Lead Opinion
ON PETITION TO TRANSFER
With tоday’s decision, we address the application of the Indiana Double Jeopardy Clause, Article I, Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution, as distinct from its federal counterpart in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The defendant-appellant, Robert Richardson, II, was convicted of robbery as a class C felony
Prohibitions against double jeopardy protect the integrity of jury acquittals and the finality interest of defendants, shield against excessive and oppressive prosecutions, and ensure that defendants will not undergo the anxiety and expense of repeated prosecution and the increased probability of conviction upon reprosecution.
The analysis and application of double jeopardy provisions have proven to be a significant judicial challenge. Commentators note that double jeopardy provisions, which appear straightforward and simple, are often extremely difficult to apply and the underlying jurisprudence enormously challenging and complex.
The'Double Jeopardy Clause of the Indiana Constitution
Questions arising under the Indiana Constitution are to be resolved by “examining the language of the text in the context of the history surrounding its drafting and ratification, the purpose and structure of our constitution, and case law interpreting the specific provisions.” Indiana Gaming Comm’n v. Moseley,
When this State was founded in 1816, the framers and ratifiers adopted a double jeopardy provision which provided that, “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused ... shall not -... be twice put in jeopardy for the same offence.” Ind. CONST, art 1, § 13 (1816). However, our ability to discern the framers’ intentions is limited because the journal of the 1816 Constitutional Convention does not report the delegates’ remarks or disclose procedural matters informative to the issue.
When the present version of our Constitution was adopted in 1851, the original double jeopardy provision was only slightly modified. Article I, Section 14 provides in part: “No person shall be put in jeopardy twice for the same offense.”
Despite the lack of discussion at the 1850-51 Convention regarding Indiana’s Double Jeopardy Clause, this Court has recognized that the intent of the framers and ratifiers derived from English common law double jeopardy principles. See State v. Elder,
Scholars trace double jeopardy principles back to ancient Greek,
During the 1600s and 1700s, double jeopardy protections were further examined by Lord Edward Coke and William Blackstone.
As a further indicator of the framers’ understanding of the common law of double jeopardy, we note that the early American colonies departed in some respects from English common law, recognizing broader double jeopardy protections. For example, the bar against double jeopardy for Lord Coke depended on the reasons for the prior acquittal,
.-Also, early American colonies and states embodied double jeopardy principles in statutory and organic laws, unlike England. In 1641, the Bay Colony of Massachusetts drafted the Body of Liberties, which led to the adoption of the Massachusetts Code of 1648. “The fact that the Bay Colony reduced double jeopardy protection to a written form and expanded it beyond the common law guarantee demonstrates that the colonists regarded the concept to be fundamental.” Charles L. Cantrall, Double Jeopardy and Multiple Punishment: An Historical and Constitutional Analysis, 24 S. Tex. L.J. 735, 765 (1983).
As states developed and applied their respective double jeopardy principles, two divergent analyses appeared for determining whether the offenses are the same: (1) the behavioral approach; and (2) the evi-dentiary approach. Id. at 269-70. The “behavioral approach focuses on the defendant’s conduct rather than on the prosecutor’s evidence. Courts which use this approach adopt an act, transaction, or intent test.” Id. at 270 (emphasis omitted). This behavioral approach (also referred to as the same transaction or same conduct approach) was explicitly rejected early by the Indiana Supreme Court in State v. Elder,
The evidentiary approach (also referred to as the same evidence test) is apparent in the English common law case of The King v. Vandercomb & Abbot, 2 Leach 708, 168 Eng. 455 (1796). That court explained the test as follows: “if crimes are so distinct that evidence of the one will not support the other, it is as inconsistent with reason, as it is repugnant to the rules of law, to say that they are so far the same that an acquittal of the one shall be a bar to a prosecution for the other.” Id. at 717, 168 Eng. at 460.
In discerning the approach required by the Indiana Constitution, we first note that
Our earliest jurisprudence demonstrates that this Court did not limit itself to any single formulation of the evidence test, such as an “actual evidence test,” a “required evidence test,” or an “alleged evidence test,” in determining whether the offenses were the same. In the cases most contemporaneous (1859 to 1884) with the adoption of the 1851 Constitutiоn, this Court did not identify a singular test or restrict the double jeopardy inquiry to the statutory elements or charging instruments, but instead considered all of the circumstances and evidence available to the reviewing court to determine whether the offenses were the same.
After the ratification of our Constitution in 1851, the Indiana Supreme Court considered whether the convictions were the “same offense” in Wininger v. State,
In Brinkman v. State,
the evidence as to both alleged sales was given, and the court was satisfied that [the morning sale], regarded as not proved by the jury [in the first trial], was not proved [in the second trial], but that the [afternoon sale] was, and convicted the defendant [of the afternoon sale]; the conviction would be justified by the evidence for the State, and the defendant be twice convicted for the same offence [the afternoon sale].
Id.
In Greenwood v. State,
In State v. Elder,
An indictment for the murder of the unnamed child of Elizabeth Bradburn is by no means the same as an indictment charging the employment of certain means, with the intent to procure the miscarriage of Elizabeth Bradburn, although the same means were used to commit the offence in both cases. The lesser offence is not involved in the greater; the offences are not committed against the same person, and bear no resemblance to each other, either in fact or intent; the facts necessary to support a conviction on the [miscarriage charge] would not necessarily have convicted, nor would they even have tended to convict, upon the [murder charge].
Id. at 286. The Court concluded, “We can not adopt the rule held in some States, that the accused can not, in any case, be convicted but once upon the same facts when they constitute different of-fences .... ” Id. at 286-287.
The defendant in Jenkins v. State,
Beginning in Davidson v. State,
The defendant in Woodworth v. State,
The gravamen of the first offense defined by the section of the statute under consideration is the unlawful sale of intoxicating liquors by a person without a license, while that of the second offense defined is the keeping and operating of a place where such liquors are sold in violation of law, or the having of such liquors in possession for such purpose.
