Under the Fifth Amendment's protection from double jeopardy, a person cannot be
tried twice for the same act. "All the charges against a defendant that grow out of a single
criminal act, occurrence, episode, or transaction" must be tried at the same time.
However, there are some exceptions. The government can retry the case when the jury is
deadlocked and cannot render a verdict; an appellate court orders a retrial because of an error in
an earlier trial; and occasionally when state and federal crimes were committed. Only in cases
that would create a manifest injustice if the defendant were allowed to go free does the federal
government prosecute an individual who has already been tried and convicted or acquitted of an
act that is a state crime and a federal crime. Additionally, when a defendant originally sentenced
to life in prison wins a new trial on appeal, prosecutors may seek the death penalty during the
second trail.