If I am Found Innocent of Murder, then after the trial, I could Go Kill anyone since I cant b tried 4 it again

Question

I got this statement from my CIVICS class:

"if found not guilty of the offence, you cannot be tried for it again, and if found guilty and punished for the offence, you cannot be tried or punished for it again."

so it must b true, but it sounds kinda messed UP to me...becuz i'm thinking this:

So if i'm found innocent of not killing someone, i could go out and kill a person and won't worry about it, since i cannot be tried for it again...
and...
If found guilty of killing someone, and me going to jail and doing the time, once i get out, i could kill someone again with no worries, since i can't be tried or punished for it again...

Answer 1

The crime is murdering a particular person. It is a separate offence to harm another person, so you could be tried again.

Answer 2

That is some great analytical thinking! That is one of the skills necessary to be a lawyer. The book is exactly right, actually. The policy (reasoning) behind that general rule is that a citizen shouldn't have to pay twice or be tried twice for a single crime by the government (at least in the U.S., for the same charge). This is a basic due process constitutional right. It is logical, since: 1. if we are innocent, we should only have to be burdened with one trial, and the government better do it right or not at all; this helps us be free to live our lives without frivolous charges. 2. if we are guilty, we should be punished for every crime, not just the first murder. So every murder will be punished, but the same murder will not be punished twice. That's what the book is saying, I think, because this is basic criminal law in the U.S.



Example 1: a guy is found guilty of murder. He serves time. Later, he kills someone else (since he can't kill the same person again, this new person is definitely a new victim!) That is considered a new crime and can be tried and punished again. Otherwise he'd be off on a murder spree without punishment, like you mentioned.



Example 2: A guy is found not guilty for a murder, he will never have to be tried again for that particular murder. However, if a second person is murdered and that same guy is suspected to be the murderer of this new, different person, he'll have to go through yet another trial.



By the way, it goes by crime, not by person. Murder isn't a good illustration, but robbery is. If I rob you, I will get my "due process" (guilty and punished or not guilty and set free) only once. But if I rob you again and again, I will be tried every time, even if I rob the same thing from the same house over and over!



I hope this helps.

Answer 3

No thats not quite right...you cant be tried for the same crime...if you go out and kill someone else its a different crime...so you could be found guilty of killing "john doe" do your time and get out and go kill "jane smith" and this would be a separate crime...how ever...if your found guilty of killing someone, but there is no body, then you do your time and get out and see that same person and killed them...you can not be punished as this is the crime you were already punished for...ok that all sounds very confusing, hopefully someone else can explain it better

Answer 4

No - that is not how it works. If you are charged with a particular crime - say murdering Mrs. Smith on October 27th, 2003 in Georgia and you go to trial, there are one of three possible results:

1- the jury finds you guilty of murder. You can appeal but if the conviction is upheld, and you do your time, you can not again be punished again for the same crime. (For instance, if your first trial was prosecuted by the State of Georgia, the Federal government can't try you again for the same murder and the state of Georgia can not try you again on either aggravated or lesser charges - i.e. 1st degree murder or manslaughter)

2- the jury finds you not guilty. The state can not appeal and try to get a conviction and no one can charge you with that crime or one related to it (manslaughter or 1st degree murder or murder) again. The fat lady sang and you walk. - for that crime.

3. The jury is hung which means no verdict was reached. In that case the state/ government can try you again b/c the first case was not decided by a jury.

If you commit another offense later - another murder, a bank robbery, etc. you absolutely can be charged for it. The set of steps I outlined above is PER crime. Hope that helps.

Answer 5

It's found GUILTY of the same crime twice.



Example: they say that you kill someone, you serve the time and later find out that the person is alive-if you then kill them, you can't serve the punishment because you already have



If you are found INNOCENT, you can later be convicted of the SAME crime.



Example: You are found innocent of robbing the 7-11 on March 3rd, 2007. . .you can not then rob it on the 4th, they just can't try to again on the robbery from the 3rd.

Answer 6

The flaw in your logic is that you are not really talking about being tried or punished for the same offense. Each murder is a separate offense. If you are tried and found innocent of one murder, it is not a blank check to kill someone else. You cannot be tried again for the original murder, but you can be tried for another one.

