Double jeopardy does not apply, the state’s Court of Appeals narrowly said, when it ruled a former University of Mississippi student acquitted by a judge should be tried again for the near fatal stabbing of a Tennessee man in 2019.
Union County Circuit Judge Kent Smith had ruled in 2023 that the prosecution violated Lane Mitchell’s constitutional right to compulsory process – specifically to command the victim to testify as a defense witness – in issuing an order of acquittal of attempted murder. The appeals court ruled the acquittal was not based on the evidence.
The 5-4 ruling sent the case back to the trial court. Appeals Court Judge John Weddle, formerly the district attorney of counties in northeast Mississippi, recused himself…