Double Jeopardy

Name

Institutional Affiliation

Double Jeopardy is a 1999 thriller directed by Bruce Beresford where Ashley Judd plays Elizabeth Parsons who is accused of murdering her husband and sentenced in prison. She spends six years in prison and when she is released, it turns out that her husband faked his death as part of an insurance scam. She discovers that her husband lives down in New Orleans where goes with her parole officer, Tommy Lee Jones (Beresford, 1999). Her husband tries to kill her by placing her in a locked coffin but she survives. Parsons is not impressed by the act and she threatens to murder her husband. Parsons attempts to shoot her husband in a public square and she feels that the act would be safe because she is already convicted of his murder and therefore she cannot be prosecuted again. This makes her feel that she can continue with her plans to murder her husband. She also thought that she would not be found guilty because the body will not be found.

However, because the murder would definitely take place in a different time and place from where she was earlier been accused, if she murders the husband then she will be convicted (Beresford, 1999). Double jeopardy does not apply in the movie because the killing of the husband would have been treated as a second crime committed in a different jurisdiction. Generally the Fifth Amendment that prohibits one from being tried more than once, a situation known as double jeopardy. Libby Parsons feels that she can just murder Nick with impunity but this can see her convicted.

Reference

Goldberg, L. (Producer), & Beresford, B. (Director). (1999). Double Jeopardy [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.