Grady v. Corbin
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 21, 1990 Decided May 29, 1990
Full case name	William V. Grady, District Attorney of Dutchess County v. Thomas J. Corbin
Citations	495 U.S. 508 (more) 110 S. Ct. 2084; 109 L. Ed. 2d 548; 1990 U.S. LEXIS 2698
Case history
Prior	Certiorari to the Court of Appeals of New York
Holding
The Double Jeopardy Clause bars a subsequent prosecution if, to establish an essential element of an offense charged in that prosecution, the government will prove conduct that constitutes an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
Case opinions
Majority	Brennan, joined by White, Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens
Dissent	O'Connor
Dissent	Scalia, joined by Rehnquist, Kennedy
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. V
Overruled by
United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. 688 (1993)
This case overturned a previous ruling or rulings
Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299 (1932)

Grady v. Corbin, 495 U.S. 508 (1990), was a United States Supreme Court decision holding that: "the Double Jeopardy Clause bars a subsequent prosecution if, to establish an essential element of an offense charged in that prosecution, the government will prove conduct that constitutes an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted."^[1]

Background

In the fall of 1987, Thomas Corbin was driving under the influence as he drove his automobile across the center line of a New York highway and collided with two oncoming vehicles. Brenda Dirago, the driver of the second vehicle, died in this accident while her husband was seriously injured. Later that same day, Corbin was charged with DUI and pleaded guilty.

Opinion of the Court

In an opinion by Justice Brennan, the Supreme Court ruled that to subsequently try him for homicide would constitute double jeopardy.^[2]

Aftermath

Grady was only valid law for three years. It was overturned by United States v. Dixon,^[3] which rejected the same conduct test in favor of the longstanding same element test. The same element test had been the law since Blockburger v. United States.^[4]