Wade v. Hunter, Warden (336 U.S. 684)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 25, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 336 U.S. 684 · 69 S. Ct. 834
- Docket
- No. 427
- Argued
- March 7, 1949
- Decided
- April 25, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1948
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Black
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Burton, Justice R. H. Jackson, Justice Frankfurter, Justice Reed, Justice Black (wrote)
- Dissenting
- Justice Douglas, Justice Rutledge, Justice Murphy (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution provides that a person shall not “be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb” for the same offense. The petitioner, now in prison under a court-martial conviction for a serious offense, contends he is entitled to his freedom because another court-martial had previously put him in jeopardy for the same offense. The first court-martial was dissolved by the convening authority before the court reached a decision. The Government contends that the Fifth Amendment’s double-jeopardy provision, if applicable to military courts, did not bar the second court-martial conviction here because, as the Government views the record, dissolution of the first court-martial was dictated by a pressing military tactical situation. The circumstances from which these contentions arise are as follows. March 13, 1945, American troops of the 76th Infantry Division entered Krov, Germany. The next afternoon two German women were raped by two men in American uniforms. Several days later petitioner and another American soldier were arrested upon charges that they committed these offenses. Two weeks later, March 27, the troops had advanced about 22 miles farther into Germany to a place called Pfalzfeld. On that date at Pfalzfeld petitioner and the other soldier were put on trial- before a general court-martial…
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