Id. at 585-86,
In Durke v. State,
[T]he essential proof in a prosecution for burglary would not be sufficient to convict one charged with the crime known as “conspiracy to commit a felony”— burglary. In the latter case the evidence must show a uniting or confederation of two or more persons to commit the burglary. In order to convict of the offense in the present case, it would not be necessary to prove actual participation in the felony, but in order to convict one charged with burglary, there must be proof connecting the party with the overt act.
Id. Thus, a prosecution for burglary would not prohibit a prosecution for conspiracy to commit a felony (burglary). Id. See also Dunkle v. State,
In 1978, the analysis under the Indiana Constitution was merged with the federal constitutional test:
In 1982, this Court in Tawney v. State,
During the twenty years following El-more, this Court frequently decided double
From our review of the constitutional text, the history and circumstances surrounding its adoption, and the earliest cases interpreting and applying the provision, we conclude that Indiana’s Double Jeopardy Clause was intended to prevent the State from being able to proceed against a person twice for the same criminal transgression. While none of the early cases presented a comprehensive analysis, a generally articulated test, or a standard of review for double jeopardy claims, the holdings in these decisions do reflect a common theme. A criminal transgression was a person’s conduct that violated a statutorily defined crime. In seeking to determine whether two criminal transgressions were the same, this Court in its earliest decisions did not restrict its review only to a comparison of statutory elements of the crime or to an analysis of the language in the charging instruments. Rather, this Court also reviewed the actual evidence presented at trial when available.
Synthesizing these considerations, we therefore conclude and hold that two or more offenses are the “same offense” in violation of Article I, Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution, if, with respect to either the statutory elements of the challenged crimes or the actual evidence used to convict, the essential elements of one challenged offense also establish the essential elements of another challenged offense.
Statutory Elements Test: Could Separate Offenses Be Established?
The objective of this test is to determine whether the essential elements of separate statutory crimes charged could be established hypothetically. In this test, the charged offenses are identified
In this case, defendant Richardson contends that his convictions for
A person who knowingly or intentionally takes property from another person or from the presence of another person: (1) by using or threatening the use of force on any person; or (2) by putting any person in fear; commits robbery, a class C felony.
Ind.Code § 35^42-5-1 (1993). The defendant was charged as follows: “Robert M. Richardson II ... on or about the 31st day of August, 1996 ... did then and there knowingly or intentionally take property from another person, to-wit: a wallet containing $700 belonging to Jeffrey W. Koe-nig by using or threatening the use of force.” Record at 4. Under the statutory elements test, we focus on the essential elements comprising the charged offense of robbery: (1) the defendant (2) knowingly or intentionally (3) took property from (4) Koenig (5) by using or threatening the use of force on Koenig. The defendant could not be convicted at trial if these essential elements were not established.
The second offense at issue in this case is battery, as a class A misdemeanor. The statute provides that “[a] person who knowingly or intentionally touches another person in a rude, insolent, or angry manner commits battery....” Ind.Code § 35-42-2-1 (1993). The offense becomes a class A misdemeanor if “it results in bodily injury to any other person.” Id. The charging instrument alleged that the defendant “on or about the 31st day of August, 1996 ... did then and there knowingly or intentionally touch another person in a rude, insolent or angry manner that resulted in bodily injury in that the said defendant beat a certain Jeffrey W. Koe-nig with his fist to the extent that the said [Koenig] suffered bodily injury.” Record at 5. The essential elements of the class A misdemeanor bаttery charge are: (1) the defendant (2) knowingly or intentionally (3) touched (4) Koenig (5) in a rude, insolent, or angry manner (6) resulting in bodily injury to Koenig.
Having identified the essential elements comprising the offense, we compare the essential elements of the two challenged offenses. Each offense must contain at least one element which is separate and distinct from the other offense so that the same evidence is not necessary to convict for both offenses. See Durke,
Actual Evidence Test: Were Separate Offenses Established at Trial?
As previously noted, the examination of the evidence presented at trial was an integral component of the double jeopardy analysis employed in those decisions of this Court immediately following the adoption of our Double Jeopardy
This second test in our Indiana Double Jeopardy Clause “same offense” analysis differs significantly from federal jurisprudence under Blockburger,
At oral argument, the State asserted that, because the number of statutes and offenses has grown exponentially since our Indiana Constitution was ratified, and because Blockburger provides a clear, bright-line double jeopardy test, we should adopt Blockburger to govern our state Double Jeopardy Clause. On the other hand, the defendant argued that this Court should adopt the “manner in which the offenses
In the present case, the evidence presented at trial establishes the following facts. On August 31, 1996, many people were at a lake area consuming alcohol and using drugs. The defendant noticed that one of those present, Jeff Koenig, appeared to possess a considerable amount of money. The defendant, along with Koenig and two other men, got into an automobile apparently to drive to another party. The automobile stopped on a bridge, and the men exited the vehicle, ostensibly to relieve themselves. When Koenig exited the vehicle, he was hit from behind with a beer bottle and knocked to the ground. The three men repeatedly kicked and beat him. Two of the men then held Koenig down while the third took Koenig’s billfold from his pocket. After his billfold was removed, Koenig was pushed over the side of the bridge. The men left Koenig and returned to the party, bragging about what they had just done.
The defendant contends that the evidence of the beating prior to the robbery forms the basis of both convictions. We note, however, that the evidence presented at trial also demonstrated that, after the defendant and his companions beat Koenig and took his billfold — thus completing the robbery — they then pushed Koenig off the bridge. While this post-robbery conduct could potentially indicate a subsequent, factually separate battery justifying a separate conviction, there was no actual evidence to prove the element of resulting bodily injury from this separate conduct.
When two convictions are found to contravene double jeopardy principles, a reviewing court may remedy the violation by reducing either conviction to a less serious form of the same offense if doing so will eliminate the violation. See, e.g., Campbell v. State,
Conclusion
Because the defendant’s convictions for both robbery and battery as a class A misdemeanor, under the circumstances presented, violate the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Indiana Constitution, we vacate the conviction and sentence for battery as a class A misdemeanor. This cause is remanded to the trial court for disposition consistent with this opinion.
Notes
. Ind.Code§ 35-42-5-1.
