Case Study: Bravo Fernandez V. United States
Bravo Fernandez v. United States is a court case that deals with Double Jeopardy. Double Jeopardy can be defined as “the prosecution of a person twice for the same offense (dictionary.com). ” Bravo Fernandez v. United States was argued on October 4th, 2016, because of an incident that took place in May of 2005. Mr. Fernandez, whom is the president of a private security firm in Puerto Rico, and Hector Martinez-Maldonado who is a member of the Senate. Both traveled to Las Vegas to watch a boxing match. Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Martinez-Maldonado were indicted for the trips payment. The charges were violation of the federal bribery statute, conspiracy, and the Travel Act. These charges tied Mr. Martinez-Maldonado’s support of legislation beneficial
to the security firm, in which Mr. Fernandez is president of. Mr. Martinez-Maldonado was found guilty on the charges of violating the federal briber statute, but he was found not guilty of conspiracy and violating the Travel Act. However, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit relinquished the convictions for violating the federal bribery statute due to the fact that the jury was improperly instructed about what the government needed to prove, which lead to this particular case being remanded. With The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacating the conviction, the district court entered an acquitted order (which means to discharge completely). This order was thrown out, because the government was able to clarify the appellate court’s decision on the federal bribery conviction. This lead to the reinstatement of the original charges held against defendant, however due to the Double Jeopardy Clause he could not be rescinded, but the district court denied this motion. This case implies that Double Jeopardy Claus does not prevent the government from retrying an individual after a verdict form a jury already came to a decision. The decision for this case was decided on November 29th, 2016.
to the security firm, in which Mr. Fernandez is president of. Mr. Martinez-Maldonado was found guilty on the charges of violating the federal briber statute, but he was found not guilty of conspiracy and violating the Travel Act. However, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit relinquished the convictions for violating the federal bribery statute due to the fact that the jury was improperly instructed about what the government needed to prove, which lead to this particular case being remanded. With The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacating the conviction, the district court entered an acquitted order (which means to discharge completely). This order was thrown out, because the government was able to clarify the appellate court’s decision on the federal bribery conviction. This lead to the reinstatement of the original charges held against defendant, however due to the Double Jeopardy Clause he could not be rescinded, but the district court denied this motion. This case implies that Double Jeopardy Claus does not prevent the government from retrying an individual after a verdict form a jury already came to a decision. The decision for this case was decided on November 29th, 2016.