Great write-up, I'd love to see more content like this! Perhaps you could also do a periodical write-up on other legal issues of note in the United States? Also, in McDonnell v. United States, was McDonnell's conviction overturned by the ruling? Or would it just be retried?
Thanks, and I'd like to keep up with this kind of thing. I spent all this money to become a lawyer, may as well pretend it went somewhere :) Anything in particular you'd like to see discussed?
I can't say anything comes to mind, just anything you think is of particular importance. You are the legal expert after all!!
Haha, "expert" may be pushing it a little, but I'll keep my eyes open!
Sorry, forgot to answer your question. McDonnell's conviction was vacated, so it's no longer a thing. Now it goes back to the trial court, where the prosecution can decide whether they want to re-try it or not. If they do, then we start over, just with a more narrow focus thanks to the case. If they don't, that's the end of it, and McDonnell goes free. In the meantime, his wife, who was also convicted of the same thing, had appealed her conviction to the 4th Circuit. That court was waiting to see what SCOTUS did on this one, so it seems likely that they'll send her case back as well.
How does this jibe with the principle that you can't be tried for the same crime twice? There was a trail. He was convicted. He appealed. The appeal went to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said that the jury were given improper instructions that were over-broad, and therefore convicted him (possibly) incorrectly. So yeah... you go back and have a "more perfect" trial but... how is this not being tried twice for the same crime?
It is, basically, but that's not really what the Double Jeopardy Clause was intended to prevent. Alexander Hamilton actually submitted slightly different language to the House: This was rejected due to fears that it could mean that a successful appeal, such as the one in McDonnell's case, would prevent a new trial. In other words, the Founders specifically decided that they didn't want the Double Jeopardy Clause to mean that there was literally only one shot at the prize for the prosecution. Instead, the idea was to prevent sour grapes (basically), i.e. the prosecution loses a case via acquittal, so they decide to try the person again. Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 187–88 (1957). This desire isn't thwarted if it's the defendant who appeals his conviction. In other words, he asked for it. This isn't to say the prosecution can never appeal in a criminal case, but usually that gets more into collateral issues and not the underlying guilt or innocence. See, for example, a rather disturbing case (in more ways than one) from earlier in this term where the prosecution appealed a state supreme court's decision to vacate a sentence of death. The lone dissenting justice on the US Supreme Court argued (persuasively in my opinion) that the case never should've been heard, although not on Double Jeopardy grounds.No person shall be subject, except in cases of impeachment, to more than one punishment or trial for the same offense.
“The constitutional prohibition against ‘double jeopardy’ was designed to protect an individual from being subjected to the hazards of trial and possible conviction more than once for an alleged offense. . . . The underlying idea, one that is deeply ingrained in at least the Anglo–American system of jurisprudence, is that the State with all its resources and power should not be allowed to make repeated attempts to convict an individual for an alleged offense, thereby subjecting him to embarrassment, expense and ordeal and compelling him to live in a continuing state of anxiety and insecurity, as well as enhancing the possibility that even though innocent he may be found guilty.”
Oh right... I see what I was missing... the defendant asked for the appeal. It was granted. So now he gets a chance to stand up in court again and defend himself against (presumably false) charges. Ok. Got it. I wasn't thinking each actors' viewpoint through clearly. Thanks for the clarification!