State v. Janvrin

The issue in this conspiracy to commit arson case is whether the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy bars the retrial of the defendant on the present indictment when a previous defective indictment alleging the same offense was dismissed on the defendant’s motion after the jury was empaneled and sworn. We hold that it does not.

The defendant was indicted in June 1979 for conspiring with Frank Janvrin to commit arson by burning the defendant’s house. A jury was empaneled and sworn, but prior to the State’s opening statement the defendant moved to dismiss the indictment because it…