Thursday, February 18, 2010

Double Jeopardy Claim Rejected for State Petitioner

Lambert v. Workman, 2010 WL 446956 (2/10/10) (Published) - It was not unreasonable for the state court of appeals to find no double jeopardy violation when the petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder after the appeals court had reversed the initial murder conviction that might have been based on a felony murder theory not alleged in the indictment, but affirmed a predicate robbery conviction. The "continuing jeopardy" principle could justify a later conviction of a greater offense, despite the conflicting principle that the conviction of a lesser-included offense precludes a later prosecution for the greater offense.