Chaffin v. Stynchcombe

Upon retrial following the reversal of his conviction, petitioner was again found guilty and sentenced by the jury to a greater term than had been imposed by the first jury. After exhausting his state court appeals, petitioner was denied habeas corpus on his claim that imposing a higher sentence on retrial was unconstitutional, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Held: The rendition of a higher sentence by a jury upon retrial does not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause, North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 719-721, and does not offend the Due Process Clause as long as the jury is not informed of the prior sentence and the second sentence is not otherwise shown to be a product of vindictiveness. Nor does the possibility of a higher sentence impermissibly "chill" the exercise of a criminal defendant's right to challenge his first conviction by direct appeal or collateral attack. Pp. 23-35.

455 F.2d 640, affirmed.

POWELL, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and WHITE, BLACKMUN, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting statement, post, p. 35. STEWART, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN, J., joined, post, p. 35. MARSHALL, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 38.

Glenn Zell, by appointment of the Court, 409 U.S. 1123, argued the cause and filed a brief for petitioner.

Richard E. Hicks argued the cause for respondent. On the brief were Lewis R. Slaton, Joel M. Feldman, and Carter Goode.^[1]