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Roesser v. State

The doctrine of collateral estoppel prohibited the defendant's retrial for voluntary manslaughter.

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A jury acquitted Christopher Roesser of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault, but was unable to reach a verdict on the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter. When the State sought to retry Roesser for voluntary manslaughter, he filed a plea in bar asserting double jeopardy based on collateral estoppel. The trial court denied the plea, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. See Roesser v. State, 316 Ga. App. 850 1 730 SE2d 641 2012. We granted the writ of certiorari to consider whether the doctrine of collateral estoppel or issue preclusion prohibits a retrial. Because double jeopardy bars the prosecution from relitigating any issue decided by the jury’s acquittal at the previous trial, we conclude that the doctrine of collateral estoppel prohibits the State from retrying Roesser for voluntary manslaughter. Therefore, we reverse.

A Gwinnett County grand jury indicted Roesser for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of Kevin Price on December 20, 2006. At his first trial in 2008, a jury found Roesser guilty of all indicted charges. He filed a motion for a new trial, which the trial court granted on the grounds that it gave an erroneous jury instruction.

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