Callum Jago, Michael Enslein, Daniel Harris, Jordan Julien, Marco Hosfield
Mr. Crawford
AP American Government P.2
25 November 2013
Benton v Maryland notes
1) Name of the Case: Benton v Maryland
2) Year of the case: 1969
3) Appellant: John Dalmar Benton
4) Apellee: State of Maryland
5) Facts: Tried for larceny and burglary, acquitted of larceny but convicted of burglary.
6) Decision of the lower court: Maryland found Benton guilt of burglary and not larceny, he
appealed and later they found him guilty of both which is double jeopardy. He then
appealed again.
7) Legal Aspects of the Case
John Balmer Benton was arrested for larceny and burglary and was convicted of burglary.
He was not convicted of larceny and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. It was later
decided that his case was unconstitutional and he had the option of a second trial. In his
second trial he was convicted of both larceny and burglary, even though he was previously
acquitted of larceny.
8) The Supreme Court ruled that a person cannot be convicted because of double jeopardy. But
in Maryland one is not protected from double jeopardy according to its state constitution, but the
supreme court ruled that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporated
the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment and made it enforceable against the
states. This was ruled strict because our federal constitution overruled Maryland’s state
constitution and according to the fifth amendment one cannot be placed in double jeopardy.
9) The rule of precedent would be the fifth amendment which states one cannot be tried
twice for the same crime.