Commonwealth v. Norman

The reason that we took this case was to consider whether jeopardy attaches under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution so as to bar a trial of the defendant in the Superior Court for armed robbery arising from the taking of a motor vehicle after he had been convicted in the District Court of larceny (a lesser included offense) of the same motor vehicle arising from the same taking. The Appeals Court decided that the bar of double jeopardy foreclosed a second trial in the Superior Court. 27 Mass. App. Ct. 82 (1989). We granted the Commonwealth’s application for further…