[¶1] Appellant, Curtis Drakeford, was convicted of one charge of domestic battery and one charge of strangulation of a household member after entering unconditional no contest pleas to both charges. On appeal, he contends that domestic battery is a lesser included offense of strangulation of a household member, and that his convictions and sentences for both crimes violated his constitutional protections against double jeopardy. We find that the two crimes arose from separate and distinct acts, and that Appellant has failed to establish a double jeopardy violation. Accordingly, we affirm..
ISSUE
[¶2] Did the district court commit plain error when it convicted and sentenced Appellant for the crimes of domestic battery and strangulation of a household member?
FACTS
[¶3] On January 25, 2016, the State filed a Felony Information charging Appellant with one count of strangulation of a household member and three counts of child endangerment. On February 1, 2016, the State filed a second Felony Information charging Appellant with domestic battery. The second Information asserted that Appellant had two prior convictions for domestic battery, subjecting him to enhanced penalties and elevating the charge to a felony. The district court later consolidated the two cases.
[¶4] Among the documents supporting the two charges were two nearly identical Affidavits of Probable Cause. The second affidavit differs from the first only in that it excludes a paragraph about the results of drug testing on the victim, it includes some minor wording changes, and it avers that Appellant had two previous domestic battery convictions. The affiant for both affidavits, a police officer,
[¶5] According- to the affidavit, another officer “touched the top of [the woman’s] head and stated that there were lumps consistent with her statements of being hit on the head with a beer bottle.” This officer also observed “finger marks on the right side of [the woman’s] neck consistent with her statements of [Appellant] placing his hands around her neck.” Appellant was “placed under arrest for domestic battery and strangulation of a household member.”
[¶6] Appellant and the State reached a plea agreement by which he would plead no contest to the charge of strangulation of a household member and to the charge of domestic battery. The State agreed to dismiss the three counts of child endangerment and to recommend no more than four years imprisonment for each- count with concurrent sentences. The district court accepted the no contest pleas and found Appellant guilty of strangulation of a household member and of domestic battery, third or subsequent offense. Appellant was sentenced to two to four years imprisonment on each cqunt, the sentences to be served concurrently. This appeal followed.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[¶7] Appellant did not raise his double jeopardy claim in the district court. Accordingly, we review for plain error. Montoya v. State,
DISCUSSION
[¶8] In this case, the State concedes that the error asserted by Appellant is clearly reflected in the record, which establishes that Appellant was convicted and sentenced for both strangulation of a household member and domestic battery. It also concedes that, if a double jeopardy violation occurred,' Appellant suffered material prejudice because a “second conviction, even if it results in no greater sentence, is an impermissible
[¶9] Appellant contends, and the State concedes, that domestic battery, as defined in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-511(a) (Lexis-Nexis 2015) is a lesser included offense of strangulation of a household member, as defined in Wyo. Stat. Ann, § 6-2-509(a). To determine whether one crime is a lesser included offense of another, “we look to the statutory elements test set forth in Blockburger v. United States,
[¶10] Applying the Blockburger test, we have previously recognized that the crime of simple battery is a lesser included offense of the crime of strangulation of a household member:
The parties seem to agree that the elements of battery in [Wyo. Stat. Ann,] § 6-2-501(b) are a subset of the elements of strangulation of a household member in § 6-2-509. To prove the crime of battery, the prosecution must establish the defendant (1) intentionally, knowingly or recklessly; (2) caused bodily injury; (3) to another person; (4) by use of physical force. Section 6-2-501(b). The.crime of strangulation of a household member, as charged in this case, requires proof that the defendant (1) intentionally and knowingly; (2) caused bodily injury; (3) to the victim, who was a household member; (4) by impeding her normal breathing; (5) by applying pressure to her throat or neck. Section 6-2-509. The crimes of battery and strangulation of a household member share the same mental element and require bodily injury by some type of physical force. Strangulation also requires proof that the victim was a household member and the defendant caused bodily injury by impeding the victim’s normal breathing with the specific physical force of pressure to the throat or neck. The-elements of the lesser crime (battery) are, therefore, a subset of the greater crime (strangulation).
Nickels v. State,
[¶ 11] Appellant further asserts that punishing a defendant for both a greater offense and a lesser included offense violates the double jeopardy provisions of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and of Article 1; Section 11 of the Wyoming Constitution. See Granger, ¶ 13,
[¶12] However, the State claims that there was no violation of a clear and unequivocal rule of law in this case because Appellant’s two convictions were based on two separate incidents. Relying on the facts averred in the affidavit in this case,
[¶13] In analyzing double jeopardy claims, we have recognized that when different criminal acts are at issue, “even though separated in time only by a few seconds, one offense by definition cannot be ‘included’ in the other.” Redding v. State,
[¶14] Affirmed.
Notes
. We note that Appellant entered no contest pleas to the charges of strangulation of a household member and domestic battery. A no contest plea, like a guilty plea, waives all non-jurisdictional defenses. Bowlsby v. State,
. Because Appellant pled no contest to the two charges, the district court did not question him to establish a factual basis for his plea. See Robinson v. State.
