''United States v. Josef Perez'', 22 U.S. (9 Wheat) 579 (1824), is a case of the Supreme Court of the United States. The decision held that when a criminal trial results in a

hung jury A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. Hung jury usually results in the case being tried again. T ...

, the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment does not prevent the defendant from being retried.

Background of the case

Josef Perez (born in 1800) was tried in 1822 for

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

—at that time a

capital offense Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. Perez had been accused of boarding and robbing the schooner ''Bee'' as she was docked at San Juan de los Remedios,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. His trial originally resulted in a

mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

because the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England du ...

were unable to agree on a

verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales ...

. The judge dismissed the jury, and Perez' attorney claimed that Perez should be discharged since he had been tried once and not convicted.

The decision

The Supreme Court held that courts should be cautious and exercise sound discretion in discharging a jury prior to a verdict. However, doing so does not bar retrial for the same offense. The Supreme Court declined to order Perez released from custody, and declared it fit to retry him on the original

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of a ...

References

External links

* * 1824 in United States case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Double Jeopardy Clause case law Criminal cases in the Marshall Court United States Supreme Court cases of the Marshall Court {{SCOTUS-case-stub

Background of the case

The decision

See also

References

External links