Selected Court Decisions
In United States v. Denezpi, 979 F.3d 777 (10th Cir.
2020), Denezpi, a Navajo tribal member, was arrested by Ute
Mountain Ute tribal authorities and charged with violating the
Tribe's assault and battery laws, as well as two provisions of
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) on terroristic threats and
false imprisonment. He entered an Alford plea to the assault and
battery charge and was released from custody for time served. Six
months later, federal prosecutors indicted Denezpi for aggravated
sexual assault in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§
2241(A)(1)-(2) & 1153(a). The court denied Mr. Denezpi's
motion to dismiss the indictment on double
jeopardy grounds. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
affirmed, citing the doctrine that prosecution for the same crime
by two different sovereigns is not double jeopardy and rejected
Denezpi's argument that his tribal court convictions under the
Code of Federal Regulations occurred under federal, not
