Cite as: 524 U. S. 721 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
crime, as well as an overall assessment of the defendant's character." Id., at 839, 941 P. 2d, at 1130.
The concurring justice who provided the fourth vote to reverse noted that retrial on a prior conviction allegation would not require the factfinder to reevaluate the evidence underlying the substantive offense. Accordingly, she concluded that a second attempt at proving the allegation would not unfairly subject a defendant to the risk of repeated prosecution within the meaning of the Double Jeopardy Clause. Id., at 846-847, 941 P. 2d, at 1134-1135 (Brown, J., concurring). Three justices dissented, asserting that under Bullington's rationale, the Double Jeopardy Clause precludes successive efforts to prove prior conviction allegations. Id., at 847, 941 P. 2d, at 1135 (opinion of Werdegar, J.).
The California Supreme Court's decision deepened a conflict among the state courts as to Bullington's application to noncapital sentencing. Compare, e. g., State v. Hennings, 100 Wash. 2d 379, 670 P. 2d 256 (1983), with People v. Levin, 157 Ill. 2d 138, 623 N. E. 2d 317 (1993). Prior to this Court's determination that the nonretroactivity rule of Teague v. Lane, 489 U. S. 288 (1989), would bar the extension of Bull-ington to noncapital sentencing proceedings on federal habeas review, see Caspari, supra, the Federal Courts of Appeals had reached disparate conclusions as well. Compare, e. g., Briggs v. Procunier, 764 F. 2d 368, 371 (CA5 1985), with Denton v. Duckworth, 873 F. 2d 144 (CA7), cert. denied, 493 U. S. 941 (1989). In view of the conflicting authority on the issue, we granted certiorari, 522 U. S. 1072 (1998).
II
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment, applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides: "[N]or shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." We have previously held that it protects against successive prosecu-
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