First,
it only applies to the same sovereign, meaning the same government.
So the same state cannot put you on trial for the same conduct more
than once. However, you can be put on trial by two different states
or by a state and the federal government. So, say you're accused of
running a scam from your house in Florida over the internet. The
government claims that you convinced a woman in Georgia to send you
money. Even if you're acquitted in Florida, Georgia can still try you
without violating double jeopardy, because it's a separate state. The
federal government can also try you for any federal crimes you may
have committed at this point.
Double
jeopardy also does not apply when you win an appeal. Appealing is
when you ask a higher court to review the procedure or decisions of
the court that had your trial. If the appeals court agrees with you,
they will send your case back to the trial court with instructions on
what they need to change. In this case, the court is allowed to have
another trial.
The
court is also permitted to retry you if there was a hung jury or if
the judge had to declare a mistrial. A hung jury means the jury
couldn't come to an agreement. Because there must be a legal
decision, the case will be retried with a new jury. A mistrial means
something went so wrong that it compromised the entire trial. For
example, in some high profile cases the jury is sequestered and not
allowed to speak with anyone about the case or access any news or
media. If a juror violates this rule, the judge may declare a
mistrial. Since the trial wasn't completed, there will generally be a
new trial.
This
article on Double Jeopardy is a guest post from Michael
S. Berg
, a San Diego based Certified Specialist in Criminal Law who focuses
on criminal
cases.
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