State v. Brown
State v. Brown
Opinion of the Court
On July 31, 1970, defendant was arrested in Lane County while carrying a concealed pistol. The same day a complaint was filed in the Lane County District Court charging him with the crime of carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor,
The Court of Appeals affirmed, relying on State v. Miller, 5 Or App 501, 484 P2d 1132, review denied (1971), cert. denied April 4, 1972. Miller involved an identical fact situation and the Court of Appeals held that defendant had not been twice in jeopardy for the same offense. It assumed that this court had adopted the “same evidence” test and held that, under that test, the two charges did not involve
“* * * not whether the defendant has already been tried for the same act, but whether he has been put in jeopardy for the same offence. A single act may be an offence against two statutes; and if each statute 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.”
A conviction under OES 166.240(1) requires proof that the weapon was concealed upon defendant’s person, whereas a conviction under OES 166.270 requires proof that the defendant has been convicted of a felony, and that he owns or possesses a concealable firearm. No proof of actual concealment is necessary. Under the “same evidence” test, the two charges were not for the same offense, as each required proof of a fact which the other did not. We granted review in this case to consider defendant’s double jeopardy claim.
Although this court has quoted the Morey v. Commonwealth version of the “same evidence” test on a number of occasions,
No logical pattern or consistent approach to the problem emerges from these cases, and the same is true when we look to other jurisdictions. Although the “same evidence” test in some form
« * ‘The right not to be put in jeopardy a second time for the same cause is as sacred as the right of trial by jury, and is guarded with as much care by the common law and by the constitution’: Black, C. J., in Dinkey v. Commonwealth, 17 Pa. St. 126. But the solution of the question as to what facts will sustain the plea is attended with difficulty, and has provoked much discussion by the courts and text writers. The general rules upon the subject and the tests usually applied are well settled, but in the method of their application much contrariety of opinion appears, owing, no doubt, to the generality and consequent elasticity of the rules themselves. * ® State v. Howe, 27 Or 138, 140, 44 P 672 (1895).
The problem of defining the same offense has continued to provoke discussion, and the courts have been unsuccessful in devising satisfactory solutions. At the same time, the development of the criminal law has added to the gravity of the problem. When offenses were few, a single course of conduct was not likely to violate more than a single criminal statute. That is no longer true. Over the years, legislative definition of criminal offenses has become more detailed and specific, and previously unregulated areas of behavior have been brought within the scope of the criminal law. Both this phenomenon and its accompanying dangers were recently noted by the United States Supreme Court:
“* * * [A]t common law, and under early federal criminal statutes, offense categories were relatively few and distinct. A single course of criminal conduct was likely to yield but a single offense. * * * In more recent times, with the advent of specificity in draftsmanship and the extraordinary prolifera*448 tion of overlapping and related statutory offenses, it became possible for prosecutors to spin out a startlingly numerous series of offenses from a single alleged criminal transaction. * * * As the number of statutory offenses multiplied, the potential for unfair and abusive reprosecutions became far more pronounced.” Ashe v. Swenson, 397 US 436, 90 S Ct 1189, 25 L Ed 2d 469, 476 note 10 (1970).
Oregon has not been immune. A 1960 study which identifies approximately 1,350 separate crimes in Oregon is probably a gross understatement of the number of statutory offenses.
In such a setting, the traditional “same evidence” test provides virtually no protection against repeated prosecutions based on a single act or course of conduct. A prosecutor is limited only by the number of ways in which the legislature has made the defendant’s conduct punishable, and may indulge in the harassment against which the double jeopardy guarantee should protect. He may split his case, so that if the first trial results in an acquittal he can try the defendant again, for essentially the same conduct, before a different
The United States Supreme Court has never approved or applied the “same evidence” test in a case involving the Fifth Amendment double jeopardy guarantee against successive prosecutions. The court has applied that test in cases involving multiple charges in a single trial and has held that multiple convictions and cumulative punishments are permissible in a single trial if the offenses charged are not the same under that test.
Eecent Supreme Court decisions do reveal a concern with double jeopardy problems. In 1969 the court overruled Palko v. Connecticut, 302 US 319, 58 S Ct 149, 82 L Ed 288 (1937) to hold that the Fifth Amendment guarantee against double jeopardy applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Benton v. Maryland, 395 US 784, 89 S Ct 2056, 23 L Ed 2d 707 (1969). In 1970 two state eases involving multiple prosecutions were decided, and in both cases the protection against double jeopardy was expanded. In Ashe v. Swenson, supra, the court held that collateral estoppel was a part of the constitutional guarantee. In Ashe petitioner had been tried and acquitted of the robbery of one Knight, one of six victims of a single armed robbery. Petitioner was then brought to trial and convicted for the robbery of another of the victims. The court held that in light of the evidence at the first trial, the only rational basis for acquittal was the issue of petitioner’s identity as one of the robbers. As the first jury had determined that question in his favor, the state was barred by constitutionally required principles of collateral estoppel from litigating that issue again.
