double jeopardy (isn't real)

dumb criminals ONE CRACKED FACT | [View in Browser]( [logo]( A Guy Bragged About His Murder to the Prosecutor, Thinking He Was Home Free By: [RM Avatar] [Ryan Menezes]( • September 23, 2021 [09232021]( It's true crime week at Cracked. Check back all week for more stories of murder and mystery! Not all murders are equal. When Paul Warner Powell went on trial for killing a 16-year-old in 1999, it was pretty clear he had committed murder. But exactly how the murder had gone, and how bad it was, well, that was something investigators couldn't quite prove. Powell was sentenced to the death penalty, but he appealed and got that verdict vacated. The murder lacked aggravating factors, so it wasn't a capital offense, said the Virginia Supreme Court. Powell was sentenced to life in prison. He figured he was stuck there—there was nothing better or worse the state could do to him now. So he had nothing to lose. He wrote to the prosecutor. "Mr. Ebert," he wrote, "Since I have already been indicted on first degree murder and the Va. Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on Jan. 29, 1999, to show you how stupid all of y'all." He then went into explicit, gloating detail about the murder. He ended by writing, "I would like to thank you for saving my life. I know you're probably wondering how you saved my life, so I'll tell you ... The first was the way you worded my capital murder indictment. The second was the comment you made in your closing argument when you said we won't know because he won't tell us. One more time, thank you." Powell thought they couldn't retry him as that would be double jeopardy. But like a lot of people, he didn't quite understand what double jeopardy is. The worst example of this is surely the movie Double Jeopardy, which says that if you're found not guilty of killing someone once, you can then actually kill them and the state can't charge you. Powell's idea—that a vacated verdict was gone forever—wasn't as dumb, but it was still wrong. The fact was, Powell hadn't been acquitted of anything, so double jeopardy didn't apply. They retried him, found him newly guilty, and this time sentenced him to die. For more criminal incompetence, check out: - [8 Criminals Who Took Dumbassery to Staggering Heights]( - [The 6 Stupidest Things Done by Criminals in Front of Cops]( - [7 Criminals Who Made Getting Caught Look Easy]( Top Image: [Eugene Chystiakov/Unsplash]( [Daily Digest]( [That Time Soccer Fields Nearly Caused Another Cuban Missile Crisis]( [By Ethan Tyrrell / September 23rd, 2021]( [14 "Unsolved" Mysteries With Boring, Obvious, Or Straight-Up Lame Explanations]( [By Jesse / September 23rd, 2021]( [4 Ways The Skin Care Industry Is A Nightmare]( [By Bronwyn Isaac / September 23rd, 2021]( [Uma Thurman Shares She Had an Abortion as a Teen In Light of Texas's New Law]( [By Carly Tennes / September 22nd, 2021]( [Lunchables Are Trash Food, But The Nostalgia Is Real]( [By Oona O'Brien / September 22nd, 2021]( [READ MORE]( [fb]( [tw]( [yt]( [flipboard]( [insta png]( [tiktok png]( [ARTICLES]( | [PICTOFACTS]( | [Videos]( Literally media Ltd. 190 West St, Suite 17B, Brooklyn NY 11222 COPYRIGHT © 2005-2021 Cracked is published by Literally media Ltd. [Unsubscribe](