State v. Gibbs, 164 N.H. 439

Defendant Peter E. Gibbs, Jr. was convicted at a jury trial of two counts of criminal restraint, one count of being an armed career criminal, and related offenses (armed robbery and burglary) after a home invasion where the victim was tied and menaced with a gun.
Jury acquitted one restraint charge (tying hands in the bedroom) but convicted the other two restraints, armed robbery, and burglary; the court convicted Gibbs of armed career criminal.
Gibbs waived a jury trial on the armed career criminal charge; he received two concurrent sentences for the two restraint convictions.
The appellate issues were: (1) double jeopardy from multiple restraint convictions, (2) ineffective assistance of counsel, and (3) sufficiency of the evidence for armed career criminal, which the court addressed by affirming in part, vacating in part, and remanding.
The court vacated one of the two criminal restraint convictions and its sentence, affirmed the remainder, and remanded for entry of judgment consistent with vacatur.
The court treated the double jeopardy issue under the New Hampshire Constitution and did not reach the federal double jeopardy issue.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Double jeopardy under NH Constitution	Gibbs contends two restraint convictions punish a single continuous confinement	Gibbs argues multiple restraints violate constitutional protections against successive punishments	NH Constitution violation; one restraint conviction vacated; no federal ruling reached
Ineffective assistance of counsel	Trial counsel failed to object to, and elicited, testimony making Gibbs look violent	Counsel's actions were within reasonable strategy; claim requires more record	Not decided on direct appeal; remanded for appropriate ancillary proceedings; without prejudice
Sufficiency of evidence for armed career criminal	State proved Gibbs possessed a handgun; circumstantial evidence suffices	Evidence is circumstantial and insufficient to prove possession beyond a reasonable doubt	Sufficient evidence; rational factfinder could find Gibbs owned or possessed a handgun; armed career criminal conviction affirmed

State v. Ball, 124 N.H. 226 (1983) (limits on successive punishments under NH Constitution)
State v. Glenn, 160 N.H. 480 (2010) (double jeopardy and multiple punishments under NH Constitution)
Idle v. State, 587 N.E.2d 712 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992) (continuity of confinement for kidnapping/confinement crimes; unitary concepts discussed)
Bunch v. State, 937 N.E.2d 839 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010) (multiple restraints during a single captivity can violate double jeopardy)
Jones v. State, 916 P.2d 1119 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1995) (continuity of confinement; single episode analysis)
Freeney v. State, 637 A.2d 1091 (Conn. 1994) (risk element in confinement offenses not requiring distinct risks)
State v. Burke, 162 N.H. 459 (2011) (statutory risk requirement in restraint context)
People v. Palacios, 161 P.3d 519 (Cal. 2007) (multi-offense handling in restraint scenarios; differing harms considered)