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Double Jeopardy
Double jeopardy is a procedural defense (and, in many countries such as the United States, Canada, Mexico and India, a constitutional right) that forbids that a defendant be tried twice for the same crime on the same set of facts. At common law a defendant may plead autrefois acquit or autrefois convict (a peremptory plea); meaning the defendant has been acquitted or convicted of the same offense. If this issue is raised, evidence will be placed before the court, which will normally rule as a preliminary matter whether the plea is substantiated, and if it so finds, the projected trial will be prevented from proceeding.
Double Jeopardy: Later Developments Can Overcome Double Patenting
In Takeda Pharma v. John J. Doll (08-1131), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit looked at an earlier District Court decision holding that later developments in the art may inform the ?patentably distinct? determination for double patenting...
DUI & Double Jeopardy
Jeff Norman of The Huffington Post recently emailed me the following question:
"What makes it legal for police to detain a DUI arrestee until he or she is 'sober,' when the only purpose of the detention is to maintain safety, and there is no intent to bring the arrestee before a judge for arraignment? I’m not questioning anything about the arrest or booking process; I’m only asking about the extended detention (usually an overnight jail stay) that begins when the booking process has been completed...
"Medical Double Jeopardy"
"Medical Double Jeopardy": Yesterday's edition of The Wall Street Journal contained an editorial that begins, "Another sensible Roberts Court ruling, another uproar...
Atkins and Double Jeopardy:
Last February, a three judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted death row inmate Michael Bies's habeas petition, holding that the Double Jeopardy clause bars...
DUI Double Jeopardy and Multiple Punishment
When a person is arrested for DUI, his driver?s license is confiscated by the arresting officer and he is given a notice of ?administrative suspension?...
ECJ AG Proposes Extending Double Jeopardy
In a non-binding opinion released last week, Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo proposed extending the principle of double jeopardy to include cases in which the initial penalty could never be enforced...
















