Newton v. United States

Two related but distinct legal issues are presented by this appeal: whether the trial court had jurisdiction under District of Columbia law to vacate its May 19, 1987, order granting a new trial and, if so, whether such action violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The first issue presents a complex analytical issue that is important for the court to resolve on a sound, principled basis; otherwise, there would be no apparent limits, either substantive or temporal, on the extent to which the trial court could correct its final orders. For this reason,…