for the Court:
¶ 1. On February 1, 2009, Michael Kelly was charged with reckless driving at the location of the ZipTrip Store in Hum-phreys County. On March 5, 2009, Kelly was found guilty of this charge in justice court, and he paid a fine of $114. Arising out of the same facts, a Humphreys County grand jury handed down a two-count indictment against Kelly on September 10, 2009. Count I charged Kelly with the aggravated assault of Tiffany Walker (by hitting Walker while driving his truck). Count II charged Kelly with felony malicious mischief for the destruction of a Master-Bilt outdoor ice machine. Count II of the indictment is not an issue in today’s case.
¶ 2. Kelly moved for dismissal of his indictment, asserting his double-jeopardy rights. The trial court denied Kelly’s motion. Aggrieved, Kelly filed with us a Petition for Permission to Appeal from an Interlocutory Order, and a three-justice
JURISDICTION
¶ 3. Since this is an appeal simply from the denial of a motion to dismiss, an obvious issue is whether we have jurisdiction to consider it. Generally, an appeal may be taken in a criminal case only from a final judgment. Miss.Code Ann. § 9-3-9 (Rev. 2002). However, in certain limited circumstances, we may entertain interlocutory appeals. Beckwith,
¶ 4. In our seminal decision in Beckwith, we held that, “[b]ecause of the unique nature of the denial by a circuit court of a colorable double jeopardy claim, involving as it does the Constitutional right not to be prosecuted for the offense, it is final. This Court is authorized to treat it as a ‘final judgment’ ... [under] Miss.Code. Ann. § 9-3-9....” Beckwith,
¶ 5. In Beckwith, this Court cited Abney v. United States,
[o]rders denying motions to dismiss an indictment on double jeopardy ... grounds are likewise immediately ap-pealable ... Refusals to dismiss an indictment for violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause ... are truly final and collateral, and the asserted rights ... would be irretrievably lost if review were postponed until trial is completed.
Id. at 1141.
¶ 6. The United States Supreme Court is in accord with our position on this jurisdictional issue, as it has held that “pretrial orders rejecting claims of former jeopardy ... constitute ‘final decisions’ and thus satisfy the jurisdictional prerequisites of 28 U.S.C. § 1291.” Abney,
¶ 7. Consistent with today’s discussion, we find that prejudgment double-jeopardy appeals are reviewed on an interlocutory basis; therefore Kelly’s double-jeopardy claim is properly before this Court.
WHETHER DOUBLE JEOPARDY APPLIES IN THIS CASE
¶ 8. “We apply a de novo standard of review to claims of double jeopardy.” Boyd v. State,
¶ 10. This guarantee, enforceable against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, assures three separate protections: (1) protection from a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, (2) protection from a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and (3) protection from multiple punishments for the same offense. U.S. v. Dixon,
¶ 11. The trial court applied the double-jeopardy test established by the United States Supreme Court in Blockburger v. United States,
¶ 12. In today’s case, Kelly was found guilty of misdemeanor reckless driving. Mississippi Code Section 63-3-1201 (Rev. 2004) states:
Any person who drives any vehicle in such a manner as to indicate either a wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving. Reckless driving shall be considered a greater offense than careless driving.
The present indictment against Kelly cites Mississippi Code Section 97-3-7(2)(a) (Rev. 2006), which states:
A person is guilty of aggravated assault if he (a) attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another, or causes such injury purposely, knowingly or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.
Applying this test, the trial court held that, to prove aggravated assault, no element requires proof of a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of person or property. The trial court also held that to prove reckless driving, no element requires proof of injury nor attempt to injure. Therefore, the trial court found that each offense had elements not contained in the other and denied Kelly’s motion to dismiss.
¶ 14. In response, the State argues that Grady was explicitly overruled by U.S. v. Dixon,
¶ 15. Kelly cites Grady for the proposition that “the Double Jeopardy Clause bars a subsequent prosecution if, to establish an essential element to an offense charged in that prosecution, the government will prove conduct that constitutes an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted.” Grady,
¶ 16. Dixon similarly clarified and put into context two other cases on which Kelly relies—Brown v. Ohio and Illinois v. Vitale, both of which stand for the proposition that prosecution of a lesser-included offense is barred by prior prosecution of a greater-included offense. See Brown v. Ohio,
¶ 17. Kelly argues that Mississippi has recognized that, under certain conditions, reckless driving is a lesser offense of aggravated assault. Kelly bases this argument on his reading of our decision in Brooks. In that case, a defendant was charged with aggravated assault, and this Court held that the defendant was entitled to a jury instruction on the lesser-nonin-
There is no intent requirement in the reckless-driving statute, which simply criminalizes driving a vehicle in a manner that indicates a wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. Miss.Code Ann. § 63-3-1201 (Rev. 2004). Therefore, the evidence to support a verdict of guilt of reckless driving does not necessarily prove guilt of aggravated assault, under Rowland, because a conviction for aggravated assault requires proof of intent. Rowland,531 So.2d at 631-32 .[2 ]
Brooks,
CONCLUSION
¶ 18. The United States Supreme Court made clear in Dixon that the standard for a double-jeopardy analysis of two charges arising out of the same facts remains the Blockburger “same-elements test,” which likewise remains the rule in Mississippi as set out in Graves v. State,
¶ 19. For the reasons discussed, the Humphreys County Circuit Court order denying Michael Kelly’s motion to dismiss his aggravated-assault indictment is affirmed, and the case is remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
¶ 20. AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.
Notes
. Count I of the indictment, charging Kelly with aggravated assault, stated, inter alia, that Kelly had caused “serious bodily injury to Tiffany Walker ... by driving his truck at a high rate of speed ... hitting her with [his] truck.”
. Rowland v. State,
