Opinion ID: 2582263
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Kansas Cases

Text: Section 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights provides: No person shall . . . be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense. Comparing this provision to the Fifth Amendment, we have stated: The language of § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights is very similar to the language contained in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Both provide in effect that no person shall be twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense. The language of the Fifth Amendment guarantees no greater protection to an accused than does § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights. Therefore, the underlying protection in the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution is contained in § 10 of the Kansas Bill of Rights. State v. Cady, 254 Kan. at 396-97. In Cady, the court cited to Brown v. Ohio in listing the three categories of protection from (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. 254 Kan. at 396 (citing 432 U.S. at 165). Kansas has also followed the United States Supreme Court's analysis by examining whether conduct is unified or unitary. E.g., State v. Smallwood, 264 Kan. 69, 92, 955 P.2d 1209 (1998) (time, distance, and causal relationship to be considered in determining whether crimes merge); State v. Garnes, 229 Kan. 368, 373, 624 P.2d 448 (1981) (offenses committed separately and severally, at different times and different places, . . . cannot be said to arise out of a single wrongful act). Thus, in general, Kansas has utilized the same categories for analysis as has the United States Supreme Court. We have also stated: Section 10 of the Bill of Rights of the Kansas Constitution entitles a defendant to the same protections against double jeopardy afforded under the United States Constitution. In re Habeas Corpus Petition of Lucas, 246 Kan. 486, 489, 789 P.2d 1157 (1990). Although we have not explicitly departed from this view and have never stated that the Kansas Constitution provides a broader protection than does the Fifth Amendment, the Court of Appeals, citing to State v. Groves, 278 Kan. 302, 95 P.3d 95 (2004), concluded: Apparently the common-law elements test is not the only test utilized by courts to determine the issue of multiplicity. Thus, we will analyze Schoonover's claims of multiplicity under both the common-law elements test and also the single act/merger test as set forth by the court in Garcia, [272 Kan. 140, 32 P.3d 188 (2001)] and Groves. Schoonover, slip op. at 10. Of these two tests, only the same-elements test is applied under a Fifth Amendment analysis.
Since oral arguments in this case, we decided State v. Patten, 280 Kan. 385, 122 P.3d 350 (2005), which held that the same-elements test would be applied in Kansas. The issue and the analysis were discussed in terms of whether the convictions were multiplicitous. As we explained: `Multiplicity is the charging of a single offense in several counts of a complaint or information. The reason multiplicity must be considered is that it creates the potential for multiple punishments for a single offense in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and section 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights.' (Emphasis added.) 280 Kan. at 388 (quoting State v. Robbins, 272 Kan. 158, 171, 32 P.3d 171 [2001]). There are two roots of multiplicity: (1) common-law and (2) K.S.A. 21-3107. State v. Schuette, 273 Kan. 593, 600-01, 44 P.3d 459 (2002). In Schuette, the court concluded the present statutory language [K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-3107(2)(b)], in essence, mirrors the common-law elements test, thereby leaving it as the only remaining test for multiplicity. 273 Kan. at 601. Patten, after reviewing some intervening case law, also reached the conclusion that the same-elements test should be applied to multiplicity issues. The focus in Patten was upon the confusion caused by the terminology proof of fact, confusion similar to that initially found in federal cases applying the Blockburger test. In Patten, we concluded that the proof of fact terminology had led parties to argue facts. 280 Kan. at 393. After discussing the confusion caused by an examination of facts and noting the lack of predictability that results, the court implicitly abrogated case law which had focused upon the facts that must be proven to establish those elements and held: The test for multiplicity is the strict elements test without considering the facts that must be proven to establish those elements. 280 Kan. 385, Syl. ś 4. However, the Patten decision did not explicitly analyze whether the single act of violence/merger doctrine, which was applied by the Court of Appeals panel in this case and by this court in Groves, survives.
