The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in USA v. CASTILLO-BASA, No. 05-50768, a criminal appeal. The panel consisted of Stephen Reinhardt, Stephen S. Trott, and Kim McLane Wardlaw, Circuit Judges.

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge:
I This case presents an important question that cuts to the heart of the Double Jeopardy Clause. It involves the right of a defendant to be free from repeated prosecutions in which the government retries him until it obtains a guilty verdict. The government was unable to convict Castillo-Basa the first time it tried him, for illegal reentry, in large part because its counsel failed to locate and present a crucial tape recording that was within its possession. To its surprise, the jury acquitted him. Now, having “found” the tape, the government seeks to prosecute Castillo-Basa again, this time for perjury committed in connection with the illegal reentry trial. The central issue . . .

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