise the bar of double jeopardy to a second trial after having succeeded in aborting the first on his own motion.’’ Therefore, ordinarily, a defendant who moves for or acquiesces in a mistrial is bound by his decision and may be required to stand for retrial. Reprosecution Following Acquittal That a defendant may not be retried following an acquittal is ‘‘the most fundamental rule in the history of double jeopardy jurisprudence.’’ 92 ‘‘[T]he law attaches particular significance to an acquittal. To permit a second trial after an acquittal, however mistaken the acquittal may have been, would present an unacceptably high risk that the Government, with its vastly superior resources, might wear down the defendant so that ‘even though innocent he may be found guilty.’’’ 93 While in other areas of double jeopardy doctrine consideration is given to the public-safety interest in having a criminal trial proceed to an error-free conclusion, no such balancing of interests is permitted with respect to acquittals, ‘‘no matter how erroneous,’’ no matter even if they were ‘‘egregiously erroneous.’’ 94 VerDate May<19>2004 12:55 May 20, 2004 Jkt 077500 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 8222 Sfmt 8222 C:\CONAN\CON030.SGM PRFM99 PsN: CON030 1378 AMENDMENT 5—RIGHTS OF PERSONS of the jury to acquit against the evidence and the trial judge’s ability to temper legislative rules with leniency, see Westen & Drubel, Toward a General Theory of Double Jeopardy, 1978 SUP. CT. REV. 81, 122–37. 95 195 U.S. 100 (1904). The case interpreted not the constitutional provision but a statutory provision extending double jeopardy protection to the Philippines. The Court has described the case, however, as correctly stating constitutional principles. See, e.g., United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 346 n.15 (1975); United States v. DiFrancesco, 449 U.S. 117, 113 n.13 (1980). 96 In dissent, Justice Holmes, joined by three other Justices, propounded a theory of ‘‘continuing jeopardy,’’ so that until the case was finally concluded one way or another, through judgment of conviction or acquittal, and final appeal, there was no second jeopardy no matter how many times a defendant was tried. 195 U.S. at 134. The Court has numerous times rejected any concept of ‘‘continuing jeopardy.’’ E.g., Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 192 (1957); United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 351–53 (1975); Breed v. Jones, 421 U.S. 519, 533–35 (1975). 97 Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319 (1937). Palko is no longer viable. Cf. Greene v. Massey, 437 U.S. 19 (1978). 98 The Criminal Appeals Act of 1907, 34 Stat. 1246, was ‘‘a failure . . . , a most unruly child that has not improved with age.’’ United States v. Sisson, 399 U.S. 267, 307 (1970). See also United States v. Oppenheimer, 242 U.S. 85 (1916); Fong Foo v. United States, 369 U.S. 141 (1962). 99 Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control Act, Pub. L. No. 91–644, 84 Stat. 1890, 18 U.S.C. § 3731. Congress intended to remove all statutory barriers to governmental appeal and to allow appeals whenever the Constitution would permit, so that interpretation of the statute requires constitutional interpretation as well. United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 337 (1974). See Sanabria v. United States, 437 U.S. 54, 69 n.23 (1978), and id. at 78 (Justice Stevens concurring). The acquittal being final, there is no governmental appeal constitutionally possible from such a judgment. This was firmly established in Kepner v. United States, 95 which arose under a Philippines appeals system in which the appellate court could make an independent review of the record, set aside the trial judge’s decision, and enter a judgment of conviction. 96 Previously, under the due process clause, there was no barrier to state provision for prosecutorial appeals from acquittals. 97 But there are instances in which the trial judge will dismiss the indictment or information without intending to acquit or in circumstances in which retrial would not be barred, and the prosecution, of course, has an interest in seeking on appeal to have errors corrected. Until 1971, however, the law providing for federal appeals was extremely difficult to apply and insulated from review many purportedly erroneous legal rulings, 98 but in that year Congress enacted a new statute permitting appeals in all criminal cases in which indictments are dismissed, except in those cases in which the double jeopardy clause prohibits further prosecution. 99 In part because of the new law, the Court has dealt in recent years with a large number of problems in this area. Acquittal by Jury.—Little or no controversy accompanies the rule that once a jury has acquitted a defendant, government may not, through appeal of the verdict or institution of a new prosecu- VerDate May<19>2004 12:55 May 20, 2004 Jkt 077500 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 8222 Sfmt 8222 C:\CONAN\CON030.SGM PRFM99 PsN: CON030 AMENDMENT 5—RIGHTS OF PERSONS 1379 100 What constitutes a jury acquittal may occasionally be uncertain. In Schiro v. Farley, 510 U.S. 222 (1994), the Court ruled that a jury’s action in leaving the verdict sheet blank on all but one count did not amount to an acquittal on those counts, and that consequently conviction on the remaining count, alleged to be duplicative of one of the blank counts, could not constitute double jeopardy. In any event, the Court added, no successive prosecution violative of double jeopardy could result from an initial sentencing proceeding in the course of an initial prosecution. 