PETITIONER:Frank Palko
RESPONDENT:Connecticut
LOCATION: Fairfield County Trial Court
RESPONDENT:Connecticut
LOCATION: Fairfield County Trial Court
DOCKET NO.: 135
DECIDED BY: Hughes Court (1937-1938)
LOWER COURT:
ARGUED: Nov 12, 1937
DECIDED: Dec 06, 1937
ADVOCATES:
David Goldstein – for the appellant
George A. Saden – for the appellant
William H. Comley – for the appellee
Facts of the case
Frank Palko had been charged with first-degree murder. He was convicted instead of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The state of Connecticut appealed and won a new trial; this time the court found Palko guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death.
Question
Does Palko’s second conviction violate the protection against double jeopardy guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment because this protection applies to the states by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause?