Denezpi v. United States

Merle Denezpi, a member of the Navajo Nation, was convicted in a Court of Indian Offenses, a tribal CFR court, for assault and battery against a woman on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, serving a 140-day sentence. Subsequently, the United States charged him in federal court with aggravated sexual abuse based on the same underlying conduct. Denezpi moved to dismiss the federal indictment on the ground that it violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The District Court denied the motion, and the Tenth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve whether the dual sovereignty doctrine permits successive prosecutions by a tribal court exercising inherent sovereign authority and a federal court.

In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court held that the dual sovereignty doctrine applied. Because the Ute Mountain Ute CFR court exercised its prosecutorial authority as a distinct sovereign, separate from the federal government, the subsequent federal prosecution did not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause. The judgment of the Tenth Circuit was affirmed.

Whether the Double Jeopardy Clause bars the federal prosecution of a Native American defendant for an offense arising from the same conduct for which he was previously tried and convicted in a Court of Indian Offenses, given that the tribal court’s power to prosecute derives from inherent tribal sovereignty rather than delegated federal authority.

The ruling reaffirmed the broad scope of the dual sovereignty doctrine in Indian country, allowing federal authorities to bring serious felony charges after tribal court convictions without double jeopardy constraints. It underscored the Supreme Court’s deference to prior precedent on separate sovereigns while igniting criticism that it undermines tribal sovereignty and exposes Native American defendants to cumulative punishment. The case intensified debate over criminal justice disparities and jurisdictional fragmentation on reservations.