Criminal Law Report: Gamble v. United States, Criminal Law 1, 2020

This report delves into the legal doctrine of Double Jeopardy, with a specific focus on the Gamble v. United States case. It explores the rare circumstances in which Double Jeopardy can be violated, including instances of unsatisfactory prosecution and the introduction of new evidence. The report highlights the concept of 'Separate Sovereignty,' explaining how a single act can violate both state and federal statutes, leading to separate prosecutions, as seen in the Gamble case. The report further clarifies why Double Jeopardy violations are infrequent, emphasizing the collaboration between prosecutors from different jurisdictions to avoid duplication of work. The report also provides a detailed analysis of the legal principles involved, referencing the American Bar Association and the Legal Information Institute.

[Double Jeopardy]
Gamble v. United States
2020
University
Student Credentials

Criminal Law 1
Question 1
There are very rare situations in which the doctrine of Double Jeopardy can be
violated. These reasons include, unsatisfactory prosecution, political pressure, and
introduction of new evidence and even in scenarios where the crime committed is punishable
by two different legislatures at the same time at the same place. This can be well elaborated
upon when the case of Gamble v United States, No. 17-646, 587 U.S. (2019) is discussed,
where Gamble violated the state’s statutes as well as the federal statute, which is why he was
punished by two different sovereigns, which is the state of Alabama and United States as well
(Yesko, 2018).
Question 2
It is so rare because, there are only a certain cases that fulfil the conditions, to be
considered by two different courts or even when ideology of one court or jurisdiction is
different from the other in the same case. As prosecutors from different courts have different
take on a certain case they try to work them out together in order to obtain the best possible
prosecution. This helps in avoiding any kind of duplication of their work, considering their
powers. These try to work in accordance and with the advice and help of each other as they
might have different understanding of the case (American Bar Association, 2017).
Question 3
Though there are very rare cases where the doctrine of Double Jeopardy is breached,
but, in the case of Gamble v United States, this disregard towards the Double Jeopardy was
done on the basis of the doctrine of ‘Separate Sovereignty’ (Legal Information Institute,
2020). As the crime committed by Gamble involved two kinds of different sovereigns which
were the state as well as the federal. In this case, Gamble violated the statute of ‘Felon –

Criminal Law 2
Possession’ of the state of Alabama and also violated the federal statute which led to
offending the United States (Epps, 2018).

Criminal Law 3
Bibliography
American Bar Association. (2017). Criminal Justice Standards for the Prosecution Function.
Retrieved February 09, 2020, from American Bar Association:
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/criminal_justice/standards/ProsecutionFunctionF
ourthEdition/
Epps, G. (2018, December 5). There’s an Exception to the Double-Jeopardy Rule. Retrieved
February 09, 2020, from The Atlantic:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/gamble-v-united-states-case-
double-jeopardy/577342/
Legal Information Institute. (2020). Separate sovereigns doctrine. Retrieved February 09,
2020, from Legal Information Institute:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/separate_sovereigns_doctrine
Yesko, P. (2018, May 1). How can someone be tried six times for the same crime? Retrieved
February 09, 2020, from APM Reports:
https://www.apmreports.org/story/2018/05/01/how-can-someone-be-tried-six-times-
for-the-same-crime