The analysis of the Court of Appeals panel in this case and the Groves decision attempt to reconcile two lines of decisions in Kansas. Under one, the cases hold that the common-law elements test is the only test to be applied. The second applies the concept of merger to cases arising from a single course of conduct or single act of conduct. Groves, 278 Kan. at 305-07. Both lines of cases are stated in terms of multiplicity. In Groves, this court determined that the defendant's convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated battery were multiplicitous because they arose from a single act of violence. The defendant, in one physical motion, grabbed a woman's purse and threw her to the ground causing great bodily injury. This court's decision in Groves arose on review of a holding by a Court of Appeals panel that the convictions were multiplicitous. The panel noted the impressive case precedent supporting Groves' claim of multiplicitous convictions. State v. Groves, 31 Kan. App. 2d 635, 636, 70 P.3d 717 (2003), aff'd 278 Kan. 302, 95 P.3d 95 (2003). The panel cited State v. Warren, 252 Kan. 169, 182, 843 P.2d 224 (1992) (aiding and abetting aggravated battery conviction was multiplicitous with aggravated robbery conviction where both counts charged participation in the act of knocking down an elderly woman to steal a purse), and State v. Vontress, 266 Kan. 248, 257, 970 P.2d 42 (1998) (aggravated robbery and aggravated battery convictions were multiplicitous where shooting of one of the victims was used to prove both crimes). The Court of Appeals panel in Groves noted it was bound to follow this precedent. Additionally, it concluded that this court would not retreat from Warren and Vontress even though there had been indications otherwise. We acknowledge since Warren and Vontress were decided, K.S.A. 21-3107 has been amended to remove former K.S.A. 21-3107(2)(d). See L. 1998, ch. 185, § 1. The significance of that amendment was considered in State v. Garcia, 272 Kan. 140, 32 P.3d 188 (2001). In Garcia, the Supreme Court followed its decisions in Warren and Vontress when it held the appellant's conviction for aggravated kidnapping was multiplicitous with either the rape or aggravated criminal sodomy convictions because `the bodily harm needed to prove aggravated kidnapping was the same bodily harm supplied by one of the rape convictions or the aggravated criminal sodomy conviction.' 272 Kan. at 147. Although the court followed Warren and Vontress, it pointed out a change in the multiplicity analysis as a result of the revision of K.S.A. 21-3107: `It should be noted that in 1998, the Kansas Legislature amended K.S.A. 21-3107 to essentially remove the former K.S.A. 21-3107(2)(d). See L. 1998, ch. 185, § 1. In its place, the legislature inserted a new version, K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 21-3107(2)(b), which provides that an included crime is one where all of the elements of the lesser crime are identical to some of the elements of the crime charged. This will necessarily change the multiplicity analysis for cases which occur under the new statute and signifies a return to the identity of the elements standard that this court used prior to the enactment of K.S.A. 21-3107. Such a change, while allowing convictions for crimes which would have been multiplicitous under the statute at issue here, does not violate constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy as it does not subject defendants to punishments greater than those intended by the legislature. [Citation omitted.]' 272 Kan. at 147. We do not believe the dicta in Garcia signifies a retreat by the Kansas Supreme Court from its holdings in Warren and Vontress. Both of those cases were analyzed under a single act of violence paradigm unaffected by a lesser included analysis under K.S.A. 21-3107, before or after the 1998 amendment. We conclude the dicta in Garcia is not persuasive authority the Supreme Court will retreat from its holdings in Warren and Vontress. Accordingly, we hold Groves' conviction for aggravated battery must be set aside and the charge dismissed. 31 Kan. App. 2d at 636-38. This court agreed that the single act of violence paradigm concerning multiplicity is unaffected by the lesser included analysis under K.S.A. 21-3107 before or after the 1998 amendment. 278 Kan. at 305. To support this conclusion, the court discussed the general principles of multiplicity as set out in Schuette, 273 Kan. 593; Garcia, 272 Kan. 140; and Garnes, 229 Kan. 368, and cited other cases applying a single act of violence paradigm, including State v. Cathey, 241 Kan. 715, 741 P.2d 738 (1987); State v. Bishop, 240 Kan. 647, 732 P.2d 765 (1987); and State v. Racey, 225 Kan. 404, 590 P.2d 1064 (1979). Application of the single act of violence paradigm resulted in Groves' conviction for aggravated battery being set aside. This same relief would not have resulted from application of the same-elements test; aggravated robbery and aggravated battery do not share identical elements. Thus, Groves illustrates that the single act/merger test provides broader protection against prosecution and conviction in multiple description cases than does the Blockburger analysis applied under a Fifth Amendment analysis. The State suggests that there is no constitutional basis for this broader protection. To resolve this issue, we must examine the development of the multiplicity and double jeopardy issue in Kansas. In doing so, we divide our discussion into (1) early common law; (2) single act of violence cases decided prior to 1969 (when K.S.A. 21-3107 was enacted); (3) cases decided between 1969 (following the enactment of K.S.A. 21-3107) and 1998 (when K.S.A. 21-3107 was amended); (4) cases decided after the 1998 amendment; (5) cases applying the merger doctrine; and (6) felony-murder cases.
