# double jeopardy question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-jeopardy-question/60862 "2001-04-05T01:15:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Wind\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Autumn\_Wind\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Wind_Chick)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-jeopardy-question/60862/1 "2001-04-05T01:15:48Z")
Is it true that if you are wrongly convicted for killing someone, and they are still alive, and you serve you’re sentence, you can kill them and you can’t be tried? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-jeopardy-question/60862/2 "2001-04-05T01:31:47Z")
short answer : No Longer answer: No. You were convicted of “on or about such and such a time, did unlawfully blah blah blah”, specifying time and probably method etc. You would later on be subject to “on or about such and such a different time, did unlawfully…” Hollywood doesn’t always check it’s facts before they make a movie. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-jeopardy-question/60862/3 "2001-04-05T01:52:56Z")
Do you have a caselaw citation, Wring? Or is your analysis based on theoretical legal principles only. (Somehow, I doubt this has ever come up in criminal court …) ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-jeopardy-question/60862/4 "2001-04-05T02:06:36Z")
Case law cite? No. Doubt that it’s happened outside of the movies. (IANAL - I work with convicts) However, consider this: You’re found guilty of robbing a bank on Tuesday July 1, 1990. Later on, they find that you were innocent. You’re released. Are you now allowed a ‘freebie’ of robbing the bank, 'cause you’ve already served time? nope. You would have served time for robbing the bank on July 1, 1990, not April 4, 2001. This has been asked and answered before here (the movie came out on video last summer IIRC). [prior thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=58884) [another one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=6638) includes a lawyer weighing in and saying the same thing [another one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=33969) two of them contain yet more threads. [here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?query=double+jeopardy&forumchoice=-1&booleanand=yes&searchin=subject&searchdate=-1&searchuser=&exactname=yes&action=dosearch&getdaily=&pagenum=) the search page which turned up a total of 12 threads with "double jeopardy in the title. Hope this answers your question. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2001, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-jeopardy-question/60862/5 "2001-04-05T11:11:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SCSimmons \* > \*\*Do you have a caselaw citation, Wring? Or is your analysis based on theoretical legal principles only. (Somehow, I doubt this has ever come up in criminal court …) > \*\* For double jeopardy analysis, the seminal case is _Blockburger v. U.S._, 284 U.S. 299 (1932). Although I’m unaware of any factual situation similar to the movie _Double Jeopardy_, the method of analyzing whther two different actions constitue the same offense for purposes of double jeopardy is well established. For example, a rapist was convicted on two counts of rape when he raped the victim, stayed in the house for an hour eating from her refrigerator, and then raped her again. Even though the crime was the same, and the actions were separated by only an hour, they were distinct enough that they did not constitute the same crime. I find it rather amazing how regularly this topic comes up. Never underestimate the persuasive power of Tommy Lee Jones and Ashley Judd, I guess. - Rick