TIL that in the US, you could get acquitted from state charges, but the federal government can still prosecute on the same offences, due to a doctine known as the Dual Sovereignty Doctrine.
TIL that in the US, you could get acquitted from state charges, but the federal government can still prosecute on the same offences, due to a doctine known as the Dual Sovereignty Doctrine.
Didn't exactly learned this "today" but the first time I heard of this, I was kinda surprised at this fact. I thought y'all should know since there is a case in the news that people are calling for Jury Nullification or Pardons. That could get a bit tricky considering this Dual Sovereignty Doctrine.
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Pardons require a sympathetic governor, which will never happen.
Jury nullification requires that everyone on the jury votes not-guilty, which is a pretty high bar to hit.
A hung jury, on the other hand, simply requires one or more members of the jury to vote not-guilty. He could still be re-tried, of course, but having just one principled person is a lot easier than having all 12.
Iirc many states only call it a hung jury if a minority of jurors vote not guilty. The three outcomes are unanimous guilty, hung jury, and majority innocent.
A Hung Jury is Hung Jury, doesn't matter if its 11-1 or 1-11, prosecutor can retry.
Although usually prosecutors don't retry if majority votes not guilty, there's nothing really stopping them from retrying over and over (that is, unless the judge dismisses the case with prejudice).
Huh, looks like I mixed in civil cases. Well this is why I'm not lawyer.