State v. Brunet

The policy issue presented by this case is whether it is fair to require a criminal defendant to defend twice against the same factual allegations if he obtains a favorable ruling in the first proceeding. Here, defendant was accused, in a probation revocation proceeding, of attacking his former girlfriend. The trial court heard evidence from the State and defendant, and made a specific factual finding that defendant acted to protect or extricate himself from an altercation -with his girlfriend, and therefore did not engage in violent behavior in violation of his probation. Nevertheless, the…