Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Are there any exceptions to the law that a person can't be tried twice for a crime?
Hey, Matt:
I know we have a rule of double jeopardy saying a person can’t be tried twice for the same crime. But are there any exceptions? What if someday O.J. Simpson breaks down and yells at news cameras, “OKAY, YES, I DID IT! ARE YOUR HAPPY NOW? I KILLED THEM! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!” Would there be any legal recourse? — LB, Poway
Sorry. No matter what he blurts out, he can’t be retried in California Superior Court on the charge of murdering Nicole and Ron. (The only exception would have been a retrial because of procedural violations or a hung jury.) But of course O.J. was tried twice based on evidence from the same crime — when the Browns and Goldmans sued him in civil court. Legally, this doesn’t constitute double jeopardy. Different court, different charges is the current reasoning. But the civil penalty could be only monetary. About the only venue left for the get-O.J. faction is federal. Somebody might try to get him locked up on charges of civil rights violations, as they did with the officers in the Rodney King case, when the judgment in state court didn’t go the way the prosecution thought it should have. Personally, the mere suggestion of a third O.J. trial gives me the overwhelming urge to throw my TV out the window. Goldman’s father offered to forget his multimillion-dollar civil judgment if O.J.’d make a public confession to the murders. Orenthal declined, so I guess we shouldn’t expect any confessions for free. Besides, the Juice is too busy looking for the real killer, who he believes is hiding somewhere on a Florida golf course. FYI, that “rule” of double jeopardy is sometimes known as the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Are there any exceptions to the law that a person can't be tried twice for a crime?
Are there any exceptions to the law that a person can't be tried twice for a crime?
Hey, Matt:
I know we have a rule of double jeopardy saying a person can’t be tried twice for the same crime. But are there any exceptions? What if someday O.J. Simpson breaks down and yells at news cameras, “OKAY, YES, I DID IT! ARE YOUR HAPPY NOW? I KILLED THEM! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!” Would there be any legal recourse? — LB, Poway
Sorry. No matter what he blurts out, he can’t be retried in California Superior Court on the charge of murdering Nicole and Ron. (The only exception would have been a retrial because of procedural violations or a hung jury.) But of course O.J. was tried twice based on evidence from the same crime — when the Browns and Goldmans sued him in civil court. Legally, this doesn’t constitute double jeopardy. Different court, different charges is the current reasoning. But the civil penalty could be only monetary. About the only venue left for the get-O.J. faction is federal. Somebody might try to get him locked up on charges of civil rights violations, as they did with the officers in the Rodney King case, when the judgment in state court didn’t go the way the prosecution thought it should have. Personally, the mere suggestion of a third O.J. trial gives me the overwhelming urge to throw my TV out the window. Goldman’s father offered to forget his multimillion-dollar civil judgment if O.J.’d make a public confession to the murders. Orenthal declined, so I guess we shouldn’t expect any confessions for free. Besides, the Juice is too busy looking for the real killer, who he believes is hiding somewhere on a Florida golf course. FYI, that “rule” of double jeopardy is sometimes known as the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
Comments