Answer 7

Please tell me you are joking...you could not be that ignorant, or the school system (although I wonder since the school system my son is in is too chickensh!t to "teach" history for the US prior to the Constitution due to it being to "controversial" and "disputed") so lacking to think the "double jeapordy" is a catch-all for any murder of any kind!



Double jeopardy only means if a person is tried and acquitted of a particular crime, he cannot be tried for the same offense with that same evidence that existed previously; however, if NEW evidence and/or errors in the original trial were discovered, it is possible that charges could be refiled. Good example: OJ Simpson; he was acquitted of murder in his original trial and he could not be charged with the same offense again with the same evidence; however, if NEW evidence or witnesses would surface, he could be charged with a different crime or degree of murder or if he would break any laws in the future or murder anyone, he could be charged on those offenses.



If you would kill one person, be convicted of that crime, if you got out again and killed another person, you could be tried and punished for the separate, unrelated offense.

Answer 8

Say if you were tried for killing your best friend. You were found guilty and sentanced to 10 years. But when you get out, the person they convicted you of killing is actually alive, then you can kill the SAME person and not be tried for it. This is called DOUBLE JEOPARDY.

Answer 9

No, you cannot be tried twice for the same criminal action.



So, if you tried to kill someone on Wednesday, and were acquitted, you could not be prosecuted again for that one action.



However, if you actually tried to kill two different people on Wednesday, you could still be prosecuted for the second attempted murder, since you hadn't been tried for that yet.



Or if you tried twice to kill the person, two different ways on Wednesday and Thursday, and they had only tried you for the Wednesday attempt, they could still try you for the Thursday attempt, since that's a separate crime of attempted murder.



Similarly, if you tried again to kill someone (same person or different person) on a later date, that's a separate criminal act, so you could be tried for that separate criminal act.



Double jeopardy is nowhere near as broad as most people think it is.

Answer 10

The law that says that you can't be tried twice for the same crime does not mean if you are found innocent of killing someone, let's say John Doe, that you can't be tried for killing Jane Doe. You just can't be tried for killing John Doe again. The same crime means being tried for the exact same incident of crime, not the same type of crime.

Answer 11

No, you have that wrong. If you were found innocent of murder, you cannot be tried for the murder of THAT PERSON again. If exculpatory evidence is found later, in certain instances you could actually be tried again.

You would be tried as a murderer if you killed anyone else...

Answer 12

If you kill Mr. Smith and are found not guilty, double jeopardy means you cannot be tried for THAT crime again (killing Mr. Smith). It does not mean you can go out and kill another person and they cannot try you for it.

Answer 13

this only applies to the same case and it is called double jeopardy you can not be tried for a crime or offense the second time after being found innocent of it and that is each individual crime if you committ an offense you can be charged with different crimes for the same offense

Answer 14

No..you can't be tried again for the same case. Like you could stand up in court after they found you innocent and say that you did it and they couldn't try you again for it. but if you kill someone else they can definately try you for that

Answer 15

i believe it means that you can be tried again for murder, but not that specific person or case. you can be tried for murder as many times, but say you killed person A, and in the case you were found not guilty, then if more evidence was found later on that you did in-fact kill person A, you could not be charged for that murder, but afterwards you could be tried for the murder of another person B.

Answer 16

no completely wrong

innocent is not the same as not guilty

simply stated.if you are found not guilty of a crime you cant be charged for the SAME crime again....doesn't mean it gives you permission to go take out any joe you want

Answer 17

If you're found not guilty of killing John, you can't go out and kill Mary and not be tried. You can, however, brag that you killed John and got away with it and you can't be tried again for killing him.

Answer 18

No, you couldn't be tried for murdering that specific person again. A new murder is a new crime and double jeopardy doesn't apply.

Answer 19

No it is case specific. That is where they will get you. I think you need to read it again or question the wording in the book. Not all text books are as properly edited as they should be.

Answer 20

If you're punishefor killing someone, and they are not dead, then when you get out you could kill them. If you are found not guilty, and thn go and kill them you wil probaly get nailed for it anyway, since the time/circumstances are differnt.

Answer 21

I believe its called double Jeopardy. But it only pertains to the same case. They can not try you for the same crime twice.

Answer 22

no you were found not guility of killing a particular person not any person, kill a new person its a new crime you go to jail

Answer 23

only applies to the SAME crime you were tried for, not the offense in general.

Answer 24

That's like saying "you can only get one speeding ticket in your whole life." It doesn't make any sense.