STATE OF NEBRASKA, APPELLANT, v. BREANNA N. KLECKNER, APPELLEE.
No. S-14-960
Nebraska Supreme Court
August 7, 2015
291 Neb. 539 | 867 N.W.2d 273
Filed August 7, 2015.
Criminal Law: Courts: Appeal and Error. In an appeal of a criminal case from the county court, the district court acts as an intermediate court of appeals, and its review is limited to an examination of the record for error or abuse of discretion. - Courts: Appeal and Error. Both the district court and a higher appellate court generally review appeals from the county court for error appearing on the record.
- Judgments: Appeal and Error. When reviewing a judgment for errors appearing on the record, an appellate court’s inquiry is whether the decision conforms to the law, is supported by competent evidence, and is neither arbitrary, capricious, nor unreasonable.
- Criminal Law: Judgments: Jurisdiction: Appeal and Error. Absent specific statutory authorization, the State generally has no right to appeal an adverse ruling in a criminal case.
- Appeal and Error. The purpose of appellate review under
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2315.01 (Reissue 2008) is to provide an authoritative statement of the law to serve as precedent in future cases. - Judgments: Appeal and Error. Only those issues on which the district court made a ruling are subject to review under
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2315.01 (Reissue 2008). - Double Jeopardy. The Double Jeopardy Clauses of the federal and the Nebraska Constitutions protect against three distinct abuses: (1) a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, (2) a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and (3) multiple punishments for the same offense.
- Constitutional Law: Double Jeopardy. The protection provided by Nebraska’s double jeopardy clause is coextensive with that provided by the U.S. Constitution.
Criminal Law: Double Jeopardy. The Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S. Ct. 180, 76 L. Ed. 306 (1932), or “same elements” test, does not apply if the State charges the defendant with multiple counts of a statutory crime that can be committed in different ways. - Criminal Law: Double Jeopardy: Legislature: Intent. Absent a contrary legislative intent, multiple counts of assault are the “same offense” for double jeopardy purposes if a break occurred between the alleged assaults that allowed the defendant to form anew the required criminal intent.
- Criminal Law: Double Jeopardy: Convictions: Sentences. Even if the government charges the defendant with multiple counts of the same offense, the multiple punishments prong of the double jeopardy bar is not violated if the jury convicts the defendant of only one count.
- Criminal Law: Double Jeopardy: Trial: Convictions. For double jeopardy purposes, the presence of multiple counts in a single trial does not amount to a second prosecution for the same offense after an acquittal or conviction.
- Double Jeopardy. The application of
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2316 (Reissue 2008) turns on whether the trial court placed the defendant in jeopardy, not whether the Double Jeopardy Clause bars further action.
Appeal from the District Court for Sarpy County, WILLIAM B. ZASTERA, Judge, on appeal thereto from the County Court for Sarpy County, STEFANIE A. MARTINEZ, Judge. Exception sustained.
Philip K. Kleine, Deputy Sarpy County Attorney, for appellant.
Karen S. Nelson, of Shirber & Wagner, L.L.P., for appellee.
HEAVICAN, C.J., WRIGHT, CONNOLLY, MCCORMACK, MILLER-LERMAN, and CASSEL, JJ.
CONNOLLY, J.
SUMMARY
On the day after Thanksgiving, former intimate partners Breanna N. Kleckner and Chase McGee had a dispute about which of them would care for their son over the weekend. The State charged Kleckner in county court with three counts
BACKGROUND
Factual Background
Kleckner and McGee had an intimate relationship that lasted more than 2 years. They have a son, T.M., who was about 14 months old at the time of the alleged assault. Kleckner and McGee do not have a “custody agreement” for T.M. Their childcare arrangements are informal.
On the evening of November 29, 2013, McGee was at his mother’s house. He called Kleckner and asked her to give him a ride to a shoestore. Kleckner agreed, and she, McGee, and T.M. went to the store together.
On the way back to McGee’s mother’s house, Kleckner and McGee started to argue about who would have T.M. for the weekend. McGee testified that once they arrived, he carried T.M. to the house while Kleckner trailed behind and pushed McGee. McGee said that once inside, his niece took T.M. away and that Kleckner walked out of the house after making a telephone call.
