Lydon v. Commonwealth

This petition for relief under the general superintendence powers of this court (G. L. c. 211, § 3) is one of three similar cases decided today that raise questions concerning the application of the principles of Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1 (1978), to criminal cases in which *357the accused has had a trial before a judge without a jury (a bench trial), and, dissatisfied with the result of the bench trial, has sought a de nova trial before a jury. The petitioners, whom we shall call the defendants, argue that the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the…