CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire’s Supreme Court has reversed an assault conviction for a woman who was previously acquitted on another charge stemming from the same incident.
Both charges arise from a case in 2009. Jamie Locke was found guilty as serving as an accomplice to the attempted murder of Jonathan Evans, who was beaten and thrown unconscious into the Merrimack River. A judge later set the verdict aside, saying Locke was accused of acting “recklessly,” but New Hampshire courts haven’t addressed whether someone can commit attempted reckless murder.
Locke objected to her second trial, on assault, saying it would violate her constitutional guarantees against double jeopardy. The judge denied that and she was convicted.
The Supreme Court justices said Friday they were “troubled” prosecutors brought the charge after the first trial, even though all the charges arose from the same episode.
The court went on to say it resolved Locke’s case on common law grounds, and so did not address the merits of her constitutional arguments.
The court invited parties in future cases to “ask us to reconsider our double jeopardy jurisprudence” based on what’s been decided and to suggest a formulation of the double jeopardy test to be applied under the state constitution.
