The case against a man accused of killing a Detroit synagogue leader was dismissed by the judge, who referred to the Double Jeopardy Clause in the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for substantially the same crime.
Samantha Wall, the president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit, Michigan, was stabbed to death outside her home last October in an attack which was first suspected of being antisemitic, fuelled by the Israel-Hamas war, though the allegation hasn’t been proved.
A jury in July acquitted Jackson-Bolanos of first-degree premeditated murder. But it couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on a separate charge of felony murder, which in Michigan is murder committed during another crime. In this case, prosecutors alleged a home invasion, reports The Times of Israel.
Last Friday, the judge ruled out a second trial based on a 2009 US Supreme Court decision involving partial jury verdicts.
Van Houten said it was a “poor decision” but that she had to apply it to Jackson-Bolanos. She dismissed the remaining murder and home invasion charges. Prosecutors pledged to appeal, after which the judge sentenced Jackson-Bolanos to 18 months in prison for lying to police during the investigation. Defence attorney Brian Brown asked for probation.
It is a victory for Jackson-Bolanos, who has repeatedly declared his innocence, testifying in his own defence, insisting that he had no role but admitting that he touched Woll’s body when he found it while in the neighbourhood. Blood spots were on his coat.
Prosecutors acknowledged that the pending murder charge probably had to be dismissed, but it still was a blow in the highly publicized case.
Photo credit: David Guralnick/Detroit News/AP
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