Evans v. Michigan

568 U.S. 313 (2013)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
E
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Evans v. Michigan

United States Supreme Court
568 U.S. 313 (2013)

AR

Facts

Lamar Evans (defendant) was accused of burning down an unoccupied home. In its prosecution, the state (plaintiff) charged Evans with “burning other real property.” At the close of the state’s case, Evans moved for a directed verdict of acquittal. Evans pointed out that although regular arson required the offender to burn the dwelling house of another, the law he was charged under stated that the building could not be a dwelling house. The state’s evidence showed that the burned building was in fact a dwelling house, so the trial court granted Evans’s acquittal. The state appealed to the Court of Appeals of Michigan. The appeals court reversed and remanded for further proceedings, finding that the trial court had made a mistake of law. The appeals court held that the burning of other real property was a lesser included offense of arson under Michigan law that did not require the state to prove that the burned building was not a dwelling house. The appeals court also found that Evans could be retried for the offense without violating the Double Jeopardy Clause. Evans appealed, and the Michigan Supreme Court affirmed. Evans appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Sotomayor, J.)

Dissent (Alito, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 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.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure

Key Terms