Law Commons^™

Double Jeopardy And The Commonwealth's Right To Writs Of Error In Criminal Cases, Roger D. Scott

University of Richmond Law Review

In the 1986 legislative session, the Virginia General Assembly attempted to produce a constitutional amendment designed to expand the right of Commonwealth's Attorneys to appeal criminal cases. The Virginia Constitution prohibits appeals by the commonwealth in criminal cases in which the accused might be sentenced to death or imprisonment, unless the case involves state revenue. Advocates of an amendment to expand prosecutorial appeals have never fully explained the historical context of the prohibition against such appeals and their complex relationship to other constitutional, statutory, and common law provisions. The subject of prosecutorial appeals involves such fundamental legal issues as former …