According to McGee, he looked out the window and saw Kleckner throwing rocks at his car. McGee went outside and called the 911 emergency dispatch service. He testified that Kleckner hit him in his right eye about three times either
Kleckner remembered the evening differently. She said that after returning from the shoestore, she walked into the house to speak with McGee’s mother, with McGee following her. Kleckner said that after leaving the house, she got into her car, which was parked in the street, and backed it into the driveway. Then she got out, picked up a rock, and cocked her arm in the direction of McGee’s vehicle because she “just felt really disrespected.” But Kleckner said that she had a change of heart and either “threw [the rock] to the side” or “dropped it.”
Kleckner said that at this point, she got into her car again and was prepared to leave. But McGee came out of the house and grabbed the interior of her car through an open window. Kleckner testified that she sidled out of her car and pushed McGee’s shoulder to get his arm out of the way. Kleckner said that after she did so, she locked the doors and listened to McGee call 911 before driving away.
Kleckner testified that she did not touch McGee other than to push him from her car. But McGee’s sister-in-law, who was at the house, testified that McGee’s right eye was swollen and red after Kleckner left. Similarly, the police officer who responded to McGee’s 911 call testified that McGee’s right eye and cheek were swollen and red.
Kleckner testified that she did not “threaten to hurt” McGee. Neither McGee nor any of the State’s other witnesses testified that Kleckner threatened McGee. But the State played a recording of the 911 call for the jury, during which McGee told the operator that Kleckner had “threatened to kill me.” In a petition for a domestic abuse protection order, McGee wrote that Kleckner told him while they were in his mother’s house that “she was going to have people beat me up and kill me.”
County Court
The State filed a criminal complaint in county court charging Kleckner with three counts of third degree domestic assault under
Kleckner filed an omnibus motion to quash, a demurrer, and a motion to elect. In the operative filing, Kleckner asserted that the State “cannot charge [her] with violating all three subsection[s] simultaneously.” She alleged that the complaint violated her double jeopardy rights under the federal and Nebraska Constitutions and her due process rights under the federal Constitution.
The county court overruled Kleckner’s motion to quash and demurrer but held her motion to elect in abeyance until the close of the State’s case.
After the State rested, Kleckner renewed her motion to elect and moved for a directed verdict. The court overruled Kleckner’s motion for a directed verdict but sustained her motion to elect as to count III because the State had not made a “prima facie showing” for that count.
The jury returned a verdict finding Kleckner guilty of count I and not guilty of count II. The county court sentenced Kleckner to 1 year of probation.
District Court
Kleckner appealed her conviction to the district court. She assigned, in relevant part, that the county court erred by overruling her motion to quash because the State violated her
The district court concluded that
ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR
The State assigns that the district court erred by (1) incorrectly interpreting Blockburger v. United States1; (2) determining that “two charges under the same statute were, for purposes of prosecution, the same as two charges for the same act” under the Double Jeopardy Clause; (3) determining that the state should have elected between multiple counts; and (4) “arbitrarily acquit[ting Kleckner] of all charges.”
