Double Jeopardy Case Study

In 2008, Luis M. Sanchez Valle was charged by the federal courts with trafficking weapons and ammunition in interstate commerce, and then was charged for the same offense by the Puerto Rican Courts. After Valle was convicted in federal, he filed a motion to dismiss the Puerto Rican Court’s ruling, saying it violated his 5th Amendment right to protection from Double Jeopardy. The prosecution argued that the United States and Puerto Rico derive their authority from different sources, and therefore can punish the same offenses without breaking his constitutional protections against double jeopardy. The case went through the trial court and then the court of appeals, which both agreed with Valle. It is now moving on to the Supreme Court.
In Benton v. Maryland, John Dalmer Benton was acquitted of larceny and convicted of burglary in Maryland, and after undergoing a new trial, he was

Valle deals with an individual's right to protection from double jeopardy, named in the 5th Amendment, but is different in many ways from precedents before it. This is because would-be precedents have overwhelmingly only dealt with how states laws against double jeopardy clash with those with the federal courts provide. This case deals with both the United States. and Puerto Rico charging an individual, in this case Sanchez Valle, with the same offense. The Puerto Rican constitution is modeled after the U.S.s own, but a lot of grey area remains. The majority of the U.S.’s precedent cases have ruled in favor of the individual at stake, as the majority of justices have agreed that all individuals have the right to fair trial. As an individual placed in double jeopardy would lose their fundamental rights provided by the constitution, even if it is not considered to be as important as the right to free speech, or even if the charges are made by separate sovereign entities, should not be tolerated. All charges against Luis M. Sanchez Valle made in federal are