101 In United States v. Ball, 163 U.S. 662 (1896), three defendants were placed on trial, Ball was acquitted and the other two were convicted, the two appealed and obtained a reversal on the ground that the indictment had been defective, and all three were again tried and all three were convicted. Ball’s conviction was set aside as violating the clause; the trial court’s action was not void but only voidable, and Ball had taken no steps to void it while the Government could not take such action. Similarly, in Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784 (1969), the defendant was convicted of burglary but acquitted of larceny; the conviction was set aside on his appeal because the jury had been unconstitutionally chosen. He was again tried and convicted of both burglary and larceny, but the larceny conviction was held to violate the double jeopardy clause. On the doctrine of ‘‘constructive acquittals’’ by conviction of a lesser included offense, see discussion infra under ‘‘Reprosecution After Reversal on Defendant’s Appeal.’’ 102 United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 570–72 (1977); Sanabria v. United States, 437 U.S. 54, 63–65 (1978); Finch v. United States, 433 U.S. 676 (1977). 103 In Fong Foo v. United States, 369 U.S. 141 (1962), the Court acknowledged that the trial judge’s action in acquitting was ‘‘based upon an egregiously erroneous foundation,’’ but it was nonetheless final and could not be reviewed. Id. at 143. 104 United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 571 (1977). 105 430 U.S. at 570–76. See also United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 87–92 (1978); Smalis v. Pennsylvania, 476 U.S. 140 (1986) (demurrer sustained on basis of insufficiency of evidence is acquittal). 106 437 U.S. 54 (1978). tion, place the defendant on trial again. 100 Thus, the Court early held that, when the results of a trial are set aside because the first indictment was invalid or for some reason the trial’s results were voidable, a judgment of acquittal must nevertheless remain undisturbed. 101 Acquittal by the Trial Judge.—Similarly, when a trial judge acquits a defendant, that action concludes the matter. 102 There is no possibility of retrial for the same offense. 103 But it may be difficult at times to determine whether the trial judge’s action was in fact an acquittal or was a dismissal or some other action which the prosecution may be able to appeal. The question is ‘‘whether the ruling of the judge, whatever its label, actually represents a resolution, correct or not, of some or all of the factual elements of the offense charged.’’ 104 Thus, an appeal by the Government was held barred in a case in which the deadlocked jury had been discharged, and the trial judge had granted the defendant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal under the appropriate federal rule, explicitly based on the judgment that the Government had not proved facts constituting the offense. 105 Even if, as happened in Sanabria v. United States, 106 the trial judge erroneously excludes evidence and VerDate May<19>2004 12:55 May 20, 2004 Jkt 077500 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 8222 Sfmt 8222 C:\CONAN\CON030.SGM PRFM99 PsN: CON030 1380 AMENDMENT 5—RIGHTS OF PERSONS 107 In United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332 (1975), following a jury verdict to convict, the trial judge granted defendant’s motion to dismiss on the ground of prejudicial delay, not a judgment of acquittal; the Court permitted a government appeal because reversal would have resulted in reinstatement of the jury’s verdict, not in a retrial. In United States v. Jenkins, 420 U.S. 358, 365 (1975), the Court assumed, on the basis of Wilson, that a trial judge’s acquittal of a defendant following a jury conviction could be appealed by the government because, again, if the judge’s decision were set aside there would be no further proceedings at trial. In overruling Jenkins in United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82 (1978), the Court noted the assumption and itself assumed that a judgment of acquittal bars appeal only when a second trial would be necessitated by reversal. Id. at 91 n.7. 108 Serfass v. United States, 420 U.S. 377 (1975) (after request for jury trial but before attachment of jeopardy judge dismissed indictment because of evidentiary insufficiency; appeal allowed); United States v. Sanford, 429 U.S. 14 (1976) (judge granted mistrial after jury deadlock, then four months later dismissed indictment for insufficient evidence; appeal allowed, because granting mistrial had returned case to pretrial status). 109 See ‘‘Reprosecution After Reversal on Defendant’s Appeal,’’ supra. 110 See ‘‘Acquittal by the Trial Judge,’’ supra. then acquits on the basis that the remaining evidence is insufficient to convict, the judgment of acquittal produced thereby is final and unreviewable. Some limited exceptions do exist with respect to the finality of trial judge acquittal. First, because a primary purpose of the due process clause is the prevention of successive trials and not of prosecution appeals per se, it is apparently the case that if the trial judge permits the case to go to the jury, which convicts, and the judge thereafter enters a judgment of acquittal, even one founded upon his belief that the evidence does not establish guilt, the prosecution may appeal, because the effect of a reversal would be not a new trial but reinstatement of the jury’s verdict and judgment thereon. 