Richardson v. State

What is “double jeopardy?” I believe that when asked this question, most people, and indeed most Hoosiers, would say that it is to be tried twice for the same crime. The answer likely would be just this simple, without regard to notions of multiple punishment, dual convictions, the meaning of an offense and the like. Double jeopardy is a bedrock principle of our constitutional law. See Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969); Elmore v. State, 269 Ind. 532, 382 N.E.2d 893 (1978). Nevertheless, as Justice Boehm points out, “confusion over double jeopardy is not…