Constitutional Law – Former Jeopardy – Retrial for Greater Offense After Conviction of Lesser Included Offense Reversed on Appeal

Defendant was indicted by the District of Columbia grand jury on counts charging both arson and murder in the first degree for a death caused by the arson. He was convicted of arson and second-degree murder, the jury returning no verdict on the first-degree murder charge. On appeal the conviction of second-degree murder was reversed because the evidence permitted only a conviction of first-degree murder or an acquittal. On remand defendant was retried on the original indictment for first-degree ·murder, convicted, and sentenced to death over his objection of former jeopardy. The court of appeals, sitting en banc, affirmed the conviction 6-to-3. On appeal to the Supreme Court, held, reversed, four justices dissenting. Defendant had been placed in double jeopardy in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184 (1957).