Divans v. California

Background

The applicant is a man facing a murder charge in Santa Clara County, California. He asked this Court to stay the state trial and block a retrial, arguing the Double Jeopardy Clause prevents being tried again. In July 1977 he filed an earlier similar stay request, which was denied. During the next Term both Justice Brennan and Justice Rehnquist again denied a second stay application. At the state level the Superior Court found that a trial error causing a mistrial was not intentionally committed by the prosecutor to force the defendant to seek a mistrial.

Reasoning

The central question was whether claims that a prosecutor acted in bad faith could prevent a second trial. Justice Rehnquist, speaking as Circuit Justice, reviewed the applicant’s renewed motion and the new evidence he claimed to have found. The applicant presented only his own assertions, and the papers before the Court contained no findings that contradicted the Superior Court’s conclusion. State courts repeatedly issued summary rejections of the bad-faith claim, and Justice Rehnquist said those rulings left him convinced the Supreme Court would not agree to review the double-jeopardy issue. For those reasons he denied the stay.

Real world impact

This order allows the California criminal process to continue and permits a retrial of the murder charges. The ruling is a procedural denial of relief and is not a final decision on whether the Constitution forbids retrial in this case. The outcome now rests on the state courts unless new, convincing evidence or state-court findings arise that contradict the Superior Court’s original finding; in that event the Supreme Court’s view could change.