http://politix.topix.com/story/7133-double-jeopardy-and-the-zimmerman-trial-can-he-be-tried-all-over-again

George Zimmerman: Can He Be Tried Again?

Zimmerman was found not guilty of second degree murder and manslaughter. Now, the Department of Justice wants to charge Zimmerman for a civil rights violation (hate crimes statute) in relation to the Trayvon Martin case. Isn’t this considered double jeopardy? The Federal government does not think so. And actually, the Double Jeopardy Clause has been interpreted by the Supreme Court in a way that will allow the State AND Federal government to charge someone for the same case because they are “separate sovereigns.” The clause has been interpreted incorrectly. When the Fifth Amendment was created, there was little overlap between the State and Federal government, so the Founders did not specify the Double Jeopardy Clause applies across sovereigns. As a result of this misinterpretation there is currently a case being appealed to the Supreme Court, Roach v. Missouri. This petition challenges the notion that double jeopardy does not apply to both State and Federal government simultaneously. Next post will go into greater detail about Roach v. Missouri.

Here’s a little background on the Trayvon Martin case:

The Zimmerman trial was a very controversial case over the past few years. In Sanford, Florida two years ago, George Zimmerman fatally shot 17 year old Trayvon Martin. According to Zimmerman, he was driving to the store when he saw someone acting suspicious so he called the police. Martin spotted Zimmerman and ran, so Zimmerman left his vehicle to see which direction he was running. The dispatcher told Zimmerman he should not run after Martin and the call was ended. Zimmerman states that he began walking back to his vehicle after hanging up with the dispatcher and that is when Martin approached Zimmerman. Martin punched Zimmerman in the face, knocking him down, and began beating his head against the sidewalk. Zimmerman screamed for help but no one responded. Martin spotted the gun Zimmerman was carrying and tried to grab it. As both men were struggling for the gun, Zimmerman shot Martin once in the chest. Zimmerman said it was self defense and the police could not find any evidence against him so they let him go.

 http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/headlines/20130526-man-arrested-in-murder-case-goes-free-because-of-double-jeopardy.ece 


                            A Murderer Goes Free Because of Double Jeopardy

     A recent case in double jeopardy happened about ten months ago in Dallas, Texas. A man named Sharone Sylvester Brown was accused of killing his girlfriend, but he couldn't be charged with murder because he was charged with misdemeanor assault against his girlfriend. His girlfriend, Sherry Whitacre was very weak from on going cancer treatments when this incident happened. On an April, night Brown and Whitacre were drinking when Brown got angry with Whitacre so he punched her in the head then picked her up and threw her outside onto the sidewalk. The police were called to the scene and Whitacre refused to be taken to the hospital. Brown was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault. What the police didn't know was that Whitacre was taken to the hospital six hours after the assault and later died of an "unexplained death." In the meantime, prosecutors had no idea that Whitacre died, otherwise they would have waited for the autopsy results. Brown pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and served twenty days in jail. Six days after Brown was convicted, the medical examiner notified police that Whitacre's death was a homicide. The medical examiner found her cancer, a fractured thigh bone, and other medical problems were the cause of her death.  May 1, 2013, police arrested Brown on suspicion of murder. Police then realized they could not charge Brown with murder because they charged him with misdemeanor assault for the same case.
     Because of the Fifth Amendment, Brown could not be charged twice in the same case. This is an unfortunate case where double jeopardy may not be such a bad thing. Brown was sentenced to sixty days in jail but served twenty days for killing his girlfriend.