Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Re: charge in 2 state

If they are truly the same charge for the same offense, then no they cannot charge him again.

Virginia and North Carolina are different governments. So they can each bring separate charges. It is possible to offend the laws of NC and separately offend the laws of VA.

However, it is not physically possible to steal a car both in VA and NC. The offense would have to occur within the jurisdiction of one or the other. It could not be an offense that HAPPENED within the jurisdiction of both.

The key here is which State has jurisdiction.

But if it is a slightly different offense, such as stealing the car in NC and selling it as stolen property in VA, that might be possible.

A similar situation would apply to the credit cards. Although these are in a group, so I don't know what is going on exactly, the claim that these happened within the jurisdiction of NC would be a decision of another State that VA would have to respect under the "full faith and credit" provision.

So either the credit card offenses happened in NC or VA, but not both -- unless they are different issues.

The question is NOT whether both States can bring charges for violations of their own laws. THEY CAN. They are separate governments.

The key issue is can 2 different States have jurisdiction over the same offense? Usually, the offense either occurred in one state or the other State, not in both.

And NC's determination that IT had jurisdiction is a judgment that VA is bound to respect under the "full faith and credit" clause of the U.S. Constitution. NC's decision that IT had jurisdiction is final -- because the case is final in NC.