Commonwealth v. Cassidy

The defendant in this case, Stephen P. Cassidy, was indicted for rape. He was first tried in October of 1989. After four days of testimony and approximately one full day of deliberations, the judge declared a mistrial, thus ending the first proceeding. Cassidy thereafter filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground that further proceedings would violate the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The motion judge reported the matter to the Appeals Court, 1 which held that a second trial would not violate the Constitution because the judge at…