Commonwealth v. Curtis

During a jury trial on a principal charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol,1the trial judge declared a mistrial “with prejudice” and ordered that no retrial take place. The judge did so after the Commonwealth’s first witness, the arresting officer, impermissibly testified that a breathalyzer had been offered to the defendant after his arrest. The propriety of the declaration of a mistrial is not at issue on appeal. The Commonwealth appeals only the order barring *637retrial, claiming that the judge employed an incorrect legal standard and that application of the…