A Second Shot at Proving Murder: Sacrificing Double Jeopardy for Rigid Formalism

Third-year law student Jalem Peguero argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in Blueford v. Arkansas trades constitutional protection for rigid formalism. The Blueford Court sanctioned the retrial of criminal defendants for offenses where a jury did not formally acquit the defendant; accordingly, Peguero claims, the Court prevented even clear statements by jury forepersons in open court about the finality of their decisions from operating to protect a defendant from “double jeopardy.” This Case Note is one of seven written by California Law Review members for CLR Circuit’s first Case Note program.