Brief filed: 08/22/2012
Documents
Evans v. Michigan
United States Supreme Court; Case No. 11-1327
Prior Decision
Case below 810 N.W.2d 535 (Mich. 2012).
Argument(s)
An acquittal by the court is always a bar to further proceedings for the same offense. The rule applies even if the acquittal resulted “from erroneous evidentiary rulings or erroneous interpretations of governing legal principles.” United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 89 (1978). An error of law leading to an acquittal “affects the accuracy of that determination, but it does not alter its essential character.”
Author(s)
George C. Thomas, III, Rutgers School of Law, Newark, NJ, and David M. Porter, NACDL, Sacramento, CA.
