murder, as defined in District Code, is killing of another with predetermined malice and is punishable by imprisonment for a term of years or for life. The jury found Green guilty of arson and of second degree murder. Green was sentenced to one to three years' imprisonment for arson and five to twenty years' imprisonment for murder in the second degree. Green appealed his conviction of second degree murder.At the retrial, Green was tried again for first degree murder under the indictment. At the beginning of the trial, he raised the defense of former jeopardy, but the court overruled his plea. He was found guilty and was sentenced to a mandatory death sentence. At this trial, Green was tried again for first degree murder even though the original jury had found him guilty of second degree murder. The second trial for first degree murder placed Green in jeopardy twice for the same offense in violation of the Constitution's Fifth Amendment Double Jeopardy Clause.After the original trial, it was unquestionable that Green could not have been tried again for first degree murder for the death resulting from the fire. A plea of former jeopardy should have been accepted by the trial judge of the second trial period.The Government argued that Green waived his right of former jeopardy by making a successful appeal. The Government also argued that Green extended his original jeopardy so that when his conviction for the second degree murder was reversed and the case ended, he could be tried again for first degree murder without placing him in new jeopardy. It was also said that in order to secure the reversal of the conviction of one offense, Green must give up his valid defense of former jeopardy not only on that offense, but also on a different offense for which he was not convicted and which he was not involved in his appeal. He must exchange his constitutional protection against a second prosecution for an offense punishable by death ...