. Ind.Code§ 35-42-2-1.
. Prohibitions against double jeopardy protect against: (1) reprosecution for an offense after a defendant has already been convicted of the same offense in a previous prosecution (North Carolina v. Pearce,
. The federal Double Jeopardy Clause provides in part: "nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." U.S. Const, amend. V.
. See, e.g., Albernaz v. United States,
. See Grinstead,
. See Journal of the Convention of the Indiana Territory, reprinted in 61 Ind. Mag. of Hist. 89-155 (1965).
. Discussing our state Double Jeopardy Clause, this Court in Gillespie v. State,
. Demosthenes, Athenian statesman who lived in fourth century B.C. Greece, wrote: "Now the laws forbid the same man to be tried twice on the same issue, be it a civil action, a scrutiny, a contested claim, or anything else of the sort.” 1 Demosthenes 589 (J. Vince trans. 1962).
. The Digest of Justinian pronounced that "[tjhe governor should not permit the same person to be again accused of a crime of which he has been acquitted.” Dig. Just 48.2.7, reprinted in, 11 Corpus Juris Civilis 17 (A. Scott trans. 1973). Paulus, a leading Roman jurist, in explaining the duties of the proconsul, recorded that "[t]he Senate decreed that no one can be accused of the same crime under several laws.” Dig. Just. 48.2.14, reprinted in, 11 Corpus Juris Civilis 20. The maxim "Nemo debet bis puniré pro uno delic-to ” originates in Roman law in 289 A.D. and declares that "[ajnyone who has been charged with a public crime, cannot again be accused of the same crime by another person. If, however, several offences arise from the same act, and complaint is only made of one of them, it is not forbidden for an accusation of another to be filed by some other individual.” Statement of the Same Emperors to Honoratus (Sept. 289), in 14 S.P. Scott, The Civil Law 360 (1932) (from Book IX of the
. In 391 A.D., Saint Jerome interpreted a verse from the Old Testament, which reads in part that "he will not take vengeance twice on his foes,” Nahum 1:9 (R.S.V.), as establishing the principle that "God judges not twice for the same offence.” Martin L. Friedland, Double Jeopardy 5 (1969).
. See Id.
. "The most important individuals in the history of double jeopardy are undoubtedly Coke and Blackstone. These two writers clarified the concept and first gave it the importance which it subsequently attained in the United States.” Sigler, History, supra, at 294.
. Autrefois attaint is the "[fjormer forfeiture of property to the government.” Gary DiBianco, Note, Truly Constitutional? The American Double Jeopardy Clause and Its Australian Analogues, 33 Am.Crim. L.Rev. 123, 126 n. 22 (1995).
. For example, an acquittal based upon self-defense was a bar to all future prosecutions, but acquittals on other grounds would not bar future prosecutions. See Jay A. Sigler, Double Jeopardy: The Development of a Social and Legal Policy 18 (1969) (citing Edward Coke, The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England 213 (4th ed. 1669)).
. This commentary has been accorded significant regard. See Susan R. Klein, Civil In Rem Forfeiture and Double Jeopardy, 82 Iowa L.Rev. 183, 242 n. 242 (1996) (noting that this commentary "remains the seminal article in this area”). In his treatise on criminal procedure, Joshua Dressier notes, "The Supreme Court’s 'favorite saying’ about the double jeopardy clause” — that double jeopardy consists of three protections against successive prosecution after acquittal, successive prosecution after conviction, and multiple punishment — was "adopted from [this] law review article.” Joshua Dressier, Understanding Criminal Procedure 431 (1991) (citing Peter Westen, The Three Faces of Double Jeopardy: Reflecting on Government Appeals of Criminal Sentences, 78 Mich. L.Rev. 1001, 1062 (1980)).
. Section 42 stated: “No man shall be twice sentenced by Civil Justice for one and the same Crime, offence, or Trespasse.” Cant-rall, supra, at 764 n. 132 (citing Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641: A Copie of the Liberties of the Massachusetts Colonie in New England, reprinted in 1 Bernard Schwartz, The Bill of Rights, A Documentary History 76 (1971)).
. "No subject shall be liable to be tried, after an acquittal, for the same crime or offense.” N.H. Const, pt. 1, art. XVI.
. This rejection of the same transaction/conduct test in Indiana has been recognized consistently since 1879. See Ford v. State,
In Cfem[], it is held that, if a person assaults and kills two persons with a single shot, or with a single blow of an instrument, so that the injury to both results from one indivisible act, it is one offense against the State, and a conviction of having murdered one will bar a prosecution for the murder of the other.
Hughes v. State,
.The first court in this country to apply the Vandercomb same evidence approach was the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Commonwealth v. Roby, 29 Mass. (12 Pick.) 496, 503 (1832). Soon thereafter, that court restricted the test, holding that "[a] conviction or acquittal upon one indictment is no bar to a subsequent conviction and sentence upon another, unless the evidence required to support a conviction upon one of them would have been sufficient to warrant a conviction upon the other.” Morey v. Commonwealth,
. The required evidence test determines whether the offenses are the same based on an analysis of the statute. Simon, supra, at 269.
. The alleged evidence test "finds offenses the same if there is sufficient similarity between the allegations of the two indictments.” Id.
. The actual evidence test assesses whether the offenses are the same based on "the evidence presented at the two trials.” Id. at 270.
. The federal Double Jeopardy Clause did not apply to criminal prosecutions in state courts until 1969. Before this date, protection against double jeopardy existed only under state constitutions. In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court applied its "selective incorporation” doctrine and determined that the federal Double Jeopardy Clause was thereafter applicable to and binding upon the states under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Benton v. Maryland,
. Pivak v. State,
. Ambrose v. State,
. Davis v. State,
. Joy v. State,
. State v. Mead,
. State ex rel. Scobey v. Stevens,
. The Court provided the following illustration of a similar scenario which would not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause:
[WJhere several [persons] should riotously attempt to tear down a house, and, in that attempt, the owner of the house, in the defense thereof, should be assaulted, .. . the purposed and main offense would be, the demolition of the house, but at the same time the parties might, in the perpetration of that offense, commit other unlawful acts for which a prosecution could be maintained, as well as for the riot.
