Melvin T. Smith v. Massachusetts (543 U.S. 462)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 22, 2005 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 543 U.S. 462 · 125 S. Ct. 1129
- Decided
- February 22, 2005
- Term
- October Term 2004
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. Midway through a jury trial, the judge acquitted petitioner of one of the three offenses charged. The question presented in this case is whether the Double Jeopardy Clause forbade the judge to reconsider that acquittal later in the trial. I. Petitioner Melvin Smith was tried before a jury in the Superior Court of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, on charges relating to the shooting of his girlfriend’s cousin. The indictments charged three counts: armed assault with intent to murder; assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon; and unlawful possession of a firearm. The “firearm” element of the last offense requires proof that the weapon had a barrel “less than 16 inches” in length. See Mass. Gen. Laws Ann., ch. 140, § 121 (West 2002) (definition of “firearm”); eh. 269, § 10(a) (West 2000). The indictment in petitioner’s case so charged. Petitioner’s girlfriend was tried before the same jury as an accessory after the fact. The victim testified at trial that petitioner had shot him with “a pistol,” specifically “a revolver” that “appeared to be a .32 or a .38.” App. 12, 14. The prosecution introduced no other evidence about the firearm. At the conclusion of the prosecution’s case, petitioner moved for a required finding of not guilty on the firearm count, see Mass. Rule Crim. Proc. 25(a) (2002), in part because the…
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