Early common law. Garcia and many of the cases discussed in Groves that applied the single act of violence paradigm either cite an 1884 case, State v. Colgate, 31 Kan. 511, 3 Pac. 346 (1884), as the original source of the doctrine or cite a line of cases that can be traced back to Colgate. E.g., Garcia, 272 Kan. at 143. Colgate is a unit of prosecution case arising from successive prosecutions. In the first case, Colgate was acquitted of arson for setting fire to and burning a grist mill. Later, a new prosecution was instituted against him for setting fire to and burning the books of account that were located in the mill and were destroyed in the same fire that destroyed the mill. The court concluded the principal facts constituting the two alleged offenses are identically the same. 31 Kan. at 514. The court noted that if the defendant did in fact set fire to the books of account and burn the same, he was guilty of arson, not only with respect to the books of account, but also with respect to the mill, and all the machinery, flour, tables, chairs, desks, safe and all the other innumerable articles contained in the mill and consumed by that burning. 31 Kan. at 518. The court noted that the question was the proper limit for separate prosecutions: was it the number of criminal acts committed or the number of articles burned? The court found that the prosecution was limited by the number of criminal acts, and did not allow the prosecutor to multiply prosecutions indefinitely by dividing up the consequences of a single wrongful act and founding a separate prosecution upon each of such consequence. 31 Kan. at 520. In doing so, the court stated the following language which is cited as justification for the single act of violence doctrine: [U]pon general principles a single offense cannot be split into separate parts, and the supposed offender be prosecuted for each of such separate parts, although each part may of itself constitute a separate offense. 31 Kan. at 515. What has been lost over time in the reliance on Colgate, is the Colgate court's discussion and distinction of a previously decided multiple description case, State v. Horneman, 16 Kan. 452 (1876). In Horneman, the defendant was indicted for the crime of shooting with intent to kill. He had previously been acquitted of a charge of maliciously shooting and wounding a horse. The shooting charged in the two cases was one and the same. 16 Kan. at 454. The court determined both cases could be prosecuted, stating: The two offenses are entirely distinct. One is not included in the other â is not a lesser degree of the other. The character of the testimony must be different in each. One fact, that is, `shooting,' may be necessary for conviction under either charge. But something more is necessary in each, than the mere fact of shooting. . . . `The same act may be part of several offenses.' 16 Kan. at 455. The Colgate court, in order to reconcile its statement that a single offense cannot be split into separate parts with the statement in Horneman that the same act may be part of several offenses, noted that Horneman involved two different kinds of offenses, with entirely different natures of intent. 31 Kan. at 520. Thus, the court distinguished between unit of prosecution cases and multiple description cases and rejected the single act of violence paradigm in the context of multiple description cases. Later, however, this distinction was lost. Single Act of Violence Cases Prior to 1969 (When K.S.A. 21-3107 Was Enacted). Many of the cases decided after Colgate in which there was discussion of the splitting a single act into separate parts in multiple description cases were discussed in State v. Gauger, 200 Kan. 515, 438 P.2d 455 (1968). Gauger appears to be the first case to use the language of a single act of violence. 200 Kan. at 525. In Gauger, the court held that a defendant could not be convicted of robbery and assault with intent to rob arising out of a single act of violence or intimidation. The court cited several cases as precedent for its decision, including Colgate and State v. McLaughlin, 121 Kan. 693, 249 Pac. 612 (1926), in which the court stated that to carve one single act into two distinct offenses violated § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights. 121 Kan. at 697-98. The Gauger court also distinguished several cases and, in doing so, used a same evidence test: This situation is clearly distinguishable from those cases where a single criminal transaction constitutes two separate offense because evidence required to prove the two offense would not be the same. (See, e.g., State v. Brown, 181 Kan. 375, 312 P.2d 832 [first-degree kidnapping and forcible rape]; Wagner v. Edmondson, 178 Kan. 554, 290 P.2d 98 [assaulting a jailer and jailbreak]; Wiebe v. Hudspeth, 163 Kan. 30, 180 P.2d 315 [statutory rape and incest].) 200 Kan. at 525. This analysis is confusing because it appears that the distinguished cases applied an elements-type of examination â the evidence required to prove the two offenses â while Gauger examined the evidence actually used to prove the offenses. It is noteworthy that at this point in time the court was utilizing a test in successive prosecution cases where the commonality of facts did not give rise to a double jeopardy violation: `In criminal cases the ultimate test applied in determining the validity of a plea of former conviction or former acquittal is identity of offenses, and it is not necessarily decisive that the two offenses may have some material fact in common.' State v. Ragan, 123 Kan. 399, Syl. ś 2, 256 Pac. 169 [1927]. State v. Edgington, 223 Kan. 413, 416, 573 P.2d 1059 (1978) (noting that the United States Supreme Court applied the test of whether each provision required proof of a fact the other did not, citing Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161). In other cases involving successive prosecution, the court has