Blackledge v. Perry
United States Supreme Court
417 U.S. 21 (1974)
Facts
Perry (defendant) was in prison when he got into a fight with another inmate. Perry was charged with the misdemeanor of assault with a deadly weapon. He was convicted in the district court. Under North Carolina law, a defendant convicted in the district court has a right to a trial de novo in the superior court. Perry therefore filed notice of appeal to the superior court. However, the prosecutor then obtained an indictment charging Perry with felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or cause serious injury. Perry entered a plea of guilty. Perry subsequently filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court. He argued that his felony indictment was a penalty for exercising his right to a trial de novo and therefore violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court granted the writ, and the court of appeals affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Stewart, J.)
Dissent (Rehnquist, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 705,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 44,300 briefs, keyed to 983 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
