State v. Canon

¶ 41. (dissenting). The majority adopts a rule that allows the State to try an acquitted defendant for perjury if the State produces "newly discovered evidence" consisting of nothing more than some third person saying, in essence, "The acquitted defendant told me that he lied under oath." This type of evidence does not contain a sufficient degree of reliability to overcome the interest of finality that underlies issue preclusion and double jeopardy. I would allow the trial of an acquitted defendant for perjury in cases where the issue of fact central to the prosecution was necessarily…