Ex Parte Wheeler

The appellant petitioned the district court for habeas corpus relief from a second trial of an indictment for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. The first trial ended in a mistrial when the State asked the appellant’s expert witness whether he was “aware that her insurance carrier found her at fault.” She claimed that the constitutional prohibitions against putting a person twice in jeopardy 1 would be violated because the State’s misconduct forced her to move for mistrial. The district court denied relief in a one-sentence order, without findings of fact, 2 and this appeal…