United States v. Wilson

Decided February 25, 1975. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-1395 · 420 U.S. 332 (1975) · Cited 1,334 times

Holding

When a trial judge rules in favor of the defendant after a guilty verdict has been entered by the trier of fact, the Government may appeal from that ruling without contravening the Double Jeopardy Clause.

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 7–2.

“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. Sisson · 399 U.S. 267 (1970)
• United States v. Ball · 163 U.S. 662 (1896)
• Fong Foo v. United States · 369 U.S. 141 (1962)
• United States v. Marion · 404 U.S. 307 (1971)
• United States v. Perez · 22 U.S. 579 (1824)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
• Ashe v. Swenson · 397 U.S. 436 (1970)
• Benton v. Maryland · 395 U.S. 784 (1969)
• Green v. United States · 355 U.S. 184 (1957)
• United States v. Jorn · 400 U.S. 470 (1971)
• Stroud v. United States · 251 U.S. 15 (1919)
• Forman v. United States · 361 U.S. 416 (1960)
• Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
• Ex Parte Lange · 85 U.S. 163 (1874)
• Helvering v. Mitchell · 303 U.S. 391 (1938)
• Bartkus v. Illinois · 359 U.S. 121 (1959)
• United States v. Tateo · 377 U.S. 463 (1964)
• United States v. Borden Co. · 308 U.S. 188 (1939)
• Nielsen · 131 U.S. 176 (1889)
• One Lot Emerald Cut Stones and One Ring v. United States · 409 U.S. 232 (1972)
• United States v. Bramblett · 348 U.S. 503 (1955)
• United States v. Shotwell Manufacturing Co. · 355 U.S. 233 (1957)
• United States v. Green · 350 U.S. 415 (1956)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co. · 430 U.S. 564 (1977)
• United States v. DiFrancesco · 449 U.S. 117 (1980)
• United States v. Scott · 437 U.S. 82 (1978)
• Arizona v. Rumsey · 467 U.S. 203 (1984)
• Breed v. Jones · 421 U.S. 519 (1975)
• Sanabria v. United States · 437 U.S. 54 (1978)
• Arizona v. Manypenny · 451 U.S. 232 (1981)
• United States v. Morrison · 429 U.S. 1 (1976)
• United States v. Dixon · 509 U.S. 688 (1993)
• Schiro v. Farley · 510 U.S. 222 (1994)
• Carlisle v. United States · 517 U.S. 416 (1996)
• Lee v. United States · 432 U.S. 23 (1977)
• Burks v. United States · 437 U.S. 1 (1978)
• United States v. Dinitz · 424 U.S. 600 (1976)
• Crist v. Bretz · 437 U.S. 28 (1978)
• Jeffers v. United States · 432 U.S. 137 (1977)
• Justices of Boston Municipal Court v. Lydon · 466 U.S. 294 (1984)
• Smalis v. Pennsylvania · 476 U.S. 140 (1986)
• Ludwig v. Massachusetts · 427 U.S. 618 (1976)
• Swisher v. Brady · 438 U.S. 204 (1978)
• Almendarez-Torres v. United States · 523 U.S. 224 (1998)
• Tibbs v. Florida · 457 U.S. 31 (1982)
• Brown v. Ohio · 432 U.S. 161 (1977)
• Ohio v. Johnson · 467 U.S. 493 (1984)
• Garrett v. United States · 471 U.S. 773 (1985)
• United States v. Rodgers · 461 U.S. 677 (1983)
• United States v. Loud Hawk · 474 U.S. 302 (1986)
• United States v. Ceccolini · 435 U.S. 268 (1978)
• Caspari v. Bohlen · 510 U.S. 383 (1994)
• Smith v. Massachusetts · 543 U.S. 462 (2005)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1975). 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).