Rhodes v. Commonwealth

The question presented in this case is whether the doctrine of collateral estoppel bars the Commonwealth from presenting, in a criminal case, evidence underlying another offense of which the defendant had previously, been acquitted.

On September 15, 1978, members of the Narcotics Investigation Section of the Virginia State Police began to investigate the suspected manufacture of phencyclidine (PCP) in Prince William County. Trooper M. J. Ritchie followed the defendant and a companion while other members of the investigation team kept under surveillance a farmhouse owned by the defendant’s…