JEOPARDY

Peril, danger. As in 'put his life in jeopardy by the use of dangerous weapons...'

The constitution declares that no person shall 'for the same offence, be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb.' The meaning of this is that the party shall not be tried a second time for the same offence after he has once been convicted or acquitted of the offence charged by the verdict of a jury, and judgment has passed thereon for or against him. But it does not mean that he shall not be tried for the offence if the jury have been discharged from necessity or by consent, without giving any verdict, or if having given a verdict, judgement has been arrested upon it or a new trial has been granted in his favor; for in such a case, his life and limb cannot judicially be said to have been put in jeopardy. This great privilege is secured by the common law.

This was the Roman law, from which it has been probably engrafted upon the common law.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.