New York Court of Appeals
The People of the State of New York v. Frank Acevedo
May 5, 198769 N.Y.2d 478
Summary
The New York Court of Appeals held that collateral estoppel may preclude the relitigation of evidentiary facts in a subsequent criminal prosecution and that the defendant's acquittal in the first robbery trial necessarily decided his presence at the gas station, thereby barring that issue in the second trial. The Court further found the admission of the prior witness's testimony in the second trial was error not harmless and reversed the Appellate Division, ordering a new trial.