The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that “No person shall . . . be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb . . . .” As the Supreme Court has emphasized, “[A] verdict of acquittal [is] final, and [cannot] be reviewed, on error or otherwise, without putting [a defendant] twice in jeopardy, and thereby violating the constitution.” However, under what has been termed the “separate-sovereigns” exception, state and federal

Looking at the D.C. Escape Statute (D.C. Code § 22-2601(a)(2)) and the recent court decision in Davis v. United States, it is interesting to see whether fleeing from an attempted arrest violates the escape statute. The escape statute prohibits escaping from the “lawful custody” of a police officer. Throughout history, police have had a lot of power and discretion within a meaning of a term in a statute. Did Officer McHugh have sufficient physical control over Davis for him to

During cross-examination, an attorney may challenge the credibility of the opponent’s witness via impeachment. By doing so, the attorney is signaling that the judge and/or the jury should dismiss what the witness says because the testimony is not credible. Attorneys may impeach witnesses through several means, such as showing that the witness made a prior inconsistent statement, showing that the witness is biased or has a personal interest in the matter, showing that the wit

On October 4, 2017 The Supreme Court heard the oral argument for Class v. United States, a case regarding whether a Petitioner has waived their right to appeal a conviction solely because of plea bargaining itself. However, applying the court’s Blackedge-Menna doctrine, a defendant who has pleaded guilty can “challenge his conviction on any constitutional ground that, if asserted before trial, would forever preclude the State from obtaining a valid conviction against him.” He