Pastrana v. Baker

OPINION OF THE COURT

Chief Judge Cooke.

Reprosecution on a charge is not barred by the constitutional protection against double jeopardy when the earlier “acquittal” was based on an erroneous legal ruling not involving any review of the facts. The retrial of a lesser count, on which the jury deadlocked, is not prohibited when, after discharging the jury and without adjudication on the facts, the Judge ordered an acquittal in the mistaken belief that the jury’s acquittal on the greater count required the same result on the lesser. The order of the Appellate Division, therefore, should be…