Id.
. Judge Horace P. Biddle was also one of delegates to the 1851 Constitutional Convention which adopted our state Double Jeopardy Clause. Journal of the Convention of the People of the State of Indiana to Amend the Constitution 3 (1851). Judge Biddle also joined the aforementioned opinions in Greenwood v. State,
. Defendant Richardson refers to cases after 1884 that use the term “facts” in conjunction with our double jeopardy test. See Kokenes, 213 Ind. at 479,
. For claims asserting violations of the federal Double Jeopardy Clause, "the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each [statutory] provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not.” Blockburger,
. U.S. Const, art. VI (the U.S. Constitution "shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby....”).
. These include the following cases: Neal v. State,
. While this case and its companion cases probe important aspects of state and federal double jeopardy jurisprudence, our review and discussion are not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, the “same offense” issue is but one aspect of double jeopardy jurisprudence. Under some circumstances, even when two or more offenses constitute the same offense under a federal or state "same offense” test, no double jeopardy violation will be found to
. Under this test, "the second charge must be for the same identical act and crime as [the first offense].” Durke,
. "[IJdentity tests depend upon the evidence required [under the statute] to convict, not the evidence actually introduced at trial.” Simon, supra, at 273 (emphasis added).
. This inquiry is quite simple when a facial comparison of the charged crimes clearly shows that separate offenses are involved. For example, if a defendant is charged with murdering A and murdering B, further inquiry into whether the offenses are the "same offense” for double jeopardy purposes is not warranted because the charged crimes are different on their face. They involve different victims. Similarly, if a defendant is charged with robbing a particular store on Monday and then again on Friday, the offenses are, facially, not the same. If a defendant is arrested and found to possess both cocaine and marijuana on his person, possession of cocaine under Indiana Code section 35-48-4-6 and possession of marijuana under Indiana Code section 35-48-4-11 are, facially, not the same offense.
.This statutory elements test, which is one component of our "same offense” analysis under the double jeopardy provision of the Indiana Constitution, is similar to the "same elements” test, which comprises the federal double jeopardy analysis under Blockburger. The Blockburger Court stated the federal standard as follows:
The applicable rule is that where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not.
Blockburger,
"The test is not whether the defendant has already been tried for the same act, but whether he has been put in jeopardy for the same offense. A single act may be an offense against two statutes; and if each stat-ule requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not, an acquittal or conviction under either statute does not exempt the defendant from prosecution and punishment under the other.”
Gavieres v. United States,
[T]he Blockburger test focuses on the proof necessary to prove the statutory elements rather than on the actual evidence to be presented at trial. Thus we stated that if " 'each statute requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not,' ” the offenses are not the same under the Block-burger test.
Illinois v. Vitale,
As Blockburger and other decisions applying its principle reveal, the Court's application of the test focuses on the statutory elements of the offense. If each requires proof of a fact that the other does not, the Blockburger test is satisfied, notwithstanding a substantial overlap in the proof offered to establish the crimes.
Iannelli v. United States,
. The statutory language regarding "putting any person in fear” is not an essential element in this case because the State charged him with "using or threatening the use of force.” Similarly, the exact manner or means by which force was imposed is not essential, as the State need only show that some type of force was actually used. Additionally, the type of property stolen by the defendant is not essential under the statute because the statute only requires some type of property be taken from Koenig. However, under the carjacking statute, the specific type of prоperty — a motor vehicle — would be an essential element in determining the identity of the offense. See Ind.Code § 35-42-5-2 (1993) ("A person who knowingly or intentionally takes a motor vehicle from another person or from the presence of another person: (1) by using or threatening the use of force on any person; or (2) by putting any person in fear; commits carjacking, a Class B felony.”) (emphasis added).
. Interpreting this statute, we have specifically held that the charging instrument does not have to include “additional facts describing the injury inflicted or how it was inflicted.” Moody v. State,
. The exact nature of bodily injury and the exact means or manner by which the touching occurred are not essential elements. The State need only show that some type of rude, insolent, or angry touching and some bodily injury occurred. See supra note 43 and accompanying text.
. In contrast, the Indiana Double Jeopardy Clause would be violated under this essential elements test when, for example, a defendant is convicted and sentenced for both robbery and felony murder based on the killing of a clerk in the course of the robbery. See, e.g., Mitchell v. State,
. Our early cases are not conclusive as to the standard of review to be applied. In Brinkman,
. The result in Games,
. Although the lack of evidence of bodily injury resulting from being shoved off the bridge (as required for a separate and independent class A misdemeanor battery) is determinative, we further observe that the closing arguments of counsel, in discussing the proof of battery, focused solely on the evidence of the beating that preceded the removal of the wallet. Furthermore, the preliminary instructions in this one-day trial advised the jury that the battery charge alleged that "defendant beat [Koenig] with his fist to the extent that [Koenig] suffered bodily injury.” Record at 41. The jury instructions and presentations of counsel to the jury can be helpful to the reviewing court in its analysis of the actual evidence to determine whether a jury used the same evidence to establish multiple offenses. Because the court’s instructions and counsel's remarks are not evidence, however, neither would be determinative in the presence of actual evidenсe that the jury reasonably could have used to independently establish the essential elements of the separate offenses.
Concurrence Opinion
Justice, concurring.
I congratulate Justice Dickson on his comprehensive and enlightening analysis. I concur because I believe his formulation encompasses those limited number of specific situations (deemed “superseded”) where this Court has been unwilling to impose multiple punishments upon a defendant who commits two crimes at the very same time against the same victim. At this time, however, I am unwilling to extend this formulation beyond these situations.
