North Carolina v. Pearce
United States Supreme Court
395 U.S. 711 (1969)
After Pearce's (defendant's) original conviction was reversed and he was retried, he received a shorter nominal sentence than before, but without credit for time already served, the combined total exceeded his original sentence; a companion case, Rice, involved a similar denial of credit for time served after retrial resulted in a longer sentence. Lower federal courts in both cases held the longer effective sentences unconstitutional, and the states sought Supreme Court review.
Whether it is unconstitutional to deny a reconvicted defendant credit for time already served, and to impose a longer sentence on retrial absent a finding of the defendant's conduct after the original conviction justifying the increase.