In Waller v. Florida, 397 US 387, 90 S Ct 1184, 25 L Ed 2d 435 (1970) the court held that a conviction
Although Benton, Ashe, and Waller suggest a tendency on the part of the Supreme Court to move toward a broader application of the protection afforded by the double jeopardy guarantee, none of these cases involved the problem of identity of offenses in the sense in which we are concerned in this case. We are without clear authority from the Supreme Court when we consider whether a single act or course of conduct which violates more than one statute constitutes one or more offenses within the meaning of the double jeopardy provision of the Fifth Amendment. However, as our own constitution also prohibits a second jeopardy for the same offense, we need not speculate what the Supreme Court will decide. We are free to adopt our own interpretation of our state constitution.
We are convinced that the “same evidence” test does not provide adequate protection, under modern conditions, from the evils contemplated by the double jeopardy guarantee. We hold that under Article I, Section 12, of our Constitution, statutory violations may be the “same offense” for purposes of testing a second prosecution, even though each contains different elements and requires proof of different facts.
“In applying the prohibition against double jeopardy, the emphasis should be on underlying policies rather than technisms. The primary considerations should be fairness and fulfillment of reasonable expectations in the light of the constitutional and common-law goals. * * *” State v. Currie, 41 NJ 531, 197 A2d 678, 683 (1964).
Under the New Jersey rule, a second prosecution may be barred if the elements of oppression or harassment are present, or if it violates the “reasonable expectations attendant upon the first proceeding.” The court will also consider possible unfairness to the state should the second prosecution be barred. 197 A2d at 685. We find this approach too indefinite to provide the necessary guidance for the trial courts in ruling on pleas of former jeopardy. In contrast with the mechanical approach of the “same evidence” test, the Currie approach requires a case-by-case weighing of many factors to determine whether the second prosecution is fair and in accord with the defendant’s “reasonable expectations.” We prefer, if possible, to find a standard which can be applied with more assurance and consistency.
The most commonly proposed alternative to the “same evidence” test is some form of compulsory joinder of charges arising out of the same act or transaction. In some states this “same transaction” test has been adopted by statute.
In a 1970 enactment, New York adopted the rule that, with some exceptions, “A person may not be
The American Law Institute, in the Model Penal Code, has adopted the compulsory joinder approach. With some exceptions, it prohibits multiple trials for “multiple offenses based on the same conduct or arising
A few states have adopted the “same transaction” test by court decision.
Our Criminal Law Eevisicm Commission has approved a proposed statutory provision for compulsory joinder:
“No person shall be separately prosecuted for two or more offenses based upon the same criminal episode, if the several offenses are reasonably known to the appropriate prosecutor at the time*457 of commencement of the first prosecution and establish proper venue in a single court.”㉗
A “criminal episode” is defined as
“* * * continuous and uninterrupted conduct that establishes at least one offense and is so joined in time, place and circumstances that such conduct is directed to the accomplishment of a single criminal objective.”㉘
This proposal, which has not yet been submitted to our legislature, would go further in its joinder requirements than the Model Penal Code, the New York statute, and the Hawaii rule. Those rules permit an exception to the joinder requirement if the statutes violated by a single act, course of conduct, or criminal episode, have different elements and are directed toward a different harm or evil.
Applying this test to the present case, we hold that defendant’s plea of double jeopardy should have been allowed. It was stipulated that the two charges were based on a single act — carrying a concealed pistol. The first charge, as well as the second, eonld have been tried in the circuit court.
We are aware that the test we have adopted here leaves certain questions unanswered, two of which should be mentioned. First, the above test would not prohibit a prosecution for an offense against state law after a conviction or acquittal for a violation of a municipal ordinance arising out of the same act or transaction. The charges, in such a case, could not be tried in a single court. The Supreme Court, in Waller v. Florida, supra, has held that a municipal court prosecution is a bar to a later state court prosecution for the same offense. We do not now decide whether the “same act or transaction” is the proper test to deter
Second, we wish to point out that our decision in this case is limited to instances of successive prosecution, and has no application to the question of multiple punishment. As we have said, the two problems involve entirely different considerations, and this opinion is not intended to limit in any way the power of the legislature to provide for separate and cumulative punishments for different aspects of a single act or course of conduct. We reserve consideration of that question until we are faced with a case in which it is involved.
