Essay On Fifth Amendment

The Fifth Amendment was created to protect the basic rights of those who are accused of a crime. It provides protection from unfair methods of prosecution and investigation for many. This amendment allows you to not be punished more than one time for the same crime. Every person accused of a crime has the right to remain silent and the right to a fair trial. At the time this Amendment was created people would be accused could have rights, and this amendment provides protections from unfair methods. The British Court of Equality uses the theory of truth seeking as opposed to the procedures that prosecutors use. This saves them from the burden of proving a case. These courts require the defendant to answer all of the questions that are thrown …show more content…
One well-known case is Smith vs. Massachutes, February 22, 2005. In this case, Melvin T Smith was on trial for illegal possession of a firearm. Smith was ruled not guilty because the state failed to show evidence of the guns in question’s actual length. The state later pointed to the Supreme Court’s ruling that if the gun was a pistol or a revolver it could be admitted as evidence to allow a firearm charge to go to jury. Smith argued that the jury said no and he was not guilty, but putting him on trial again would be a violation of the Fifth Amendment’s double jeopardy clause. This clause states that you cannot be charged for the same crime twice. The state court of appeals rejected Smith’s argument and said that there was no Fifth Amendment violation. The Supreme Court then took a vote. They decided that if a judge ruled the defendant not guilty then they could not reverse the not guilty verdict at a later trial. Would this be a violation of the Fifth Amendment’s double jeopardy clause? The Supreme Court took a vote that lead to a 5-4 win for Smith, but this method was not available at the time of Smith’s trial. Some courts have misinterpreted the amendment like in the Smith vs. Massachutes