Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Could someone be tried for murder after being acquitted for attempted murder?

I should probably start by admitting that this is a question about a movie and not a pressing legal matter.

In this movie, a man shoots his wife, causing her to go into a coma. He is charged with attempted murder and is acquitted at a jury trial.

After being acquitted, the man orders the doctors to pull the plug on his comatose wife and let her die.

The DA then finds new evidence and gets the man to confess. The movie ends with the man being tried by the same L.A. district attorney for his wife's murder.

That can't really happen, can it? Wouldn't double jeopardy rules prevent him from being charged with a crime based on the exact same action for which he was previously acquitted?


Asked on 4/23/07, 1:59 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Could someone be tried for murder after being acquitted for attempted murder?

You're right - a second prosecution for the shooting would amount to double jeopardy. Confessing after being acquitted would not change this result.

If the act of disconnecting the wife from life support somehow violated the law, the husband and the doctor could be prosecuted for that action.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, under the common law, death must occur within a year and a day of the attack to qualify as murder. Some jurisdictions have modified or eliminated this rule.

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Answered on 4/23/07, 2:20 am


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