ORS 166.240:
“(1) Any person who carries concealed about his person in any manner, any revolver, pistol, or other firearm, * * * shall be punished upon conviction by a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $200', or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than five days nor more than 100 days, or both.”
ORS 166.270:
“* * * any person who has been convicted of a felony against the person or property of another * * * who owns, or*444 has in his possession or under his custody or control any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, ** * * shall be punished upon conviction by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than five years.”
ORS 135.820:
“There are three kinds of plea to an indictment:
‡ ‡ $
“(3) A former judgment of conviction or acquittal of the crime charged, which may be pleaded either with or without the plea of not guilty.”
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:
* * nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb * *
The Oregon Constitution, in Article I, Section 12, contains the same guarantee:
“No person shall be put in jeopardy twice for the same offence * * *.”
State v. McDonald, 231 Or 48, 52, 365 P2d 494 (1962); State v. Weitzel, 157 Or 334, 340, 69 P2d 958 (1937); State v. Stewart, 11 Or 52, 4 P 128 (1883).
State v. Weitzel, note 5, supra; State v. Smith, 101 Or 127, 199 P 194, 16 ALR 1220 (1921); State v. Magone, 33 Or 570, 56 P 648 (1899); State v. Stewart, note 5, supra. See, also, State v. Nodine, 121 Or 567, 256 P 387 (1927) (dictum).
State v. Newlin, 92 Or 597, 182 P 135 (1919); State v. McCormack, 8 Or 236 (1880). In McCormack the court held that the plea of double jeopardy should have been sustained. Defendant was first convicted of larceny of a saddle and bridle. The second prosecution was for larceny of a horse, taken from the same person at the same time and place. Both the general larceny statute and a statute prohibiting larceny of a horse were involved. If the “same evidence” test had been applied, the second prosecution would have been permitted.
State v. Keep, 85 Or 265, 166 P 936 (1917); State v. Magone, note 6, supra (dictum).
State v. McDonald, note 5, supra; State v. Howe, 27 Or 138, 44 P 672 (1895).
The author of the Comment, Twice in Jeopardy, 75 Yale L J 262, 273 (1965) has identified several distinct forms of the test in addition to that formulated in Morey v. Commonwealth, which he lists as follows: (1) Offenses are the same only if proof of the facts alleged in the second indictment would have been sufficient for a conviction under the allegations of the first indictment [See Rex v. Vandercomb & Abbott, 2 Leach 708, 720, 168 Eng Rep 455, 461 (1796), recognized as the case in which the “same evidence” test originated.]; (2) offenses are not the same unless the defendant could have been convicted of the second offense on the evidence required at the first trial; (3) offenses are not the same if each contains an element not included in the other; (4) offenses are the same only if they are identical in law and in fact.
Beckett, Criminal Penalties in Oregon, 40 Or L Rev 1, 121-157 (1960). As the study focused on the penalty provisions rather than the statutes defining the crimes, there was no attempt to isolate each possible criminal offense. Many of our regulatory statutes contain a number of prohibitions with a single penalty provision for any violation; the Beckett study counted each such penalty provision as a single “crime.”
The Criminal Law Revision Commission identified 340 crimes in our criminal code prior to its recent revision. The revision (as proposed to the legislature) resulted in a net reduction of 181 crimes. Criminal Law Revision Commission, Proposed Oregon Criminal Code, Final Draft and Report (July, 1970) xxiii. The revision, although eliminating many distinctions and overlapping offenses in the criminal code itself, did not significantly reduce the total number of crimes.
In Hoag v. New Jersey, 356 US 464, 78 S Ct 829, 2 L Ed 2d 913 (1958) the defendant had been acquitted of robbing three persons on a single occasion. He was later indicted and tried for the robbery of a fourth person during the same incident. The second trial and conviction was held not to violate due process.. A similar instance of reprosecution after acquittal was involved in Ashe v. Swenson, 397 US 436, 90 S Ct 1189, 25 L Ed 2d 469 (1970). The conviction was reversed in that case; the court, applying collateral estoppel principles, held that the factual issue of defendant’s participation in the crime had been determined in his favor at the first trial.
