# Found Not Guilty-Can I hop into Taxi then and there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679 "2005-12-15T01:03:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/21 "2005-12-15T15:28:18Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > I’d think it would all depend on why he was released. > > If he was tried, and found not guilty, then he can’t be charged again for that crime. > > If he was released on a technicality, the case was dropped, etc. Then new evidence come to light, then IIRC he could be rearrested and the charges against him/her restored. Almost always true. But if the “technicality” was insufficiency of the evidence – in other words, if he appealed his guilty verdict claiming that, as a matter of law, the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient for a finding of guilty – then he could NOT be tried again for the crime, even if new evidence came to light. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/22 "2005-12-15T15:30:27Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Did your dad have it when he was in Viet Nam? …and after he was killed did his best friend hide the watch up his…Aw, nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/23 "2005-12-15T16:55:01Z")
> [@Thin Ice](#): > > What about double jeopardy? If a trial goes to decision, a person can’t be tried again for the same crime, even if new evidence is found, right? Perhaps the L&O case referenced had a suspect who was arrested for crime A, left his property, then someone found evidence for crime B on his property? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/24 "2005-12-15T18:54:06Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > And that’s my favorite watch, so I’m going back for it. Not to mention your favorite pubic hair. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/25 "2005-12-15T19:15:48Z")
Okay, true story. About fifteen years ago, I was working at Attica. We had an inmate who we had taken down to Foley Square (the court complex in Manhattan) because he was appealing his case. The judge found in the inmate’s favor and dismissed his sentence, right there in the courtroom, and ordered him released. So the officers asked him if he wanted a ride back to Attica but he declined, saying he was from NYC and he was already there, so there was no need to go back to Attica (which is about 300 miles away). So the officers got their paperwork together and let the inmate walk out the front door and drove back to Attica without him. They turned in all the paperwork to our records clerk and she was closing out the inmate’s file. Then she said, “Okay, here’s the dismissal for this sentenece and here’s the dismissal for this sentence. Where’s the dismissal order for his other sentence?” And this point, things went a little south. It turns out the inmate had been serving time on three different sentences and he had only been appealing two of them. The third sentence of imprisonment was still in effect. Not our fault - we’re supposed to do what the judge orders. He had failed to check the inmate’s records before ordering him released (I suspect he was showing off). So we issued a warrant on the inmate, saying he had been mistakenly released and should be picked up and notified our absconder unit and the NYPD. We figured they would catch him in a week or two and bring him back to us. But then we got a phone call from the inmate. He had thought it over and decided he had been a little hasty in abandoning all his property back in his cell. He said his girlfriend had offered to drive him up to Attica that weekend and could he drop by and pick up his stuff? We said we didn’t usually do this kind of thing but just this once if he wanted to drive all the way up to Attica and come back into the jail, we’d make a special arrangement for him. So that Saturday, up they drove and in he came. And then we told him that not only was all his property waiting for him but so was his old cell. We also told his girlfriend she’d be driving back alone. The inmate took it fairly well. But Monday morning when he went back in to his old job in the metal shop the officers and other inmates had put up this fifty foot banner saying “WELCOME BACK LASTNAME” and were all lined up to applaud him as he walked in. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/26 "2005-12-15T19:41:13Z")
What state-issued clothes do they give to women? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/27 "2005-12-15T20:07:17Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > What state-issued clothes do they give to women? Remember Princess Leia’s outfit at Jabba the Hutt’s palace? ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/28 "2005-12-15T21:31:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Almost always true. > > But if the “technicality” was insufficiency of the evidence – in other words, if he appealed his guilty verdict claiming that, as a matter of law, the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient for a finding of guilty – then he could NOT be tried again for the crime, even if new evidence came to light. I think in that case (IANAL) the original verdict had been overturned, resulting in a “not guilty” (either in fact, or in principle) therefore, bringing into light the double jeopardy clause. I was thinking more of a case where the person is on trial for the first time, and no “verdict” has been rendered. Case dismissed, but no “verdict”. No “Not Guilty,” no double jeopardy. Am I close? -Butler ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/29 "2005-12-15T21:36:29Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > Am I close? Sure, as long as the mistrial did not at the request of the prosecution and over your objection (except for cases of “manifest necessity”) or as long as the mistrial was not requested by you as a response to outrageous prosecution tactics. A retrial is barred by double jeopadry rules if the mistrial occurs for one of the reasons above. Obviously – the prosecution can’t decide that they’re losing, ask for a mistrial, and then start again with a new trial. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/30 "2005-12-15T22:28:59Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > And that’s where I step in. When the judge sentences someone to prison he signs a committment order. If the prisoner has his sentence reversed, the committment order is immediately vacated. And once there is no order, there is no way we can legally hold him (except by arresting him on a new charge). Assuming the prisoner was in court when his sentence was reversed, we will offer to give him a ride back to the prison so he can pick up his stuff. We will then buy him a bus ticket back to his residence of record or, if he resided outside of the state, the county he was arrested in. > > But if he says he wants to just walk away, he is free to do so. So if I’m a Canadian and I’m released do you give me a bus ticket to my house? My home province? Whatever town is closest to your part of the border? -Joe, not a hoser ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/31 "2005-12-15T23:05:40Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > … We will then buy him a bus ticket back to his residence of record or, if he resided outside of the state, the county he was arrested in. Underlining mine. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679/32 "2005-12-16T00:15:58Z")
> [@Thin Ice](#): > > What about double jeopardy? If a trial goes to decision, a person can’t be tried again for the same crime, even if new evidence is found, right? Doesn’t always apply. For instance, if there is Federal jurisdicion, he could be tried again in Federal court. There may be other times, IIRC. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-not-guilty-can-i-hop-into-taxi-then-and-there/335679.md?page=1)