107 Second, if the trial judge enters or grants a motion of acquittal, even one based on the conclusion that the evidence is insufficient to convict, the prosecution may appeal if jeopardy had not yet attached in accordance with the federal standard. 108 Trial Court Rulings Terminating Trial Before Verdict.— If, after jeopardy attaches, a trial judge grants a motion for mistrial, ordinarily the defendant is subject to retrial; 109 if, after jeopardy attaches, but before a jury conviction occurs, the trial judge acquits, perhaps on the basis that the prosecution has presented insufficient evidence or that the defendant has proved a requisite defense such as insanity or entrapment, the defendant is not subject to retrial. 110 However, it may be that the trial judge will grant a motion to dismiss that is neither a mistrial nor an acquittal, but is instead a termination of the trial in defendant’s favor based on some decision not relating to his factual guilt or innocence, such as VerDate May<19>2004 12:55 May 20, 2004 Jkt 077500 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 8222 Sfmt 8222 C:\CONAN\CON030.SGM PRFM99 PsN: CON030 AMENDMENT 5—RIGHTS OF PERSONS 1381 111 United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332 (1975) (preindictment delay); United States v. Jenkins, 420 U.S. 358 (1975) (determination of law based on facts adduced at trial; ambiguous whether judge’s action was acquittal or dismissal); United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82 (1978) (preindictment delay). 112 See United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 84–86 (1978); United States v. Sisson, 399 U.S. 267, 291–96 (1970). 113 Cf. Lee v. United States, 432 U.S. 23 (1977). 114 United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332 (1975) (after jury guilty verdict, trial judge dismissed indictment on grounds of preindictment delay; appeal permissible because upon reversal all trial judge had to do was enter judgment on the jury’s verdict). 115 United States v. Jenkins, 420 U.S. 358 (1975) (after presentation of evidence in bench trial, judge dismissed indictment; appeal impermissible because if dismissal was reversed there would have to be further proceedings in the trial court devoted to resolving factual issues going to elements of offense charged and resulting in supplemental findings). 116 United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82 (1978) (at close of evidence, court dismissed indictment for preindictment delay; ruling did not go to determination of guilt or innocence, but, like a mistrial, permitted further proceedings that would go to factual resolution of guilt or innocence). The Court thought that double jeopardy policies were resolvable by balancing the defendant’s interest in having the trial concluded in one proceeding against the government’s right to one complete opportunity to convict those who have violated the law. The defendant chose to move to prejudicial preindictment delay. 111 The prosecution may not simply begin a new trial but must seek first to appeal and overturn the dismissal, a course that was not open to federal prosecutors until enactment of the Omnibus Crime Control Act in 1971. 112 That law has resulted in tentative and uncertain rulings with respect to when such dismissals may be appealed and further proceedings directed. In the first place, it is unclear in many instances whether a judge’s ruling is a mistrial, a dismissal, or an acquittal. 113 In the second place, because the Justices have such differing views about the policies underlying the double jeopardy clause, determinations of which dismissals preclude appeals and further proceedings may result from shifting coalitions and from revised perspectives. Thus, the Court first fixed the line between permissible and impermissible appeals at the point at which further proceedings would have had to take place in the trial court if the dismissal were reversed. If the only thing that had to be done was to enter a judgment on a guilty verdict after reversal, appeal was constitutional and permitted under the statute; 114 if further proceedings, such as continuation of the trial or some further factfinding, was necessary, appeal was not permitted. 115 Now, but by a close division of the Court, the determining factor is not whether further proceedings must be had but whether the action of the trial judge, whatever its label, correct or not, resolved some or all of the factual elements of the offense charged in defendant’s favor, whether, that is, the court made some determination related to the defendant’s factual guilt or innocence. 116 Such dismissals relating to guilt or innocence VerDate May<19>2004 12:55 May 20, 2004 Jkt 077500 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 8222 Sfmt 8222 C:\CONAN\CON030.SGM PRFM99 PsN: CON030 1382 AMENDMENT 5—RIGHTS OF PERSONS terminate the proceedings and, having made a voluntary choice, is bound to the consequences, including the obligation to continue in further proceedings. Id. at 95–101. The four dissenters would have followed Jenkins, and accused the Court of having adopted too restrictive a definition of acquittal. Their view is that the rule against retrials after acquittal does not, as the Court believed, ‘‘safeguard determination of innocence; rather, it is that a retrial following a final judgment for the accused necessarily threatens intolerable interference with the constitutional policy against multiple trials.’’ Id. at 101, 104 (Justices Brennan, White, Marshall, and Stevens). They would, therefore, treat dismissals as functional equivalents of acquittals, whenever further proceedings would be required after reversals. 117 North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 717 (1969). 