In Ciucci v. Illinois, 356 US 571, 78 S Ct 839, 2 L Ed 2d 983 (1958) defendant was charged with the murders of his wife and three children, all committed at the same time and place and in the same manner. He was tried first for the murder of his wife and was convicted and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Thereafter he was tried for the murder of one of the children, was again convicted, and received a 45 year sentence. He was tried yet again for the murder of another of the children and this time he was sentenced to death. Evidence of all the murders was presented at all three trials. The repeated trials were held not to be a violation of due process.
Reprosecution in this manner was denounced by the majority in Ashe:
“In this case the State in its brief has frankly conceded that following the petitioner’s acquittal, it treated the first trial as no more than a dry run for the second prosecution: ‘No doubt the prosecutor felt the state had a provable case on the first charge and, when he lost, he did what every good attorney would do — he refined his presentation in light of the turn of events at the first trial.’ But this is precisely what the constitutional guarantee forbids.” 25 L Ed 2d at 477.
See, e.g., Sigler, Double Jeopardy, 155 et seq.; Carroway, Pervasive Multiple Offense Problems — A Policy Analysis, 1971 Utah L Rev 105; Fisher, Double Jeopardy Two Sovereignties and The Intruding Constitution, 28 U Chi L Rev 591, 608-612 (1961); Kirchheimer, The Act, The Offenses and Double Jeopardy, 58 Yale L J 513, 527-534 (1949); McElroy, Double Jeopardy: The Ephemeral Guarantee, 5 Crim L Bull 375, 387-399 (1969); Comment, note 10 supra, 75 Yale L J at 274; Comment, The Protection From Multiple Trials, 11 Stan L Rev 735 (1959).
These cases include: Blockburger v. United States, 284 US 299, 52 S Ct 180, 76 L Ed 306, 309 (1932) [adhere to in Gore v. United States, 357 US 386, 78 S Ct 1280, 2 L Ed 2d 1405 (1958)]; Ebeling v. Morgan, 237 US 625, 35 S Ct 710, 59 L Ed 1151, 1153 (1915); Carter v. McClaughry, 183 US 365, 22 S Ct 181, 46 L Ed 236, 251 (1902).
See Carroway, note 15 supra, 1971 Utah L Rev at 111; Fisher, note 15 supra, 28 U Chi L Rev at 609, note 96; Comment, note 15 supra, 11 Stan L Rev at 735-746.
It has been asserted that the problem of multiple punishments does not involve the double jeopardy clause. Fisher, Double Jeopardy; Six Common Boners Summarized, 15 UCLA L Rev 81, 86-87 (1967). In Holiday v. Johnston, 313 US 342, 61 S Ct 1015, 85 L Ed 1392, 1396 (1941) the Supreme Court apparently agreed: “The erroneous imposition of two sentences for a single offense of which
“* * * Given the tendency of modern criminal legislation to divide the phases of a criminal transaction into numerous separate crimes, the opportunities for multiple prosecutions for an essentially unitary criminal episode are frightening. And given our tradition of virtually unreviewable prosecutorial discretion concerning the initiation and scope of a crim
See, also, his separate opinion in Abbate v. United States, 359 US 187, 79 S Ct 666, 3 L Ed 2d 729, 735 (1959) and his dissent from the denial of certiorari in State v. Miller, supra.
Including Oregon; see Miller v. Hansen, 126 Or 297, 269 P 864 (1928).
NY Crim Proc L 40.20(2).
40 Minn Stats Anno 609.035. This provision was adopted in 1963 as part of a new criminal code. An earlier similar provision had been limited by court decisions. The Advisory Committee’s Comments to the 1963 provision state that the new wording was chosen with the intention of effectuating the statute’s original purpose — a single prosecution and single punishment for a single behavioral incident.
Calif. Penal Code 654. The statute has been in effect since 1872, and has not always received a liberal interpretation. See Comment, Double Jeopardy, Multiple Prosecution, and Multiple Punishment: A Comparative Analysis, 50 Calif L Rev 853 (1962). More recently, the California Supreme Court, pointing out that where joinder of related offenses is permitted by statute there is no justification for repetitive trials, held that a conviction for exhibiting a firearm in a threatening manner barred a later prosecution for being a convicted felon in possession of a concealable weapon:
“* * * when, as here, the prosecution is or should be aware of more than one offense in which the same act or course of conduct plays a significant part, all such offenses must be prosecuted in a single proceeding unless joinder is prohibited or severance permitted for good cause. Failure to unite all such offenses will result in a bar to subsequent prosecution of any offense omitted if the initial proceedings culminate in either acquittal or conviction and sentence.” Kellett v. Superior Court, 48 Cal Rptr 366, 409 P2d 206, 210 (1966).