discussed and applied United States Supreme Court cases. However, in multiple description cases it has not done so except in a very few cases. Blockburger, although decided in 1932, was not cited by a Kansas court until 1978 and that was in a successive prosecution case. See State v. Smith, 224 Kan. 662, 595 P.2d 1006 (1978). Rather, the analysis in the multiple description cases has been stated in terms of multiplicity without reference to the test developed under the Fifth Amendment. Cases Decided Between 1969 (Following the Enactment of K.S.A. 21-3107) and 1998 (When K.S.A. 21-3107 Was Amended). The year following Gauger, the Kansas Legislature passed K.S.A. 21-3107, which provided: (1) When the same conduct of a defendant may establish the commission of more than one crime under the laws of this state, the defendant may be prosecuted for each of such crimes. . . . (2) Upon prosecution for a crime, the defendant may be convicted of either the crime charged or an included crime, but not both. An included crime may be any of the following: (a) A lesser degree of the same crime; (b) An attempt to commit the crime charged; (c) An attempt to commit a lesser degree of the crime charged; (d) A crime necessarily proved if the crime charged were proved. L. 1969, ch. 180, sec. 21-3107. Initially, the statute was not cited in cases dealing with multiplicity. See, e.g., Davis v. State, 210 Kan. 709, 712, 504 P.2d 617 (1972). Even as late as 1981, when the court set out three multiplicity rules, it did so without reference to K.S.A. 21-3107. State v. Garnes, 229 Kan. 368. The first of the three rules stated in that opinion was: A single offense may not be divided into separate parts; generally, a single wrongful act may not furnish the basis for more than one criminal prosecution. Garnes, 229 Kan. at 373. Garnes was cited as precedent for the single act of violence/merger rule in several cases holding that a single act could not support convictions on two charges. E.g., State v. Warren, 252 Kan. 169, 175-81, 843 P.2d 224 (1992); State v. Smith, 245 Kan. 381, 392, 781 P.2d 666 (1989); State v. Cathey, 241 Kan. 715, 719-20, 741 P.2d 738 (1987). In time, K.S.A. 21-3107 began to play a role in the multiplicity analysis and the analysis shifted. In State v. Freeman, 236 Kan. 274, 281, 689 P.2d 885 (1984), the court explained the statute's role in a multiplicity analysis, noting that the provision was enacted to implement and define the constitutional guarantees of the double jeopardy clause. Addressing those constitutional guarantees, the court observed that § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights is very similar to the language contained in the Fifth Amendment and concluded that [t]he language of the Fifth Amendment guarantees no greater protection to an accused than does section 10 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of Kansas. 236 Kan. at 281. The Freeman court stated the test for multiplicity, citing as authority for the test State v. Chears, 231 Kan. 161, 643 P.2d 154 (1982) (postdating enactment of K.S.A. 21-3107), which cited to Wagner v. Edmondson, 178 Kan. 554, 290 P.2d 98 (1955) (predating enactment of K.S.A. 21-3107): K.S.A. 1983 Supp. 21-3107 provides statutory authority where criminal conduct of a defendant, although consisting of a single transaction, may result in a multiple violation of the criminal code, for which the defendant may be severally prosecuted. [Citation omitted]. The prosecution may not split a single offense into separate parts where there is a single wrongful act which does not furnish the basis for more than one criminal prosecution. The test concerning whether a single transaction may constitute two separate and distinct offenses is whether the same evidence is required to sustain each charge. If not, the fact that both charges relate to and grow out of the same transaction does not create a single offense where two distinct offense are defined by statute. (Emphasis added.) 236 Kan. at 281. This same evidence test proved to be sufficiently ambiguous such that inconsistent and irreconcilable outcomes resulted. Frequent applications of this test as an elements standard can be found. For example, in State v. Mincey, 265 Kan. 257, 263, 963 P.2d 403 (1997), the court stated: [M]ultiplicity does not depend upon whether the facts proved at trial are actually used to support conviction of both offenses charged; rather, it turns upon whether the necessary elements of proof of the one crime are included in the other. Mincey and other cases took the position that K.S.A. 21-3107(2)(d), which stated a crime is a lesser crime if it is necessarily proved if the crime charged were proved, and the two-prong test as described in State v. Fike, 243 Kan. 365, 368, 757 P.2d 724 (1988), which was developed to apply K.S.A. 21-3107(2)(d), did not change the analysis. 265 Kan. at 264 (defendant mistakenly assumed that Fike had expanded the traditional element test to determine if convictions are multiple punishments for the offenses). However, with time, the court began to apply the Fike test. In one of the last cases to apply the necessarily proved test of K.S.A. 21-3107 before it was removed from the statute by a 1998 amendment, the court observed that [t]he Fike test has been frequently applied in performing multiplicity analyses. State v. Robbins, 272 Kan. 158, 172-73, 32 P.3d 171 (2001) (crimes occurring before amendment). The court explained how the Fike test functioned within a multiplicity analysis: Subsection (2)(d) is relevant to some of Robbins' multiplicity arguments. In determining whether a crime is an `included crime' under K.S.A. 21-3107(2)(d), a two-prong test as described in State v. Fike, 243 Kan. 365, 368, 757 P.2d 724 (1988) applies. The first step is to determine whether all of the statutory elements of the lesser crime are among the statutory elements required to prove the greater crime. If so, then the lesser crime is a lesser included offense of the greater crime. Even if the elements differ, the inquiry is not over. Under the second prong, the court determines whether the factual allegations of the charging document and the evidence required to be adduced at trial to prove those allegations would also necessarily prove the lesser crime. If so, then there is multiplicity. State v. Warren, 252 Kan. 169, 175-81, 843 P.2d 224 (1992). 