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[1-3] In an appeal of a criminal case from the county court, the district court acts as an intermediate court of appeals, and its review is limited to an examination of the record for error or abuse of discretion.2 Both the district court and a higher appellate court generally review appeals from the county court for error appearing on the record.3 When reviewing a judgment for errors appearing on the record, an appellate court’s inquiry is whether the decision conforms to the law, is supported by competent evidence, and is neither arbitrary,
ANALYSIS
[4-6] Before addressing the merits, we note that the State is the appellant. Absent specific statutory authorization, the State generally has no right to appeal an adverse ruling in a criminal case.6 In this case, the State appeals under
The State argues that the district court “erred in determining that because the three charges arose from violations of the same statute, that the violations constituted the same act and multiple prosecutions were therefore barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause.”10 The State contends that the three subsections of
Of course, Kleckner disagrees. She argues that third degree domestic assault is “one offense committable in multiple
[7,8] The Double Jeopardy Clauses of the federal and the Nebraska Constitutions protect against three distinct abuses: (1) a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, (2) a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and (3) multiple punishments for the same offense.14 The protection provided by Nebraska’s double jeopardy clause is coextensive with that provided by the U.S. Constitution.15
Kleckner argues that the information was multiplicitous. That is, the information charged the same offense in multiple counts.16 Under
To decide whether each subsection under
[9] Here, the Blockburger test is not appropriate because third degree domestic assault under
[10] But a defendant is not immune from multiple punishments or trials simply because there is only one victim of the defendant’s assaultive conduct. Absent a contrary legislative intent,28 the test for assault offenses is whether a break occurred between the alleged assaults that allowed the defendant to form anew the required criminal intent:
In assault cases, separate offenses can arise from a single set of facts each time the defendant forms an intent to attack the victim. . . . Thus, when a defendant has time to reconsider his actions, “each assault separated by time” constitutes a separate offense. . . . Factors such as time, place of commission, and the defendant’s intent, as evidenced by his conduct and utterances determine whether separate offenses should result from a single incident.29
But we will not decide whether the State could have punished or prosecuted Kleckner more than once under
[11,12] So, the district court erred for a basic reason: None of the three evils prohibited by the Double Jeopardy Clause befell Kleckner. Even if the government charges the defendant with multiple counts of the same offense, the multiple punishments prong of the double jeopardy bar is not violated if the jury convicts the defendant of only one count.34 Nor does the presence of multiple counts in a single trial
Put simply, Kleckner’s conviction of one count after one trial in the county court did not implicate the three distinct abuses that the double jeopardy bar prohibits. There was only one prosecution, and Kleckner received only one punishment. So, the district court should not have reversed Kleckner’s conviction to the extent it did so on double jeopardy grounds. And the only reason the court gave for reversing Kleckner’s conviction was that the State charged her with multiple counts of the same crime. In her appeal to the district court, Kleckner argued only that charging her with multiple counts violated her double jeopardy and due process rights. She has not elaborated how the State violated her right to due process.
Kleckner’s reliance on State v. Parker36 is misplaced. In Parker, we held that if one offense can be committed different ways, the jury must be unanimous that the defendant committed the offense but need not be unanimous about which of the alternative means the defendant used. The unanimity of the jury’s verdict—the only issue in Parker—is not an issue in this case. Parker did not involve multiple charges for the same offense.
Having decided that the district court should not have reversed Kleckner’s conviction, we turn to the effect of our conclusion. The State argues that we should reverse, and remand with directions to reinstate Kleckner’s conviction and sentence. But our power to reverse the judgment of the district court is limited. Specifically,
Here, Kleckner tried the case to a jury. Jeopardy therefore attached when the jury was impaneled and sworn.40 Because the trial court placed Kleckner legally in jeopardy before the district court’s erroneous ruling, we cannot reverse the district court’s judgment.
The State argues that the posture of this case distinguishes it from Vasquez and its progeny. But, in State v. Figeroa,41 we applied
CONCLUSION
The State did not punish Kleckner multiple times for the same offense or subject her to multiple prosecutions. So, the district court erred by reversing her conviction on the ground that the State charged her with the same offense in several counts. But
EXCEPTION SUSTAINED.
Stephan, J., not participating.
STATE OF NEBRASKA, APPELLANT, v. BREANNA N. KLECKNER, APPELLEE.
No. S-14-960
Nebraska Supreme Court
August 7, 2015
291 Neb. 539 | 867 N.W.2d 273
I entirely agree that the district court erred in reversing the county court conviction. And to that extent, I concur in the majority opinion.
But I dissent from the majority’s conclusion that the county court conviction and sentence cannot be reinstated. Justice Gerrard’s dissents in State v. Hense1, State v. Head2, and State v. Figeroa3 powerfully articulate the error that the majority today perpetuates. As he aptly pointed out, “[u]nder this court’s construction of the statute,[4] a district court’s reversal of a lower court’s judgment has become ‘“tantamount to a verdict of acquittal at the hands of the jury, not subject to review.“’” 5
A jury of Breanna N. Kleckner’s peers convicted her of third degree domestic assault. The county court imposed a permissible sentence. She appealed to the district court, as she was entitled to do. But the district court’s erroneous reversal, coupled with this court’s incorrect statutory interpretation, allows her to escape any consequences for her crime. I can imagine the reaction of Kleckner’s jury to this absurd result. It can only promote disrespect for the law. We should correct our own mistake before the public’s patience runs out.
HEAVICAN, C.J., joins in this concurrence and dissent.
