Ricketts, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, et al. v. Adamson
Decided June 22, 1987. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 86-6 · 483 U.S. 1 (1987) · Cited 439 times
Holding
Respondent's prosecution for first-degree murder did not violate double jeopardy principles, since his breach of the plea agreement removed the double jeopardy bar that otherwise would prevail, assuming that under state law second-degree murder is a lesser included offense of first-degree murder.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 5–4.
Majority · 5
- Byron Raymond White · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Antonin Scalia
- Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Dissenting · 4
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- John Paul Stevens
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. · filed a dissenting opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- United States v. Scott · 437 U.S. 82 (1978)
- New York Life Insurance v. Viglas · 297 U.S. 672 (1936)
- United States v. Dinitz · 424 U.S. 600 (1976)
- Boykin v. Alabama · 395 U.S. 238 (1969)
- Mabry v. Johnson · 467 U.S. 504 (1984)
- Johnson v. Zerbst · 304 U.S. 458 (1938)
- North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
- Santobello v. New York · 404 U.S. 257 (1971)
- Blackledge v. Allison · 431 U.S. 63 (1977)
- Brown v. Ohio · 432 U.S. 161 (1977)
- Ohio v. Johnson · 467 U.S. 493 (1984)
- McDougall v. North Carolina · 464 U.S. 865 (1983)
- Jeffers v. United States · 432 U.S. 137 (1977)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- United States v. Broce · 488 U.S. 563 (1989)
- Gomez v. United States · 490 U.S. 858 (1989)
- United States v. Mezzanatto · 513 U.S. 196 (1995)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1987). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).