Can the State Re-Charge a Defendant for the Same Crime?

Under Arizona law, a court is prohibited from reopening questions decided in the same case by the same court. Similarly, once a court issues a final judgment in a case, the same parties cannot re-litigate the issue in future proceedings. Essentially, this means that if a court finds you not guilty of a specific crime, the State cannot try you for the same offense down the road. The court’s ruling is final, and this law prohibits defendants from getting prosecuted multiple times for the same offense.

In a recent case, however, the court decided that the prosecution was entitled to reuse evidence from a 2012 case in its 2018 case. The case was centered on a defendant’s personal laptop, which contained photos of nude children. In 2012, when the defendant was first charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, he filed a motion to suppress the incriminating evidence, which the trial court granted. Because there was no incriminating evidence against the defendant, then, the court dismissed the charges.

Six years later, the State re-charged the defendant with the same crime, sexual exploitation of a minor. The defendant again filed a motion to suppress, but this time, the court denied the motion. The case went to trial, and a jury found the defendant guilty as charged. On appeal, the defendant took issue with the fact that the court allowed the prosecution to re-charge him using the same evidence, six years later.

The court denied the defendant’s appeal. The reason the State was able to bring forward the same evidence, said the court, was because the 2012 court’s ruling was not a “final” judgment. All the 2012 court did was deny the motion to suppress. The court’s 2012 ruling was what the legal community calls an “interlocutory” ruling, meaning a ruling in the middle of a case that cannot be appealed. As long as the ruling is not a final judgment, it does not fit into the law preventing the State from re-litigating the issue down the road.

This reality can be frustrating for defendants, as it allows the prosecution to, at times, bypass a law that safeguards individuals’ rights. To find out how this law might apply to you, speak with a Phoenix criminal defense lawyer that can offer you sound advice. When your freedom is at stake, you shouldn’t settle for any attorney but the best.

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If you haven’t yet spoken with an experienced Phoenix criminal defense attorney about your criminal charges, call us today for a free and confidential consultation at (480) 413-1499. You can also fill out our online form to tell us about your case and have an attorney reach back out to you as soon as possible.