4 ms·

>He was cleared by a federal court of the crime, but they found an obscure statute under which to charge him at another level of law for what was essentially th

by sigmar 12y ago

>He was cleared by a federal court of the crime, but they found an obscure statute under which to charge him at another level of law for what was essentially the same action. I am not knowledgeable about the specifics of this case, but the way that you stated the situation, this isn't double jeopardy. Double jeopardy concerns trying someone for the same crime. If it is a different law that he is charged with (even for the same 'action' as previously charged), it isn't double jeopardy.

derekp7 12y ago
I thought there were rules to prevent this. Otherwise, if someone gets acquitted of, say, a murder charge, the prosecutor could go for it again but with a manslaughter charge instead.
- tedunangst 12y ago
  Generally true, but state law and federal law are considered "dual sovereignty".
  - derekp7 12y ago
    Ah, so it's just like how someone could be acquitted of murder, but still face a civil wrongful death suit?
    - tptacek 12y ago
      Double jeopardy doesn't apply to civil cases.
exelius 12y ago
Yeah, my problem with it is that the US has so many laws that pretty much anything we do is illegal in a couple of different ways. Especially with computer crimes, where a judge/jury (and sometimes the lawyers involved) may not have the technical understanding to comprehend what's going on. It defeats the purpose of double jeopardy protection if prosecutors can just go back, find another law that was passed 200 years ago but maybe applies in some theoretical sense, and charge you under that law. The entire basis of the US criminal system is that in the case of prosecutorial misconduct / incompetence, the benefit of the doubt goes to the accused. It's better to let a guilty man go free than to lock up an innocent one. If we're eroding that basic premise through an increasingly opaque legal system, that's a big problem.

4 ms·

>He was cleared by a federal court of the crime, but they found an obscure statute under which to charge him at another level of law for what was essentially th

by sigmar 12y ago

derekp7 12y ago
I thought there were rules to prevent this. Otherwise, if someone gets acquitted of, say, a murder charge, the prosecutor could go for it again but with a manslaughter charge instead.
- tedunangst 12y ago
  Generally true, but state law and federal law are considered "dual sovereignty".
  - derekp7 12y ago
    Ah, so it's just like how someone could be acquitted of murder, but still face a civil wrongful death suit?
    - tptacek 12y ago
      Double jeopardy doesn't apply to civil cases.
exelius 12y ago
Yeah, my problem with it is that the US has so many laws that pretty much anything we do is illegal in a couple of different ways. Especially with computer crimes, where a judge/jury (and sometimes the lawyers involved) may not have the technical understanding to comprehend what's going on. It defeats the purpose of double jeopardy protection if prosecutors can just go back, find another law that was passed 200 years ago but maybe applies in some theoretical sense, and charge you under that law. The entire basis of the US criminal system is that in the case of prosecutorial misconduct / incompetence, the benefit of the doubt goes to the accused. It's better to let a guilty man go free than to lock up an innocent one. If we're eroding that basic premise through an increasingly opaque legal system, that's a big problem.