272 Kan. at 172. The citation to Warren is significant because it is one of the two principal cases relied upon in Groves, the other one being Vontress. Both applied the Fike test, although the Vontress court did not acknowledge that it was doing so. In Vontress, the court cited the language from Mincey that multiplicity depends on the elements not the facts used at trial. However, when the court conducted its analysis, it did not follow the Mincey rule; rather it looked at the facts proven. The court noted that a single act of violenceâ firing a shotâ was used to establish the bodily harm element of aggravated robbery and was the same fact necessary for proof of the great bodily harm element of aggravated battery. 266 Kan. at 257. This is the language of K.S.A. 21-3107(2)(d) as applied in Fike ; thus, the court looked beyond the elements of the crimes to see how the elements were charged and proven. In Warren, the defendant argued his convictions were multiplicitous because the same actâ knocking the purse snatching victim to the groundâ was the fact which proved the great bodily harm element of both the aggravated robbery and aggravated battery convictions. The court discussed the Fike test and then stated: Warren's multiplicity argument first will be analyzed under the second prong of the Fike test. 252 Kan. at 180. After examining the allegations contained in the complaint and the evidence adduced at trial, the court concluded that it was clear that the necessary elements of proof for aggravated robbery also established the necessary elements of proof for aggravated battery. 252 Kan. at 180. Then, without explanation as to why it was doing so, the court conducted an analysis of the traditional multiplicity test, as set forth in State v. Garnes, 229 Kan. 368, 624 P.2d 448 (1981). Warren, 252 Kan. at 181. In doing so, the court rejected the elements test as a sole test and stated: If the charges in this case are not multiplicitous because one charge involves proof of fact not required in proving the other, then it leads to the conclusion that only crimes involving identical elements can be multiplicitous. This cannot be the case because this court has found crimes involving different elements multiplicitous. See, e.g., State v. Smith, 245 Kan. 381, 392, 781 P.2d 666 (1989) (aggravated battery and attempted first-degree murder multiplicitous); State v. Cathey, 241 Kan. 715, 719-20, 741 P.2d 738 (1987) (same); Garnes, 229 Kan. 373-74 (same). Why were these convictions not multiplicitous? Crimes involving different elements, if taken literally, necessarily will require proof of a fact not required in proving the other. Warren, 252 Kan. at 182. Subsequently, the court discussed Warren's application of the Fike test to multiplicity. The defendant in State v. Rinck, 256 Kan. 848, 888 P.2d 845 (1995), relied upon Warren to argue that his convictions and sentences for aggravated robbery and aggravated battery were multiplicitous because they arose from the same act of violence. The State acknowledged the Warren decision, but asked the court to follow State v. Higgins, 243 Kan. 48, 55-56, 755 P.2d 12 (1988), in which the court had applied an elements test and found that aggravated robbery and aggravated battery were not multiplicitous. Determining that Warren controlled the decision, the court stated: We also note that Higgins predates this court's decision in State v. Fike, 243 Kan. 365, 757 P.2d 724 (1988). Fike established a two-prong analysis to determine lesser included offenses. Under the second prong of Fike, not considered by Higgins, the court must examine the allegations of the indictment, complaint, or information, as well as the evidence which must be adduced at trial, and if the allegations allege a lesser crime and the evidence which must be adduced at trial would also prove the lesser crime, the lesser crime is an included crime. 243 Kan. at 368, 757 P.2d 724. This court in Warren used the second prong of Fike to conclude that the defendant's convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated battery were multiplicitous. 252 Kan. at 181. 256 Kan. at 850. This conclusion is the opposite of that reached by the Court of Appeals panel in Groves when it stated that Warren was analyzed under a single act of violence paradigm unaffected by a lesser included analysis under K.S.A. 21-3107, before or after the 1998 amendment. 31 Kan. App. 2d at 638. It also weakens this court's broader statement in Groves that the single act of violence paradigm concerning multiplicity is unaffected by the lesser included analysis under K.S.A. 21-3107 before or after the 1998 amendment. 