Appellate panel weighs double‑jeopardy remedy and prior‑bad‑acts evidence in Rollins case

At an appellate oral argument, attorneys debated whether retrial of a defendant identified in the transcript as Mr. Rollins violated double jeopardy and whether testimony about an earlier uncharged sexual incident was admissible under Rule 404(b).

Miss Trent, the appellant’s counsel, argued the retrial was barred because a jury at the first trial had returned a not‑guilty finding on what the parties identified as count 1, and the defense contends the second trial therefore exposed the defendant to successive prosecutions for the same offense. Counsel said the double‑jeopardy question arose from the judge’s handling of the verdicts and the trial court’s subsequent entry of judgment for a lesser included offense rather than ordering a new trial.

The state, represented at argument by Davy Douglas, told the panel the trial court’s remedy was proper. Douglas cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s Morris v. Matthews and state cases to argue…