Double Jeopardy Applies Even When a Judge Makes a Mistake

In the U.S. Supreme Court case of the State of Michigan versus Lamar Evans, the facts were as follows:

After the prosecution rested its case at Lamar Evans' arson trial, the judge granted Evans' motion for a directed verdict of acquittal, concluding that the prosecutor had failed to prove that the burned building was not a dwelling, a fact the judge mistakenly believed was an “element” of the crime. The prosecutor appealed, and the Michigan Supreme Court reversed Evans' acquittal, ruling that a directed verdict based on an error of law that did not resolve a factual element of the charged crime was not an acquittal for double jeopardy purposes.