278 Kan. at 305 (citing other authority which did not use test under K.S.A. 21-3107). The Groves court also cited State v. Racey, 225 Kan. 404, 408, 590 P.2d 1064 (1979), and State v. Bishop, 240 Kan. 647, 732 P.2d 765 (1987), as authority for the single act of violence paradigm. They are examples which support the court's holding in Groves. However, they derive from the line of cases misreading Colgate. Racey cites State v. Lassley, 218 Kan. 758, 761-62, 545 P.2d 383 (1976), which in turn cites the Gauger decision previously discussed and two other cases. One, State v. Lora, 213 Kan. 184, 190, 515 P.2d 1086 (1973), cited Gauger as the precedent for the rule. The other, State v. James, 216 Kan. 235, 237, 531 P.2d 70 (1975), cited Jarrell v. State, 212 Kan. 171, 510 P.2d 127 (1973), which in turn cited Gauger and Colgate as precedent. Bishop, the other case cited in Groves, cites Garnes, Lassley, and Racey. Despite the disagreement over how to read Warren, the court continued to recognize a common-law source for multiplicity. As the court stated in 1999, in Garcia : The concept of multiplicity in Kansas comes from two sources. The first is the traditional `common-law' multiplicity concept. This exists where the State attempts to use a single wrongful act as the basis for multiple charges and is based on the merger of the charges. State v. Garnes, 229 Kan. 368, 372, 624 P.2d 448 (1981). This concept has been a part of Kansas law since at least our decision in State v. Colgate, 31 Kan. 511, 515, 3 Pac. 346 (1884), wherein we stated: `[U]pon general principles a single offense cannot be split into separate parts, and the supposed offender be prosecuted for each of such separate parts, although each part may of itself constitute a separate offense.' The test for whether the offenses merge and are, therefore, multiplicitous is whether each offense charged requires proof of a fact not required in proving the other; if so, then the offenses do not merge and are not multiplicitous. Garnes, 229 Kan. at 373, 624 P.2d 448. Offenses also do not merge if they are committed separately and severally at different times and at different places. 229 Kan. at 373. . . . . However, the legislature added another layer to the multiplicity analysis with the passage of K.S.A. 21-3107. See State v. Freeman, 236 Kan. 274, 281, 689 P.2d 885 (1984) (noting that 21-3107 `formulates the limitations upon unfair multiplicity of convictions or prosecutions'). 272 Kan. at 143-44. This passage brings into focus a question never answered in the cases: If K.S.A. 21-3107 was a formulation of the limitations upon multiplicity, how does the common law survive enactment of the provision? Arguably, this question need not be resolved if the common law and the statute are coextensive. Several cases indicate that after the 1998 amendments to K.S.A. 21-3107, the statutory and common-law tests were the same. Cases Decided After the 1998 Amendment. In 1998, K.S.A. 21-3107 was amended and subsection (2)(d) was eliminated. L. 1998, ch. 185, sec. 1. It was replaced with language defining an included crime as a crime where all elements of the lesser crime are identical to some of the elements of the crime charged. See K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 21-3107(2)(b). (The remaining provisions were reordered.) On several occasions shortly after the passage of the amendment, the court stated that the amendment meant a return to the common-law elements test. In Garcia, the court stated that the amendment will necessarily change the multiplicity analysis for cases which occur under the new statute and signifies a return to the identity of the elements standard that this court used prior to the enactment of K.S.A. 21-3107. Such a change, while allowing convictions for crimes which would have been multiplicitous under the statute at issue here, does not violate constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy as it does not subject defendants to punishments greater than those intended by the legislature. See Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U.S. at 366-69. 272 Kan. at 147. Similarly, in State v. Schuette, 273 Kan. 593, 601-02, 44 P.3d 459 (2002), the court noted: The present statutory language in essence mirrors the common-law elements test, thereby leaving it as the only remaining test for multiplicity. See also Robbins, 272 Kan. at 173 (noting that Fike appears irrelevant under the amended statute). However, as discussed, the Groves decision reflects that single act/merger analysis still may be applied. 278 Kan. at 305. Cases Applying Merger Doctrine. As this historical analysis indicates, a concept of whether the offenses merge and are, therefore, multiplicitous (272 Kan. at 143), had emerged. State v. Thornton, 224 Kan. 127, 577 P.2d 1190 (1978), appears to be the first case discussing merger in the context of multiplicity (other than in a felony-murder case, e.g., State v. Rueckert, 221 Kan. 727, 734-35, 561 P.2d 850 [1977]). In Thornton, the court stated: Although the elements of the two offenses are different, and although we have held that possession of marijuana is not a lesser included offense in a prosecution for sale of marijuana [citation omitted], we are convinced that the offense of possession of marijuana with intent to sell is merged with the crime of sale of marijuana where, as here, the sale was consummated. In Prince v. United States, 352 U.S. 322, 1 L. Ed. 2d 370, 77 S. Ct. 403 (1957), the United States Supreme Court held that the offense of entering a bank with the intent to commit a felony or larceny therein was merged with the crime of bank robbery when the latter crime was consummated. The court said: `. . . [T]he heart of the crime is the intent to steal. This mental element merges into the completed crime if the robbery is consummated. . . .' (p. 328). Here, the state charged that Thornton possessed marijuana with the intent to sell it. He sold it to Officer Grow. The intent to sell merged into the crime of sale when the sale was consummated. 224 Kan. at 131. The reliance on Prince was misplaced. In Prince v. United States, 352 U.S. 322, 1 L. Ed. 2d 370, 77 S. Ct. 403 (1957), the defendant was charged with violations of the Federal Bank Robbery Act. The Court looked to the legislative history of the act and concluded that the manifest purpose was to establish lesser offenses, not to pyramid penalties. 352 U.S. at 327. With respect to the unlawful entry, the Court noted that the gravamen of the offense is not in the act of entering. . . . Rather the heart of the crime is the intent to steal. 352 U.S. at 328. It is in this context that the Court concluded: This mental element merges into the completed crime if the robbery is consummated. 