McCullough v. State
230 So. 3d 586
| Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | 2017Background
- Defendant Tippy McCullough stole a car, led police on a high-speed chase, and struck a bicyclist who died.
- McCullough pleaded no contest to multiple counts, including leaving the scene of a crash with death, fleeing/eluding causing serious bodily injury or death, and vehicular homicide.
- Trial court imposed an aggregate 30-year sentence; McCullough appealed arguing double jeopardy.
- The central legal question was whether punishing her for multiple homicide-related offenses arising from the same death violated double jeopardy under Florida law and the judicially created "single homicide rule."
- The court applied both the statutory Blockburger framework (section 775.021(4)) and the single homicide rule to three offense pairings: (1) vehicular homicide vs. leaving the scene with death; (2) leaving the scene with death vs. fleeing/eluding causing serious injury or death; and (3) vehicular homicide vs. fleeing/eluding causing serious injury or death.
- Court held that sentencing for both vehicular homicide and fleeing/eluding causing serious bodily injury or death violated the single homicide rule and reversed the vehicular homicide conviction/sentence; other convictions and the aggregate 30-year term were affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (McCullough) | Defendant's Argument (State) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether multiple homicide-related convictions based on the same death violate double jeopardy | Single homicide rule bars multiple punishments for one death; only one homicide conviction permissible | Statutory Blockburger test allows separate punishment where each offense requires proof of an element the other does not | Single homicide rule controls: sentencing for vehicular homicide and fleeing/eluding causing serious bodily injury or death violated double jeopardy; vacate vehicular homicide conviction |
| Vehicular homicide vs. leaving the scene with death — do convictions violate double jeopardy? | McCullough argued single punishment should apply to all homicide-related counts | State argued offenses have distinct elements (vehicular homicide requires causation; leaving the scene requires willful departure) | No double jeopardy violation; both convictions may stand because leaving-the-scene does not require proof defendant caused death |
| Leaving the scene with death vs. fleeing/eluding causing serious bodily injury or death — double jeopardy? | Defendant argued these punishments are duplicative as arising from same death | State argued statutory elements differ (willful fleeing from officer vs. willful leaving scene) | No double jeopardy violation; offenses have different elements and single homicide rule inapplicable because leaving-the-scene need not prove causation |
| Vehicular homicide vs. fleeing/eluding causing serious bodily injury or death — double jeopardy? | McCullough argued she was punished twice for the same death; single homicide rule bars both sentences | State contended Blockburger permits separate punishment because statutes differ; alternatively, fleeing/eluding is not a homicide offense because it can be committed without death | Held violation: under Cooper and related precedent, single homicide rule prohibits sentencing for both; vacate vehicular homicide conviction and sentence |
Key Cases Cited
- Cooper v. State, 634 So.2d 1074 (Fla. 1994) (adopting single homicide rule: one penalty for causing a single death)
- Houser v. State, 474 So.2d 1193 (Fla. 1985) (Florida Supreme Court formally adopted single homicide rule)
- Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299 (U.S. 1932) (same-elements test for multiple punishments)
- Chapman v. State, 625 So.2d 838 (Fla. 1993) (legislative codification of Blockburger did not overrule single homicide rule)
- Valdes v. State, 3 So.3d 1067 (Fla. 2009) (addressed double jeopardy tests; discussed by majority re: scope of single homicide rule)