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jeopardy

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Legal, Idioms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.06 sec.
jeopardy, in law, condition of a person charged with a crime and thus in danger of punishment. At common law common law, system of law that prevails in England and in countries colonized by England. The name is derived from the medieval theory that the law administered by the king's courts represented the common custom of the realm, as opposed to the custom of local
..... Click the link for more information.  a defendant could be exposed to jeopardy for the same offense only once; exposing a person twice is known as

double jeopardy. Double jeopardy is prohibited in federal and state courts by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The concept refers to an offense, not to an act giving rise to an offense; therefore, it is possible to try a person for multiple violations arising from a single act (e.g., assault, attempted murder, and carrying a deadly weapon). Jeopardy does not exist until the jury jury, body convened to make decisions of fact in legal proceedings.

Development of the Modern Jury



Historians do not agree on the origin of the English jury.
..... Click the link for more information.  is sworn in, or, if there is no jury, until evidence is introduced. The prohibition of double jeopardy does not preclude a second trial if the first court lacked jurisdiction (authority), if there was error in the proceedings, or if the jury could not reach a verdict. A similar principle, known as res judicata, operates in civil suits. It holds that once a civil case has been finally decided on the merits the same parties can not litigate it again. In England and Wales, revisions to criminal law that took effect in 2005 now permit the Court of Appeal to order a person acquitted of a crime to be retried if there is "new and compelling" evidence.
jeopardy
Law danger of being convicted and punished for a criminal offence


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
An Assassin is not in jeopardy when tried in California.
Fantastic-Fables by Bierce, Ambrose View in context
His greatest admirer could not have cordially justified his bringing his harpoon into breakfast with him, and using it there without ceremony; reaching over the table with it, to the imminent jeopardy of many heads, and grappling the beefsteaks towards him.
Moby Dick I-LXVII by Melville, Herman View in context
They who promote the idea of substituting a number of distinct confederacies in the room of the plan of the convention, seem clearly to foresee that the rejection of it would put the continuance of the Union in the utmost jeopardy.
Federalist Papers Authored by John Jay by Jay, John View in context
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