Double Jeopardy in Sex Offense Cases

11-24-2010 Tennessee:

Most Tennesseans are familiar with the concept of double jeopardy, the principle that is found in both the United States and Tennessee Constitutions and guarantees all citizens that they cannot be put on trial twice for the same offense. While the doctrine seems simple enough, it has applications that extend far beyond what a simple reading of the constitutional language would reveal to the ordinary reader. One such application is particularly relevant in sexual offense cases, such as rape of a child, sexual abuse by an authority figure, statutory rape, etc., where the double jeopardy provisions of the state and federal constitutions often work to prevent the prosecution from charging a defendant multiple times for different stages of the same criminal act.

In a recent decision of the Tennessee Court of Criminal appeals the Court included the following language regarding the concept of double jeopardy in such cases “when a defendant is charged with a sexual offense, the defendant may not be convicted of two offenses when the conduct underlying one offense was ‘directly facilitative, and thus incidental, or merely preparatory in the sense of intending to arouse the victim or perpetrator’ for the commission of the second offense” citing State v. Barney, 986 S.W.2d 545, 548 (Tenn. 1999).

Without going into details that are too graphic, this essentially means that a Defendant cannot be charged for two different sexual acts against a victim if one was preparatory or incidental to the other or meant to make the other easier to accomplish. Such a concept may be a godsend to criminal defendants who find themselves facing multiple felony charges for alleged sexual offenses against the same victim, especially accounting for the fact that such charges can be sentenced consecutively against a defendant who is convicted, meaning that the defendant can end up facing a large sentence even though he or she may have been sentenced to multiple relatively short sentences.

Tennesseans who have been charged with sexual offenses should not waste time in beginning to fight the charges. Contact a skilled criminal defense attorney today for assistance with your case. ..Source.. by Baker Associates