Blueford v. Arkansas
United States Supreme Court
566 U.S. 599 (2012)
- Written by Alex Ruskell, JD
Facts
Alex Blueford (defendant) was charged with capital murder for the death of one-year-old Matthew McFadden, his girlfriend’s son. During trial, the court instructed the jury that the charge of capital murder in Arkansas included the three lesser offenses of first-degree murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide. Before the jury concluded deliberations, the jury foreperson announced that the jury was unanimous against guilt on the charges of capital and first-degree murder, deadlocked on manslaughter, and had not yet voted on negligent homicide. The court told the jury to deliberate further, but when the jury could still not reach a verdict, the court declared a mistrial. The state (plaintiff) sought to retry Blueford for Matthew’s death. Blueford moved to have the capital and first-degree murders dismissed, asserting that they were barred by double jeopardy. The Arkansas Circuit Court denied Blueford’s motion, and the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed. Blueford appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Roberts, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 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.
