State v. Villanueva-Gonzalez
State v. Villanueva-Gonzalez
Opinion of the Court
¶1 Where two offenses are the same in law and fact and there is no indication that the legislature intended to allow convictions for both offenses, it is a violation of double jeopardy to convict a defendant of both
¶2 Villanueva-Gonzalez and M.G. were in a romantic relationship. On the night in question, Villanueva-Gonzalez returned home angry because M.G. had been out at a nightclub without him. He confronted M.G. and pulled her out of the room in which she was sitting. He head butted her, fracturing her nose in two places. Villanueva-Gonzalez then grabbed M.G. by the throat and held her against a piece of furniture.
¶3 The State charged Villanueva-Gonzalez with two counts of second degree assault. Count I was based on Villanueva-Gonzalez’s attempted strangulation of M.G. Villanueva-Gonzalez’s injury to M.G.’s nose was the basis for count II.
¶4 After a jury trial, the court instructed the jury as to second degree assault and the lesser included fourth degree assault for both counts I and II. The jury found VillanuevaGonzalez guilty of second degree assault for count II. It also found him guilty of the lesser included crime of fourth degree assault as to count I.
¶5 Villanueva-Gonzalez appeals.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY
¶6 Villanueva-Gonzalez argues that his convictions for second and fourth degree assault violated his right against double jeopardy. We agree.
¶7 Article I, section 9 of the Washington Constitution, the double jeopardy clause, guarantees that “[n]o person shall ... be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense.” It mirrors the protections offered by the federal
¶8 Under this test, two convictions constitute the “same offense” for the purposes of double jeopardy if they are the same in law and in fact.
¶9 For the first time on appeal, Villanueva-Gonzalez argues that his convictions for assault in the second and fourth degree have subjected him to double jeopardy. Even though this issue was not raised below, we consider it
¶10 Here, Villanueva-Gonzalez’s convictions violated double jeopardy. As a lesser included offense of second degree assault, fourth degree assault is the same in law as second degree assault.
¶11 Villanueva-Gonzalez’s convictions were also the same in fact. The State alleged that VillanuevaGonzalez committed two separate assaults: grabbing of M.G.’s throat and head butting her. But these events were actions taken against the same victim within the same short time span. Because “assault” is not defined in terms of each physical act against a victim, Villanueva-Gonzalez’s actions constituted one single assault in fact. As the supreme court in State v. Tili stated:
[T]he assault statute does not define the specific unit of prosecution in terms of each physical act against a victim. Rather, the Legislature defined “assault” only as that occurring when an individual “assaults” another. A more extensive definition of “assault” is provided by the common law, which sets out many different acts as constituting “assault,” some of which do not even require touching. Consequently, the Legislature clearly has not defined “assault” as occurring upon any physical act.[12 ]
¶13 The State argues that Villanueva-Gonzalez’s rights against double jeopardy were not violated, but it applies the “unit of prosecution” test. This is the wrong inquiry. As our supreme court recognized in State v. Adel, the “same evidence” test, not the “unit of prosecution” test, applies “to a situation where a defendant has multiple convictions for violating several statutory provisions.”
¶14 The State also argues that Villanueva-Gonzalez’s actions of grabbing M.G.’s throat and head butting her constituted two separate assaults in fact. The State improperly relies on Till to support this argument. In Till, the court upheld the defendant’s convictions for three counts of rape. In doing so, it rejected Tili’s argument that “if he can be charged and convicted for three counts of first-degree rape based on three separate penetrations, then a defendant
¶15 Finally, the State submitted a statement of additional authorities, citing State v. Nysta.
¶16 When a conviction violates double jeopardy principles, we must reverse and remand a sentence that contains convictions for the same offense with instructions to vacate the lesser punished crime.
¶17 We reverse and remand with instructions to vacate only the fourth degree assault conviction. The second degree assault conviction remains undisturbed.
Review granted at 179 Wn.2d 1008 (2014).
State v. Kelley, 168 Wn.2d 72, 77, 226 P.3d 773 (2010) (citing Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S. Ct. 180, 76 L. Ed. 306 (1932)).
See State v. Gocken, 127 Wn.2d 95, 107, 896 P.2d 1267 (1995) (holding that article I, section 9 of the Washington Constitution should be given the same interpretation as the United States Supreme Court gives to the Fifth Amendment).
State v. Westling, 145 Wn.2d 607, 610, 40 P.3d 669 (2002).
State v. Nysta, 168 Wn. App. 30, 44, 275 P.3d 1162 (2012), petition for review filed, No. 87491-3 (Wash. June 14, 2012).
State v. Adel, 136 Wn.2d 629, 632, 965 P.2d 1072 (1998) (quoting State v. Calle, 125 Wn.2d 769, 777, 888 P.2d 155 (1995)).
Id. (citing Gocken, 127 Wn.2d at 107; Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S. Ct. 180, 76 L. Ed. 306 (1932)).
Calle, 125 Wn.2d at 777.
Adel, 136 Wn.2d at 633.
See State v. Freeman, 153 Wn.2d 765, 771 n.1, 108 P.3d 753 (2005) (citing Akhil Reed Amar & Jonathan L. Marcus, Double Jeopardy Law after Rodney King, 95 Colum. L. Rev. 1, 28-29 (1995) (noting that where a lesser included offense can be presumed to be punished by the greater offense, conviction under both offenses would offend double jeopardy); see also Amar & Marcus, supra, at 28-29 (“[T]he phrase ‘same offence’ encompasses more than identical provisions. If statute X requires an element or elements that statute Y does not, these statutes will still be treated as describing the ‘same’ offence so long as X contains all of Y’s elements — that is, so long as Y is a ‘lesser included’ offence.”).
RCW 9A.36.041, .021.
139 Wn.2d 107, 116-17, 985 P.2d 365 (1999) (citations omitted).
136 Wn.2d 629, 633, 965 P.2d 1072 (1998) (some emphasis added).
Id.; see United States v. McLaughlin, 334 U.S. App. D.C. 1, 164 F.3d 1, 14 (1998) (noting that in "unit of prosecution” cases, the Blockburger test is not used).
Tili, 139 Wn.2d at 116-17.
168 Wn. App. 30, 275 P.3d 1162 (2012).
See, e.g., State v. Schwab, 163 Wn.2d 664, 675, 185 P3d 1151 (2008) (noting with approval the holding of this court in a prior case where we “vacated the lesser conviction where convictions for both first degree manslaughter and second degree felony murder violated double jeopardy”).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State of Washington v. Miguel Angel Villanueva-Gonzalez
- Cited By
- 9 cases
- Status
- Published