Michael Lydon v. Justices of the Boston Municipal Court

BREYER, Circuit Judge.

The habeas corpus petitioner in this case was convicted of a state crime by a Massachusetts judge under the Massachusetts “two-tier” criminal trial procedure. As is his right under that procedure, the petitioner then chose to have a completely new trial by jury. He argued, however, to the new trial court, to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and then to the federal district court, that he must be released, rather than undergo a new trial, because his bench trial conviction rested on insufficient evidence and any new trial would therefore place him in double…