My own analysis suggests that these situations fall into five categories:
1.Conviction and punishment for a crime which is a lesser-included offense of another crime for ivhich the defendant has been convicted and punished. Examples of this situation are provided by such cases as Bivins v. State,
However, this category does not include situations where the two crimes have different victims, e.g., Reaves v. State,
2. Conviction and punishment for a crime which consists of the very same act as another crime for which the defendant has been convicted and punished. An example of this situation is Jones v. State,
3. Conviction and punishment for a crime which consists of the very same act as an element of another crime for which the defendant has been convicted and punished. Mr. Richardson’s situation in this case falls into this category. Another example is Wethington v. State,
We have not extended relief, however, in situations where the subject behavior or harm is either separate from or more extensive than that necessary to constitute the element of the first crime. Examples of relief being denied on this basis include Webster v. State,
4. Conviction and punishment for an enhancement of a crime where the enhancement is imposed for the very same behavior or harm as another crime for which the defendant has been convicted and punished. The legislature has provided that the punishment classification of certain crimes may be enhanced if the behavior which constitutes the crime is accompanied by certain specified additional behavior or causes certain specified additional harm.
A closely related set of cases provide that to the extent that a defendant’s conviction for one crime is enhanced for engaging in particular additional behavior or causing particular additional harm, that behavior or harm cannot also be used as an enhancement of a separate crime. See Campbell v. State,
On the other hand, where separate victims are involved or the behavior or harm that is the basis of the enhancement is distinct and separate, no relief will be provided. See Woods v. State,
5. Conviction and punishment for the crime of conspiracy where the ovеrt act that constitutes an element of the conspiracy charge is the very same act as another crime for which the defendant has been convicted and punished. Conspiracy requires an agreement by two or more people to commit a crime and an overt act in furtherance of the agreement. While a defendant can be guilty of both conspiracy to commit a crime and the underlying crime itself, what is at stake in this category is assuring that indeed the conspiracy is a separate and distinct act from the underlying crime. Put more concretely, in situations where the overt act itself is no more than the underlying crime, any time two or more persons commit a crime, at least one will be guilty of both conspiracy and the
This point was explained in Chiesi v. State,
. For example, a person commits Robbery, a Class C felony, by knowingly or intentionally taking property from another person or from the presence of another person by using or threatening the use of force on any person or by putting any person in fear. However, the crime is enhanced to a Class B felony if it is committed while armed with a deadly weapon or results in bodily injury to any person other than a defendant. And the crime is enhanced to a Class A felony if it results in serious bodily injury to any person other than a defendant. Ind.Code § 35-42-5-1 (1998).
Concurrence Opinion
concurring in result.
What is “double jeopardy?” I believe that when asked this question, most people, and indeed most Hoosiers, would say that it is to be tried twice for the same crime. The answer likely would be just this simple, without regard to notions of multiple punishment, dual convictions, the meaning of an offense and the like. Double jeopardy is a bedrock principle of our constitutional law. See Benton v. Maryland,
concurring in result.
I agree, as do all members of the Court, that the test for permitting convictions on two or more counts in the same trial is as the majority formulates it. However, I conclude that today’s case may be decided without resort to constitutional doctrine because the dual convictions here are barred by statutory and common law doctrines, irrespective of constitutional considerations. More broadly, I believe that dual convictions in a single case do not present an Indiana constitutional double jeopardy claim at all. Rather Article I, § 14 should be invoked only as a bar to subsequent prosecutions. Because the majority addresses the constitutional provision, and because I agree that the important and unsettled matter of the scope of double jeopardy protection under the Indiana Constitution must be resolved by this Court, I express my views on that subject.
Justice Sullivan points to recent decisions of this Court that prohibit (1) conviction and punishment for a lesser included offense of another crime for which the defendant has been convicted and punished; (2) conviction and punishment for two crimes that consist of the same act; (3) conviction and punishment for a crime that consists of the same act as an element of another crime for which the defendant has been convicted and punished; (4) enhancement of a crime where the enhancement is imposed for the same behavior or harm that enhanced another crime or the same behavior that constitutes another crime for which the defendant has been convicted and punished; and (5) conviction and punishment for the crime of conspiracy where the overt act that constitutes an
I recognize that the majority opinion accurately recounts much of the precedent under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the constitution of this state and other similar constitutional provisions. I also freely concede that many of the recent decisions refer to Article I, § 14, albeit only in passing. However, I believe, as the majority correctly points out, that none of these cases purports to deal with the Indiana Constitution apart from the Fifth Amendment, I justify my willingness to challenge these cases as constitutional precedent on the basis that there is no consistent precedent in this state as to the meaning of this provision. As explained below, many of these precedents rest on very shaky footing and most, if not all, seem to assume an identity of federal and state doctrines that is rejected by every Justice on this Court. Equally significant, our precedent does not support and certainly does not demand that we regard multiple punishment cases as implicating the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Indiana Constitution.
The majority relies on subsequent prosecution cases in crafting a test for the multiple punishment context because “this Court has not distinguished between double jeopardy protections in multiple punishment cases and those in subsequent prosecution cases.” I do not agree that this Court has uniformly treated the two as identical. As explained in Part I.A. both before and after the federal Double Jeopardy Clause was held applicable to state prosecutions this Court explicitly stated that multiple punishments imposed in one trial do not present a double jeopardy issue because there was no “former jeopardy.” Finally, my complaints about finding double jeopardy implications in multiple punishment are not grounded merely in a need for doctrinal purity. Mixing the multiple punishment and subsequent prosecution strands, as has occurred in federal double jeopardy law, results in an unsatisfactory compromise that breeds confusion and impairs the important values underlying the Double Jeopardy Clause.
In sum, I believe Article I, § 14 reflects a value that is most important in the subsequent prosecution context. A test that is intended to fortify the Double Jeopardy Clause but accommodates the needs of multiple punishment doctrine ends up impairing the most important function of the constitutional provision. And, as explained infra in Part I.C., constitutionalizing these common law multiple punishment rules does nothing to restrict the legislature’s ability to “pile on” punishments in a single case if it wishes to do so. It thus adds nothing but complication to the protection
I. Double Jeopardy Precedent and Purpose
“Double jeopardy,” like “due process of law,” is an umbrella term that has evolved over time and embraces several discrete concepts. Thus it is important to understand the various circumstances and the different procedural postures in which double jeopardy has been asserted. Situations that defendants have claimed give rise to a claim of double jeopardy include: (1) a single act that violates multiple statutes with no common elements (sale of cocaine to a minor as both dealing and contributing to delinquency); (2) a single act that violates multiple statutes with both common elements and distinct elements (rape and child molest); (3) “included offenses” where all the elements of one crime are among those of the other (cocaine possession and cocaine possession with intent to deliver); (4) a single act that violates a single statute but creates more than one victim (multiple murders committed with a single bullet or bomb); (5) closely related acts that injure the same victim (robbery and battery such as we have in this case); and (6) closely related acts that create separate injuries.
