Janette Price, Warden v. Duyonn Andre Vincent (538 U.S. 634)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 19, 2003 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 538 U.S. 634 · 123 S. Ct. 1848
- Decided
- May 19, 2003
- Term
- October Term 2002
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted habeas relief to respondent Duyonn Andre Vincent after concluding that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment, as applied to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, barred his conviction for first-degree murder. Vincent v. Jones, 292 F. 3d 506 (2002). Because this decision exceeds the limits imposed on federal habeas review by 28 U. S. C. § 2254(d), we granted the petition for certiorari, 537 U. S. 1099 (2002), and now reverse. In an altercation between two groups of youths in front of a high school in Flint, Michigan, Markeis Jones was shot and killed. Respondent was arrested in connection with the shooting and was charged with open murder. At the close of the prosecution’s case in chief and outside the hearing of the jury, defense counsel moved for a directed verdict of acquittal as to first-degree murder, arguing that there was insufficient evidence of premeditation and deliberation. The trial judge stated: “ ‘[M]y impression at this time is that there’s not been shown premeditation or planning in the, in the alleged slaying. That what we have at the very best is Second Degree Murder.... I think that Second Degree Murder is an appropriate charge as to the defendants. Okay.’ ” 292 F. 3d, at 508. Before court adjourned, the prosecutor…
Excerpt of a 14,746-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.