Ali, 51, was previously acquitted of piracy, meaning the government couldn’t attempt to retry him on that more serious charge.
Peed said at Wednesday’s hearing that he will argue double jeopardy precludes retrying Ali, citing a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Yeager v. U.S.
In that ruling, the high court said that if the charges all rely on the same basic facts, the defendant’s acquittal on some charges “protects him from prosecution for any charge for which that is an essential element.”
Peed argued that any finding necessary for acquittal of the piracy charge has already been litigated in this case.
He also asked that Ali be released in the meantime. Huvelle didn’t rule on that request from the bench, but she noted that she had released Ali twice before his trial, only to be overturned by the Court of Appeals.
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