Double jeopardy claims arise in differing procedural postures as well as varying fact patterns. The clause has been invokеd in both multiple punishments imposed in the same trial and to subsequent prosecutions of the same defendant. Frequently the cases dealing with one context cite precedent from another without commenting on any potential difference between the two. More frequently, after 1969, we find cases correctly citing North Carolina v. Pearce,
A. Indiana Constitutional and Common Law Precedent
Confusion over double jeopardy is not new. Over twenty years ago, this Court addressed punishment for multiple of
First as a matter of syntax, Article I, § 14 does not appear to deal with multiple punishments at all. As this Court recently observed in another context, “the cardinal principle of constitutional construction [is] that words are to be considered as used in their ordinary sense.” Ajabu v. State,
Second, Indiana authority does not provide a sound footing for applying double jeopardy to multiple punishment cases. Indeed it is very clear that some of the seminal cases cited for the proposition that multiple punishments implicate Article I, § 14 of the Indiana Constitution stand for precisely the opposite conclusion. The majority suggests that multiple punishment challenges under Article I, § 14 first began appearing in the 1930s. See
This Court itself did not explicitly state that multiple punishments in one proceeding violated Article I, § 14 until Bevill v. State,
The authorities cited by Kokenes also demonstrate that it was purely a common law holding. For example, Jackson v. State,
No person shall be put in jeopardy twice for the same offense is a common-law principle, which, we believe, is incorporated into the constitutions of each of the States which compose the United States. This provision, however, has not been interpreted and applied uniformly throughout all the States. In some it has been held to mean no more than the common.law principle.
Id. at 284. The Elder court summarized the then already confusing state of the law in a set of principles, all of which dealt with whether a subsequent prosecution could be brought. It supported its summary of the law with a series of citations to the distinguished treatises of its day that very clearly dealt only with the problem of subsequent prosecutions
In 1969, Benton v. Maryland,
The Double Jeopardy clause is assurance that the State will not be allowed to make repeated attempts to convict an accused for the same offense. U.S. CONST, amen. V and XIV; IND. CONST. Art. 1, § 14; See Benton v. Maryland, (1969),395 U.S. 784 ,89 S.Ct. 2056 ,23 L.Ed.2d 707 ; Green v. United States, (1957),355 U.S. 184 ,78 S.Ct. 221 ,61 A.L.R.2d 1119 ,2 L.Ed.2d 199 ; Armentrout v. State, (1938),214 Ind. 273 ,15 N.E.2d 363 . Since Appellant has been subjected to only one judicial proceeding for the offenses charged, his claim of double jeopardy is inappropriate.
The Court next used the term “double jeopardy” in the course of an opinion rejecting the defendant’s claim that his convictions for asportation and kidnaping were error because the two were separate offenses. Neal v. State,
Elmore,
Elmore noted that earlier Indiana authorities had developed a “same evidence”
Insofar as Elmore has any implication for the state constitution, it turns on the proposition that because the federal Double Jeopardy Clause applies to the states, the state doctrine (whether common law or constitutional) should be conformed to federal constitutional law. This is contrary to current state constitutional law in Indiana and other states. To be sure, we have often adopted federal constitutional rules in interpreting their state counterpart. See, e.g., Ajabu,
The first significant
From this line of cases, I take it that notwithstanding the somewhat suspect
The sum of this is that, although there is a great deal of dicta on the point, no case from this Court has considered whether the Indiana Constitution raises a bar higher than or different from the Fifth Amendment. And as far as I can see, in no case until Games conformed Indiana’s understanding of federal double jeopardy to Dixon, did the Court note any potential for difference.
B. Non-Constitutional Doctrines Dealing with Multiple Punishments
I do not mean to suggest that the Indiana cases finding bars to multiple punishment were incorrectly decided in their results. As Justice Sullivan’s opinion shows, these cases have in recent years been cited for a number of propositions barring multiple punishment for the same act. However, I believe the decisions that have found Indiana’s constitutional provision, or its counterparts in other constitutions, to prohibit multiple punishments have in many, if not most, cases unnecessarily invoked constitutional artillery where a statutory or common law rifle would do the job.
As noted, Kokenes held that a lesser included offense cannot result in a conviction in addition to the greater offense, but did so solely as a matter of common law. We also have case law making clear that a conspiracy conviction cannot stand if the overt act is the crime that is the object of the agreement, that a single element cannot enhance two offenses and that the same act and consequences cannot support multiple convictions. Multiple convictions in these cases are barred by the rule established in Thompson that “before the court may enter judgment and impose sentence upon multiple counts, the facts giving rise to the various offenses must be independently supportable, separate and distinct.”
We also have in Indiana statutory prohibitions based on the Model Penal Code that prohibit convictions for (1) conspiracy and attempt to commit the same crime; and (2) an attempt and the crime attempted. Ind.Code § 35-41-5-3 (1998). As noted in Part II, we have a statutory prohibition against sentencing a person for both a crime and an “included offense” in the same case. Id. § 35-38-1-6.
These provisions were taken in 1976 from the Model Penal Code and have counterparts in the then proposed but never adopted Federal Criminal Code. The Indiana Criminal Law Study Commission “assumed” that the state and federal constitutional provisions were coextensive. CRIMINAL Law Study Commission, Indiana Penal Code PROPOSED Final Draft 51 (1974). This assumption was made at the time Blockburger was under severe attack,
The problem of multiple punishments can thus be handled as a matter of common law doctrines or statutory construction, guided either by explicit direction from the legislature, as the cited statutes provide, or by commonly cited rules of statutory construction and presumed legislative intent.