352 U.S. at 328. The United States Supreme Court has not applied the doctrine in a similar context since. One commentator explains that in Prince [t]he Court did not explain the meaning of this `merger' language. It was not being used in the common-law sense, and the likelihood is that it was the Court's shorthand expression for the determination that Congress intended a single offense to result when both provisions were violated in the same criminal transaction. Thomas, 47 U. Pitt. L. Rev. at 40-41. The common-law doctrine of merger was explained by the Court in Callanan v. United States, 364 U.S. 587, 5 L. Ed. 2d 312, 81 S. Ct. 321 (1961): Under the early common law, a conspiracyâ which constituted a misdemeanorâ was said to merge with the completed felony which was its object. [Citation omitted.] This rule, however, was based upon significant procedural distinctions between misdemeanors and felonies. The defendant in a misdemeanor trial was entitled to counsel and a copy of the indictment; these advantages were unavailable on trial for a felony. [Citation omitted.] Therefore no conviction was permitted of a constituent misdemeanor upon an indictment for the felony. When the substantive crime was also a misdemeanor [citation omitted] or when the conspiracy was defined by statute as a felony, [citation omitted] merger did not obtain. As these common-law procedural niceties disappeared, the merger concept lost significance, and today it has been abandoned. [Citations omitted.] 364 U.S. at 589-90. There is no indication that the Court revived the doctrine by its use of the term merged in Prince. Subsequent to Prince, the Court has referred to merger only in limited contexts. Often, the Court has reiterated that the doctrine does not apply when conspiracy is charged. E.g., Iannelli v. United States, 420 U.S. 770, 777-82, 43 L. Ed. 2d 616, 95 S. Ct. 1284 (1975) (conspiracy to commit an offense and the subsequent commission of that crime normally do not merge into a single punishable act). Additionally, the Court has discussed whether the underlying felony merges with the murder in a felony-murder case. E.g., Williams v. Oklahoma, 358 U.S. 576, 587, 3 L. Ed. 2d 516, 79 S. Ct. 421 (1959) (Nor, in view of the fact that kidnaping and murder are separate and independent offenses in Oklahoma, is there any merit in petitioner's collateral claim that what he calls `the lesser crime' of kidnapping `merged' in what he calls the `greater crime' of murder and that the sentence to life imprisonment for the murder was a bar to the imposition of any sentence for the kidnaping.). While Kansas has also used the term in the context of the underlying felony merging with the murder in felony murder cases, the term has also been used in the broader sense to describe what happens when convictions are multiplicitous. E.g., State v. Edwards, 250 Kan. 320, 331, 826 P.2d 1355 (1992) (aiding and abetting the making of a false writing and soliciting an individual to make a false writing are not multiplicitous and do not merge because each crime involves different elements). Felony-Murder Cases. In 1981, when the Garnes court stated the first of the three multiplicity rulesâ a single wrongful act may not furnish the basis for more than one criminal prosecutionâ the court then gave an example: Where an aggravated assault or aggravated battery directly results in a homicide, the offenses become merged. See State v. Clark, 204 Kan. 38, 44, 460 P.2d 586 (1969). Garnes, 229 Kan. at 373. The reliance upon Clark illustrates the confusion in the case law and the inconsistent ways the court analyzed the single act of violence issue in the context of felony-murder cases as opposed to the manner it considered the issue in other contexts. Clark is a felony-murder case which, despite being cited to in Garnes, did not discuss a multiplicity or double jeopardy issue. Clark had been convicted of only one count, felony murder. The issues related to instructions regarding felony murder; specifically, the portion of the decision relied upon by the Garnes court related to a question of whether aggravated assault could serve as the underlying felony. The court noted that the purpose of felony murder was to relieve the state of the burden of proving premeditation and malice when the victim's death is caused by the killer while he is committing another felony. 204 Kan. at 43. This could be allowed, the court concluded, if the underlying felony was a `distinct offense, such as robbery, arson, or the like.' 204 Kan. at 43-44 (quoting State v. Fisher, 120 Kan. 226, 231, 243 Pac. 291 [1926]). But where the other felony, such as an assault, directly results in or is an integral element of the homicide, the assault becomes merged with the killing and cannot be relied upon as an ingredient of felony murder. 204 Kan. at 44. However, other cases, including Fisher, did use a similar merger/distinct crime analysis within a double jeopardy context. Several of these cases used a single act of violence analysis. See State v. Smallwood, 264 Kan. 69, 94, 955 P.2d 1209 (1998); State v. Leonard, 248 Kan. 427, 807 P.2d 81 (1991); Fisher, 120 Kan. 226. In contrast to these cases, in most instances, the felony-murder cases represent a departure from all other multiple description cases in that the analysis has more often and more closely paralleled that of the United States Supreme Court in its double jeopardy cases. In analyzing double jeopardy issues regarding felony murder and its merger with the underlying felony, the court has examined elements, not facts, to determine if the offense was distinct. E.g., State v. Dunn, 243 Kan. 414, 433, 758 P.2d 718 (1988) (If there is evidence to support the elements of kidnapping and evidence to support that homicide was committed during the perpetration of the kidnapping, then the offense would not merge.); see also State v. Gonzales, 245 Kan. 691, 706, 783 P.2d 1239 (1989) (applying Dunn and noting defendant had failed to distinguish between the lesser included offense doctrine and the felony-murder merger doctrine each of which is a separate legal theory existing in a distinct legal pigeonhole). Additionally, in State v. Holt, 260 Kan. 33, 917 P.2d 1332 (1996), the court noted that the resolution of the double jeopardy issue depends on whether the Kansas Legislature intended to allow conviction and punishment for both felony murder and the underlying felony. 