NO RETRIAL FOR L.A. COPS.(Main)

Byline: Alan Dershowitz

As a civil libertarian who believes in the Bill of Rights, I cannot be enthusiastic about the prospect that the four policemen who were acquitted by a California state jury of assaulting Rodney King may now be tried again for the same acts by the federal government. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that no person shall "be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." To place the four policemen on trial again in the federal courts would seem to violate both the letter and spirit of the "double-jeopardy" clause. (The cop who had a hung jury on one count may be retried, without compromising the protection against double jeopardy.)

But the Supreme …