C. Finding Constitutional Basis for Multiple Punishment Doctrines Accomplishes Little
Finding a constitutional dimension in multiple punishment cases under double jeopardy doctrine does not add to the protection already afforded under other provisions of the state and federal constitutions. As Justice Souter put it in his separate concurring and dissenting opinion in Dix
To make the same point another way, it trivializes the Double Jeopardy Clause to еquate it, as federal doctrine does, with legislative intent.
there was nothing to prevent the Legislature from enacting a statute making each step leading up to the sale of intoxicating liquor as a beverage unlawful, and, in doing so, it made the possession of intoxicating liquor and the maintenance of a place for persons to congregate for the purpose of drinking separate offenses.
Thompson v. State,
D. Other Constitutional Provisions Deal with Excessivе Punishment
The conclusion that double jeopardy under Article I, § 14 is not implicated by multiple punishments in the same trial is fortified by the fact that, unlike the federal constitution, the Indiana Constitution includes other provisions that restrict the ability of a prosecutor or a court to “pile on” by finding multiple statutory violations in a single action. First, Article I, § 16 imposes a requirement that penalties be “proportioned to the nature of the offense.” Although courts defer substantially to legislative judgment in setting the penalties for defined crimes, the legislature is not free from restraint under this provision. See, e.g., Conner v. State,
E. The Problem in Trying to Juggle Two Strands of Double Jeopardy
The mischief that arises from confounding the two branches into one doctrine of double jeopardy is that it restricts the application of the provision in the subsequent prosecution arena where it is most needed. In my view we have ended up with the wrong rule for subsequent prosecutions in order to avoid undesired results on the multiple punishment front. The same phenomenon has occurred in federal double jeopardy jurisprudence. As Justice White put it in his separate concurring and dissenting opinion in Dixon:
To focus on the statutory elements of a crime makes sense where cumulative punishment is at stake, for there the aim is simply to uncover legislative intent .... But ... adherence to legislative will has very little to do with the important interests advanced by double jeopardy safeguards against successive prosecutions. The central purpose of the Double Jeopardy Clause being to protect against vexatious multiple prosecutions, these interests go well beyond the prevention of unauthorized punishment.
The problem of mixing multiple punishment and subsequent prosecution is highlighted by a single act that violates multiple statutes or, in violating a single statute, injures multiple victims. Under current law, everyone seems to agree that it must be possible to charge a person who Mils two people with two murders. The term “same offense” cannot refer simply to the same statutory crime, or it would be unconstitutional to prosecute the same person for two murders committed at different times and places. But in order to reach the conclusion that we have two different crimes, we must look at the facts of the two crimes, and not only the statutes they offend. On the other hand, if the “offense” is solely the actions of the accused, it would be impossible to impose a greater punishment for murdering two vic
Take Timothy McVeigh, who by a single act murdered 168 victims in the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. If that occurred in this state could prosecutors charge and try McVeigh 168 times, notwithstanding multiple acquittals, until they obtain a conviction because the actual evidence of the death of a victim would be different in each case? We must also consider the possibility of a conviction in one of the earlier trials, but on a lesser included offense or resulting in a lesser sentence than the death penalty. Can the prosecution keep pursuing McVeigh until it obtains the death penalty even after multiple trials do not produce that result? I cite the McVeigh hypothetical to dramatize the point. However, the same issue arises in more common place scenarios with multiple victims. Should a driver accused of reckless homicide by running a red light face four separate prosecutions because there were three passengers and a driver in the car the driver hit? The actual evidence test would presumably permit all of these reprosecutions because the element of the crime — a victim — could be supplied by different evidence in each case.
Collateral estoppel as a nonconstitutional doctrine can bar some reprosecutions. However, I do not think persistent prosecution of the same act should be a constitutional result, and, as Griffin v. State,
This is substantially the same problem that was presented in Ashe v. Swenson,
Indiana cases decided after Ashe but before Dixon applied Ashe to find a bar to the use of evidence of facts “necessarily decided” in a prior trial. See, e.g., Kuchel v. State,
The Ashe result, as followed in Kuchel, Little and other Indiana cases, is essentially the double jeopardy doctrine that I believe should be followed under the state constitution. For subsequent prosecutions, I would follow the “same conduct” analysis that was adopted in Grady,
Grady held that mere comparison of the statutory elements was insufficient for subsequent prosecutions. Double jeopardy, in addition to requiring a comparison of the statutes, proscribed “any subsequent prosecution in which the government, to establish an essential element of an offense charged in that prosecution, will prove conduct that constitutes an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted.”
I agree that it seems anomalous to find two different standards in the same constitutional provision depending on the context. Rather than attempt to reconcile the two under the Indiana Constitution, I would resolve multiple punishment issues by reference to the common law and statutes and remain with the Grady “same conduct” test for subsequent prosecutions. Indeed, as already noted, Justice Scalia in Kurth Ranch, just one year after Dixon, seemed to agree that only subsequent prosecutions trigger double jeopardy concerns.
In sum, I believe the answer to the constitutional claims raised here is not adoption of a uniform test in the name of doctrinal consistency. Rather it is to rec
As a final note, I do not believe the subsequent prosecution issue can be adequately handled by other constitutional provisions. The Due Process Clause of the federal constitution has also been suggested as a bar to subsequent prosecutions for the same act. See Akhil Reed Amar, Double Jeopardy Law Made Simple, 106 Yale L.J. 1807 (1997). Although at some point repetitive prosecution may run afoul of the Due Process Clause, at least under current precedent, subsequent prosecutions for essentially the same action have been permitted to go forward without mention of due process as Elder and other cases cited in Ashe demonstrate. Moreover, due process gives little guidance to when enough is enough. Rather, invoked as a bar to subsequent prosecution, it seems akin to Justice Stewart’s famous test for obscenity: we must know it when we see it. See Jacobellis v. Ohio,
II. Resolution of this Case Under Indiana Statutes and Common Law
I believe Richardson correctly complains of his dual conviction, but not on constitutional grounds. As Justice Sullivan observes, we have held that “conviction and punishment for a crime that is a lesser included offense of another crime for which the defendant has been convicted and punished” is prohibited.
