Double Jeopardy refers to a second prosecution for the same offense after the acquittal, conviction, or multiple punishments for the same offense. Double Jeopardy seeks to avoid double trial and double conviction. If you feel you have fallen victim to double jeopardy you should call your Bucks County criminal lawyers and get this taken care of quickly.
In the case of Commonwealth v. Ball, double jeopardy was violated when Ball was re-tried on the lesser offense.
In this case, Ball was found not guilty of the crime, and that was the final adjudication of the matter. However, double jeopardy was violated when the magisterial district judge began to hear evidence on the lesser charge brought against Ball. Since Ball was already found not guilty, it was a violation of double jeopardy to re-try Ball on the lesser offense , for which he was cited. For your information the cite of Ball is Commonwealth v. Ball 97 A.3d 397 (Pa.Super. 2014).