NO!!!! I don't want to know what it means, what I would like to know is,, If you really were found guilty of killing someone, (who was in fact not dead) served your time (ie 10-15 years) came out of prison, found them and killed them. Could you or could you not be charged with their murder? Not guesses please, hard facts if you have them. Thanks
2007-01-03 02:33:41 · 3 answers · asked by ROMFT 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
You're not talking about autrefois acquit, you're talking about autrefois convict. While the barrier to retrial for autrefois acquit was removed recently for serious offences, it was not, as far as I have been able to establish, removed for autrefois convict, presumably because if you've been convicted and done your time there is no point in repeating the exercise.
The proper thing to do in such an eventuality is not to kill the alleged victim, but to draw official attention to his survival, demand a pardon and then claim compensation for the 10-15 years spent as a guest of Her Majesty. One could then look forward to a prosperous retirement on the proceeds.
2007-01-03 05:46:57 · answer #1 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are some cases of double jeapordy that have got through the system but your question depends entirely on jurisdiction. It depends on what kind of double jeapordy laws exist in your country or state but there are still some western legal systems, certain states of America included, but as a general rule, if a person is caught in the act of committing murder and there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the blood is on that person's hands then written law would almost certainly go out of the window. If you kill someone intentionally, you get punished and most judicial systems in the west allow for a certain degree of discretion on the part of the judge - pointing to the law is all very well in corporate law or in the context of traffic crimes but the reality of criminal law is that if you take another life then you're going down. Of course, given the conditions of your question, it would be a long and drawn out process but the murderer would be locked up eventually - unless he had enough money to buy his way out of trouble but there's nothing new there - the law doesn't apply to the rich and powerful - it never has done.
2007-01-03 10:40:53 · answer #2 · answered by Diarmid 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe in the USA double jeopardy would apply, however in the UK I think you would be charged.
2007-01-03 11:45:49 · answer #3 · answered by Annie M 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