American Law Institute, Model Penal Code, Official Draft 1.07(2).
Standards for Joinder and Severance 1.3.
There is little agreement as to just which states fall within this group, apparently because the test is not consistently applied. See Comment, Double Jeopardy: Vandercomb to Chicos — Two Centuries of Judicial Failure in Search of a Standard, 45 Urban L Rev 405, 444 (1967); Comment, note 15 supra, 11 Stan L Rev at 744; Comment, note 10 supra, 75 Yale L J at 275-277.
State v. Ahuna, 52 Hawaii 321, 474 P2d 704 (1970). The facts are very similar to those in the present case.
In 1964 the House of Lords indicated that joinder of offenses arising out of the same transaction would be required in the future. Connelly v. Director of Public Prosecutions, [1964] A.C. 1254. The case is discussed in Schaefer, Unresolved Issues in the Law of Double Jeopardy: Waller and Ashe, 58 Calif L Rev 391 (1970).
Criminal Law Revision Commission, Criminal Procedure, Former Jeopardy, Tentative Draft No. 1 (February 1972) at 10.
Id. at 1.
See Model Penal Code, note 23 supra, 1.09; NY Crim Proc L 40.20(2) (a), (b); State v. Ahuna, note 26 supra, 474 P2d at 707.
ORS 46.040. The two offenses could have been charged in a single indictment. ORS 132.560(2).
ORS 156.610, 156.520.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I am unable to agree with the result of the well-reasoned majority opinion by Mr. Justice McAdlistek. The defendant was found guilty by a jury under the facts and the statutory law and previous decisions
The Oregon legislature, as a matter of policy, has adopted two statutes dealing with the problem of citizens carrying firearms. ORS 166.240 provides:
“(1) Any person who carries concealed about his person in any manner, any revolver, pistol, or other firearm, * * * shall be punished upon conviction by a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $200, or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than five days nor more than 100 days, or both.”
“ any person who has been convicted of a felony against the person or property of another * * * who owns, or has in his possession or under his custody or control any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, * * * shall be punished upon conviction by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than five years.”
The statutes make a reasonable distinction. OES 166.240 pertains to any person carrying concealed firearms, and OES 166.270 prohibits a person convicted of a felony from owning or possessing a firearm capable of being concealed. The legislature clearly intended two separate and distinct crimes. Prosecution in the case before us involved OES 166.270 (convicted felon in possession of a firearm), and the state had to prove the additional element of the crime “that defendant was a convicted felon.”
The United States Supreme Court has not disapproved the “same evidence” test in separate trials arising out of separate charges. The “same evidence” test has not been considered in this context. However, in Blockburger v. United States, 284 US 299, 52 S Ct 180, 76 L Ed 306, 309 (1932), wherein there was a single trial involving separate charges on the “same evidence,” the court stated:
“Each of the offenses created requires proof of a different element. 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. Gavieres v. United States, 220 U. S. 338, 342, 55 L. ed. 489, 490, 31 S. Ct. 421, and authorities*461 cited. In that case this court quoted from and adopted the language of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts in Morey v. Com. 108 Mass. 433: ‘A single act may he an offense against two statutes; and if each statute 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.’ Compare Albrecht v. United States, 273 U. S. 1, 11, 12, 71 L. ed. 505, 510, 511, 47 S. Ct. 250, and cases there cited. Applying the test, we must conclude that here, although both sections were violated by the one sale, two offenses were committed.”
In Gore v. United States, 357 US 386, 78 S Ct 1280, 2 L Ed 2d 1405 (1958), the United States Supreme Court was “strongly urged to reconsider Blockburger,” but the court held, in 357 US at 388, “We adhere to the decision in Blockburger v. United States, * * *. The considerations advanced in support of the vigorous attack against it have left its justification undisturbed, nor have our later decisions generated counter currents.”
I do not believe the prosecution of the defendant under both of the aforementioned statutes offends the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. If the above statutes are to be changed or if a form of compulsory joinder statute in criminal cases is to be adopted, that is a matter within the province of the legislature. It should not be done by judicial decision.
I would affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals, which in turn affirmed the trial court.
State v. Weitzel, 157 Or 334, 69 P2d 958 (1937); State v. Smith, 101 Or 127, 199 P 194 (1921); State v. Nodine, 121 Or 567, 256 P 387 (1927). See also State v. McDonald, 231 Or 48, 52, 365 P2d 494 (1962).
Reference
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