Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Double Jeapordy

Mr. Simpson can't be retried for his alleged role in the murders (so far the former football great has maintained his innocence). If he were to publicly admit he did it, in my opinion this would be a foolish move on his part and might lead to some sort of further legal trouble for him.

Re: Double Jeapordy

Putting Simpson on trial again on the same charges would be double jeopardy, period. This is true regardless of what he might say or of what additional evidence might come to light in the future.

One element of double jeopardy is that the charges must all be brought by the same sovereign power. Simpson was prosecuted by the state of California, but there is no bar to a subsequent federal prosecution. The feds could only prosecute him for violating a federal law. Murder is governed by state law, but he could conceivably be charged with violating the victims' civil rights or some other federal offense.

It is possible that California could charge Mr. Simpson with violating different state laws in connection with the same killings, but such charges might still be deemed double jeopardy. This area of the law is rather nuanced and I can't offer a detailed explanation of why some charges might be barred or why others might not.

Regardless of which government would hypothetically bring a new case against Mr. Simpson, the charges would have to be filed before their applicable limitation periods expire. After more than twelve years there are only a limited number of crimes which could still be charged.