As a preliminary matter, we must be clear about the nature of the inquiry. In
This conclusion seems inescapable when one considers the implications of a contrary view. Surely one robbery is not the same “offense” as another robbery of a different victim on another day merely because the same statute is breached. The example of a felony murder based on a killing incident to a robbery also illustrates this point. A defendant charged with a felony murder cannot be convicted of both the felony murder and the underlying felony. Many cases so hold. See, e.g., Swafford v. State,
The resolution of Richardson’s case is controlled by the lesser included offense statute. Richardson was charged with a battery “that resulted in bodily injury in that the defendant beat a certain Jeffrey W. Koenig with his fist to the extent that [Koenig] suffered bodily injury.” He can be convicted in this proceeding only of that battery, not just any old battery at some other time or place. Evidence at trial demonstrated that the use of force in the robbery was Richardson’s beating Koenig with his fist. As a result, we know that the battery constituting the force in the robbery is the same as the battery of which Richardson was convicted, and not the tossing of Koenig off the bridge.
. See Joshua Dressler, Understanding Criminal Procedure § 199[A][1] (1991); Comment, Twice in Jeopardy, 75 Yale L.J. 262 (1965).
. An example is the seminal cutting of multiple mailbags in the same incident described in Ebeling v. Morgan,
. As the Court observed in Grady v. Corbin:
Successive prosecutions, however, whether following acquittals or convictions, raise concerns that extend beyond merely the possibility of an enhanced sentence: ... the State with all its resources and рower should not be allowed to make repeated attempts to convict an individual for an alleged offense, thereby subjecting him to embarrassment, expense and ordeal and compelling him to live in a continuing state of anxiety and insecurity.... Multiple prosecutions also give the State an opportunity to rehearse its presentation of proof, thus increasing the risk of an erroneous conviction for one or more of the offenses charged.
.The question whether the double jeopardy right under the Indiana Constitution distinguishes between these two settings was expressly reserved two years ago in Games v. State,
. Games and subsequent cases following it, for example, Haak v. State,
. The large body of law declaring that jeopardy attaches when the jury is sworn also supports this conclusion. See, e.g., United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co.,
. Sutton v. State,
. See Kokenes v. State,
. Dunkle v. State,
. It is noteworthy that the indexes to criminal law texts of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries do not use the term "double jeopardy” but rather refer to "former” jeopardy, suggesting a sole focus on subsequent prosecution. See, e.g., Francis Wharton, American Criminal Law (6th ed. 1868).
.The title of the cited section in Wharton's American Criminal Law (6th ed. 1868) is "au-trefois acquit” which means "formerly acquitted” according to Black's Law Dictionary 134 (6th ed.1990).
. See, e.g., Elder,
. See, e.g., Candler v. State,
.This is not the same test advanced by the majority. It turned on the evidence presented at trial, not the evidence used by the trier of fact to convict.
. Elmore cited only Durke v. State,
. The Court in Dragon v. State,
.One commentator referred to the oft repeated above quote from Pearce as the Supreme Court's "favorite saying.” Dressler, supra, § 199[C]. It is interesting that the authority for the multiple punishment proposition is In Parte Lange,
. It seems beyond argument that the appropriate sentence and the number of years for which a man shall be punished for an offense is not rationally a function of the number of statutory violations into which his conduct may be parsed by a clever pleader. The Draft, therefore, is careful not to use the Blockburger approach and to this extent changes existing Federal law.
Working Papers of the National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws 341 (1970).
. "[T]he role of the constitutional guarantee is limited to assuring that the court does not exceed its legislative authorization by imposing multiple punishments for the same offense.” Brown v. Ohio,
. For the view that the complex crime is different from the collection of its component crimes, see the Comment cited in footnote 1.
. See, e.g., Gregory v. State,
. Earlier double jeopardy law held two convictions barred. Ladner v. United States,
. Perhaps collateral estoppel would come to McVeigh’s aid, but it is a slender reed indeed because it requires in general that the facts McVeigh asserts as requiring dismissal of a subsequent indictment necessarily be a basis for the earlier acquittal or conviction. See Townsend v. State,
. The majority points to Elder,
. Most recently, in Hudson v. United States,
. The need to take some stock of the underlying facts when dealing with subsequent prosecutions is illustrated by Dixon itself, notwithstanding the demise of Grady. In writing for the five-member majority that overruled Grady, Justice Scalia emphasized that the federal double jeopardy inquiry traditionally focuses on the Blockburger test. Dixon,
. Elder offered the following rules to determine whether subsequent provisions were permitted.
1. When the facts constitute but one offense, though it may be susceptible of division into parts, as in larceny for stealing several articles of property at the same time, belonging to the same person, a prosecution to final judgment for stealing a part of the articles will be a bar to a subsequent prosecution for stealing any other part of the articles, stolen by the same act.
2. When the facts constitute two or more offenses, wherein the lesser offense is necessarily involved in the greater — as an assault is involved in an assault and battery, as an assault and battery is involved in an assault and batteiy with intent to commit a felony, and as a larceny is involved in a robbery — and when the facts necessary to convict on a second prosecution would necessarily have convicted on the first, then the first prosecution to a final judgment will be a bar to the second.
3.But when the same facts constitute two or more offenses, wherein the lesser offense is not necessarily involved in the greater, and when the facts necessary to convict on a second prosecution would not necessarily have convicted on the first, then the first prosecution will not be a bar to the second, although the offenses were both committed at the same time and by the same act.
. See, e.g., Bivins v. State,
. The majority states that there was no actual evidence of resulting bodily injury from pushing Koenig off the bridge. Because "bodily injury” includes physical pain, Ind. Code § 35-41-1-4 (1998), I conclude that there was evidence to support a second battery. Tossing someone off a bridge would certainly pass muster as a battery causing bodily injury if this were a challenge based on the sufficiency of the evidence. Nonetheless, we know that Richardson cannot be convicted of the battery involved in pushing Koenig off the bridge because he was charged with battery by beating Koenig with his fist.
