Opinion ID: 1118981
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: did the court of appeals err in affirming the superior court's dismissal of the tampering with evidence indictment?

Text: We hold that the court of appeals correctly decided the double jeopardy issue in this case. Here prosecution of Williams for the crime of tampering with evidence, after his acquittal of murder, would violate the double jeopardy clause of the Alaska Constitution. In reaching this conclusion we adopt the reasoning expressed by Judge Coats in his separate opinion. There, he states in part that he would limit the court's affirmance of the superior court's dismissal of the tampering with evidence indictment to the facts of this case where the prosecution indictment for tampering with evidence used essentially the same evidence as it used to attempt to convict him of murder. In the case before us the dangers of the abuse of the tampering with evidence statute seem apparent. In this case, in fact, the prosecution's theory in the murder case was that since Williams attempted to cover up the murder by tampering with evidence, he must be the person who committed the murder. It seems unfair, after Williams was acquitted of the murder charge, to allow the prosecution to charge and try him for tampering with evidence based on essentially the same evidence that the state presented for the murder charge. [3]