Bartkus v. Illinois
United States Supreme Court
359 U.S. 121 (1959)
Bartkus (defendant) was tried and acquitted in federal court for robbing a federally insured savings and loan association; weeks later, Illinois indicted him under state law for the same robbery, using evidence the FBI had collected and turned over to state prosecutors. Nothing in the record suggested the state prosecution was a deliberate tool used by federal authorities to end-run the federal acquittal and double-jeopardy protections. Bartkus argued his prior acquittal barred the state prosecution, but the trial court rejected that argument and a jury convicted him.
Whether it is a violation of due process for a defendant acquitted in federal court to later be tried in state court for a similar offense arising from the same conduct.