Article I, Section 14 of the Texas Constitution ("Double Jeopardy")

Adopted February 15, 1876:

No person, for the same offence [sic], shall be twice put in jeopardy of life or liberty, nor shall a person be again put upon trial for the same offence [sic], after a verdict of not guilty in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Editor Comments

Note that the Fifth Amendment to the federal constitution reads in part: "[N]or shall any person be subject for the same offence [sic] to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb."

Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

  • Ex parte Lewis, 219 S.W.3d 335, 336-37 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007) (footnotes omitted) ("In Bauder v. State, we interpreted the Double Jeopardy provision of the Texas Constitution more expansively, to cover 'reckless' conduct, holding that retrial would also be barred 'when the prosecutor was aware but consciously disregarded the risk that an objectionable event for which he was responsible would require a mistrial at the defendant's request.' We granted review to reexamine Bauder's holding. We conclude that Bauder should be overruled and that the proper rule under the Texas Constitution is the rule articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Oregon v. Kennedy.")

Historic Decisions

  • Stephens v. State, 806 S.W.2d 812, 814-15 (Tex.Crim.App. 1990) (citations omitted) ("The prohibition against double jeopardy is found in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. A similar provision may be found in Art. I, § 14 of the Texas Constitution. The Fifth Amendment prohibition against double jeopardy is fully applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment. Conceptually, the State and Federal double jeopardy provisions are identical. . . . The central issue in this case was reserved by the Supreme Court in Greene v. Massey, namely, whether appellate reversal of a conviction for a greater offense precludes retrial for a lesser offense.")
  • Thomas v. State, 40 Tex. 36, 38 (1874) ("The right to interpose this ground of defense is not derived from the code, but from the constitution. It is a right secured to the citizen by all of our American constitutions, which declare that 'no person for the same offense shall be twice put in jeopardy of life,' etc. Const. art. 1, sec. 12. This right had been established . . . . Its meaning and the extent of its application had also been settled by that law, both in England and America, before Texas had existence as a state. When, then, this right was declared in the constitution, it is undoubtedly presumed that the same construction and application of it was designed to be secured.")

Library Resources

Online Resources