Double Jeopardy and Fracture

Anthony hopkins is such amazing actor he has nothing to prove.Yes will all love our tony in Lector films but all his films are unique as so is he.Always a pleasure to watch charming & witty, all in all you got to hand it to the man he is nearly 70 years old and still going strong properly doing more than most young man do. Fracture was great and nothing else compares.We love you Tony have a great birthday end of the year look forward to next movies!Can't wait.

It's A GREAT MOVIE BUT TO MY UNDERSTANDING YOU COULD NOT go to trial again on the same crime he could still be sued civilly for the murder.

The Fifth Amendment provision, "nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb," has been made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment (Due Process Clause).

There are exceptions to this rule. If all the elements that constitute the second offense have not occurred at the time of the trial of the lesser offense, or the prosecution, using reasonable diligence, could not have been aware of all of these elements, the defendant may be tried later for the greater offense. For example, if the defendant injuries the victim, he/she may be tried and convicted for assault and battery, and may later be tried for murder if the victim dies after the first trial. However, even the victim's subsequent death would not permit a subsequent trial for murder if the defendant had been acquitted of assault and battery.

Furthermore, the act of "pulling the plug" on his wife would also not constitute murder as it was done legally,(since he's still her next-of-kin and is allowed to make such decisions; ignore for now whether he might be denied such status, perhaps on the grounds that his culpability in her death could be proved by a preponderance of the evidence or even clear and convincing evidence, even though it wasn't proved beyond a reasonable doubt at the criminal trial).

Therefore, Hopkins couldn't be tried again.

to:Arian Taherzadeh- Would you not also agree that because his "shot" was not the cause of death he could under no circumstances be held for murder reguardless of new evidence. However would you also agree that had she died in the coma from medical wounds suffered from the gunshot he could have been tried. But since the doctor even said she would outlive her husband that shot had no negative medical effects to have caused an untimly death?

Tyler Douglas wrote:

to:Arian Taherzadeh- Would you not also agree that because his "shot" was not the cause of death he could under no circumstances be held for murder reguardless of new evidence. However would you also agree that had she died in the coma from medical wounds suffered from the gunshot he could have been tried. But since the doctor even said she would outlive her husband that shot had no negative medical effects to have caused an untimly death?

Even had she later died due to her injuries from the gunshot, he could not have been tried for murder as he was "acquitted" of the attempted murder charge. In the eyes of the law, he technically didn't pull the trigger and shoot her in the face. Thus, his actions were not the cause of her death. However, had he been found guilty of the attempted murder charge; it would be possible to later upgrade his charges to murder, based on the fact that he was convicted of the original, lessor charge, thereby implicating him in her death.

Adrian,
Now, say someone is tried for assault and found not guilty but then the person they assaulted died as a result of the injury from the assault, the assaulter can be tried with murder. Can you be tried a second time for different charges resulting from the same incident?

Jhj wrote:

Adrian,
Now, say someone is tried for assault and found not guilty but then the person they assaulted died as a result of the injury from the assault, the assaulter can be tried with murder. Can you be tried a second time for different charges resulting from the same incident?

Remember at the end of the movie Hopkins admitted to committing the crime.

Jhj wrote:

Adrian,
Now, say someone is tried for assault and found not guilty but then the person they assaulted died as a result of the injury from the assault, the assaulter can be tried with murder. Can you be tried a second time for different charges resulting from the same incident?

If they were found not guilty of the assault then there could not be a charge for murder resulting from the same incident. In simple terms: Suspect allegedly shoots victim > Victim doesn't die > Suspect charged with assault with a weapon > Defendant found "not guilty" in court > Victim later dies > Defendant cannot be charged with murder since they are "innocent" of the assault which lead to victim's death.

Not sure of the details, but I think a smart lawyer could bring new charges against Hopkins under the circumstances presented in the movie (criminal and civil).

*He did legally pull the plug on his wife's life support, however there could be some evidence here that he was attempting some sort of fraud.

*Though he was found not guilty in the criminal case, a wrongful death suit could be filed in civil court where the burden of proof would be pushed back on the defense, forcing hopkins to prove his actions in no way attributed to his wife's untimely death.

whether double jeopardy can apply in the movie double jeopady?