118 Ex parte Lange, 85 U.S. (18 Wall.) 163 (1873). 119 A prosecutor dissatisfied with the punishment imposed upon the first conviction might seek another trial in order to obtain a greater sentence. Cf. Ciucci v. Illinois, 356 U.S. 571 (1958) (under due process clause, double jeopardy clause not then applying to States). 120 United States v. Ball, 163 U.S. 662 (1896). The English rule precluded a new trial in these circumstances, and circuit Justice Story adopted that view. United States v. Gilbert, 25 Fed. Cas. 1287 (No. 15,204) (C.C.D.Mass. 1834). The history is briefly surveyed in Justice Frankfurter’s dissent in Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 200–05 (1957). 121 Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 197 (1957). The more recent cases continue to reject a ‘‘waiver’’ theory. E.g., United States v. Dinitz, 424 U.S. 600, 609 n.11 (1976); United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 99 (1978). 122 Justice Holmes in dissent in Kepner v. United States, 195 U.S. 100, 134 (1904), rejected the ‘‘waiver’’ theory and propounded a theory of ‘‘continuing jeopardy,’’ which also continues to be rejected. See discussion, supra. In some cases, a are functional equivalents of acquittals, whereas all other dismissals are functional equivalents of mistrials. Reprosecution Following Conviction A basic purpose of the double jeopardy clause is to protect a defendant ‘‘against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction.’’ 117 It is ‘‘settled’’ that ‘‘no man can be twice lawfully punished for the same offense.’’ 118 Of course, the defendant’s interest in finality, which informs much of double jeopardy jurisprudence, is quite attenuated following conviction, and he will most likely appeal, whereas the prosecution will ordinarily be content with its judgment. 119 The situation involving reprosecution ordinarily arises, therefore, only in the context of successful defense appeals and controversies over punishment. Reprosecution After Reversal on Defendant’s Appeal.— Generally, a defendant who is successful in having his conviction set aside on appeal may be tried again for the same offense, the assumption being made in the first case on the subject that, by appealing, a defendant has ‘‘waived’’ his objection to further prosecution by challenging the original conviction. 120 Although it has characterized the ‘‘waiver’’ theory as ‘‘totally unsound and indefensible,’’ 121 the Court has been hesitant in formulating a new theory in maintaining the practice. 122 VerDate May<19>2004 12:55 May 20, 2004 Jkt 077500 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 8222 Sfmt 8222 C:\CONAN\CON030.SGM PRFM99 PsN: CON030 AMENDMENT 5—RIGHTS OF PERSONS 1383 concept of ‘‘election’’ by the defendant has been suggested, United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 93 (1978); Jeffers v. United States, 432 U.S. 137, 152–54 (1977), but it is not clear how this formulation might differ from ‘‘waiver.’’ Chief Justice Burger has suggested that ‘‘probably a more satisfactory explanation’’ for permissibility of retrial in this situation ‘‘lies in analysis of the respective interests involved,’’ Breed v. Jones, 421 U.S. 519, 533–35 (1975), and a determination that on balance the interests of both prosecution and defense are well served by the rule. See United States v. Tateo, 377 U.S. 463, 466 (1964); Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31, 39–40 (1982). 123 355 U.S. 184 (1957). 124 The decision necessarily overruled Trono v. United States, 199 U.S. 521 (1905), although the Court purported to distinguish the decision. Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 194–97 (1957). See also Brantley v. Georgia, 217 U.S. 284 (1910) (no due process violation where defendant is convicted of higher offense on second trial). 125 See also Price v. Georgia, 398 U.S. 323 (1970). The defendant was tried for murder and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He obtained a reversal, was again tried for murder, and again convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Acknowledging that, after reversal, Price could have been tried for involuntary manslaughter, the Court nonetheless reversed the second conviction because he had been subjected to the hazard of twice being tried for murder, in violation of the double jeopardy clause, and the effect on the jury of the murder charge being pressed could have prejudiced him to the extent of the second conviction. But cf. Morris v. Mathews, 475 U.S. 237 (1986) (inadequate showing of prejudice resulting from reducing jeopardy-barred conviction for aggravated murder to non-jeopardy-barred conviction for first degree murder). ‘‘To prevail in a case like this, the defendant must show that, but for the improper inclusion of the jeopardy-barred charge, the result of the proceeding probably would have been different.’’ Id. at 247. 126 437 U.S. 1 (1978). An exception to full application of the retrial rule exists, however, when defendant on trial for an offense is convicted of a lesser offense and succeeds in having that conviction set aside. Thus, in Green v. United States, 123 the defendant had been placed on trial for first degree murder but convicted of second degree murder; the Court held that, following reversal of that conviction, he could not be tried again for first degree murder, although he certainly could be for second degree murder, on the theory that the first ver

Online Attorney




Read this important disclaimer

If you experience unusual problems with this site please email the webmaster.

Copyright: David Matheny, 2006-2008.