A highly-fractured Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an opinion that refused to extend double jeopardy protections. The defendant sought to bar a retrial after the Superior Court vacated his conviction, holding that the Commonwealth violated Batson when it struck a potential juror based on race. The defendant moved to preclude a successive prosecution based on double jeopardy and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent decision in Commonwealth v. Johnson. Though the Supreme Court reaffirmed that Article I, Section 10 of the Pennsylvania Constitution affords broader protection than the federal Double Jeopardy Clause, it refused to bar retrial.