260 Kan. at 45 (citing Gonzales, 245 Kan. at 704). This reasoning paralleled that of the United States Supreme Court in Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U.S. 359, 368-69, 74 L. Ed. 2d 535, 103 S. Ct. 673 (1983), when it recognized that a legislature could authorize cumulative punishment under felony murder and underlying felony statutes. The Kansas Legislature authorized multiple punishments by enacting K.S.A. 21-3436. K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 21-3436 lists those felonies which shall be deemed an inherently dangerous felony whether or not such felony is so distinct from the homicide alleged to be a violation of the felony-murder provision and those which shall be deemed an inherently dangerous felony only when such felony is so distinct from the homicide alleged to be a violation of the felony-murder provision. Through these provisions, the legislature stated its intent as to when cumulative punishments can be imposed. State v. Mims, 264 Kan. 506, 956 P.2d 1337 (1998), is representative of the case law decided after enactment of the felony-murder statute. In Mims, the court separated the double jeopardy and multiplicity analysis which parallel the federal case law in recognizing that such an enactment was a clear indication of legislative intent to allow multiple punishments. First, addressing the defendant's argument that his conviction and consecutive sentences for both felony murder and the underlying felony of aggravated robbery violate[d] the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States and Kansas Constitutions, as well as K.S.A. 21-3107(2)(d), precluding punishment for a crime necessarily proved if the crime charged were proved, the Mims court stated: We have recently considered this same objection in State v. Sims, 262 Kan. 165, Syl. ś 5, 936 P.2d 779 (1997), where we held: `When the underlying felony supports a felony-murder charge, it is well-established law in Kansas that multiple convictions and punishments for both felony murder and the underlying felony do not violate double jeopardy.' When the same act or transaction violates two distinctly different statutory provisions, we must consider when deciding if two crimes have been committed whether each statute requires proof of an element which the other crime does not. `Where one statute requires proof of an additional or different element, the crimes are not the same, even though the proof of the crimes may substantially overlap.' Sims, 262 Kan. at 173. See State v. Dunn, 243 Kan. 414, 432-33, 758 P.2d 718 (1988). Mims' convictions and consecutive sentences for both felony murder and aggravated robbery involved different elements and, therefore, do not violate principles of double jeopardy or Kansas law. 264 Kan. at 516-17. The court then discussed the claim of multiplicity, stating: [Mims] cites K.S.A. 21-3107(2)(d) as interpreted by State v. Fike, 243 Kan. 365, 757 P.2d 724 (1988), to support his argument that only the conspiracy count should remain. This argument has no merit under Kansas law. The Kansas Legislature clearly provided in K.S.A. 21-3436 that the crimes of felony murder and aggravated robbery shall not merge. Further, we have held: `The commission of the substantive offense and a conspiracy to commit it are separate and distinct offenses. The legislature is empowered to separate the two and to affix to each a different penalty.' State v. Tyler, 251 Kan. 616, Syl. ś 12, 840 P.2d 413 (1992). This issue also fails. 264 Kan. at 517. Thus, by this point in time, the felony-murder cases were, in most instances, being analyzed under the elements test. Legislative intent was recognized as the key to determining whether cumulative punishment could be allowed. The analysis in Mims and similar cases was consistent with that of the United States Supreme Court. See, e.g., State v. Ramos, 271 Kan. 520, 24 P.3d 95 (2001); State v. Rayton, 268 Kan. 711, 725, 1 P.3d 854 (2000); State v. Sims, 262 Kan. 165, Syl. ś 5, 936 P.2d 779 (1997); Holt, 260 Kan. at 45-46; cf. State v. Jones, 257 Kan. 856, 896 P.2d 1077 (1995) (discussing merger and single act of violence but not in double jeopardy context). Other cases, however, did not follow this analysis, usually without an attempt at reconciliation of the case law. See, e.g., Smallwood, 264 Kan. at 94; Leonard, 248 Kan. 427.
This historical review reveals the doctrinal inconsistency and confusion that abounds in multiplicity cases. The result was two divergent lines of cases. One line of cases culminated with the decision in Groves, 278 Kan. 302, which appropriately applied the precedent cited in that case. The other line culminated in Patten, 280 Kan. 385, which followed a long line of cases in which [i]t has been repeatedly held by this and other courts that the same acts may constitute a violation of two separate statutes and such fact does not amount to placing the defendant in jeopardy twice. Dionne v. Hudspeth, 166 Kan. 72, 73, 199 P.2d 176 (1948). The confusion resulting from having these two divergent and unreconciled lines of cases is illustrated by the presence of another case argued before this court on the same docket as this case in which virtually identical multiplicity arguments were made. In that case, State v. Unruh, (No. 90,498, this day decided), a Court of Appeals panel analyzed the arguments using the elements test only and did not discuss the single act/merger analysis which was applied by the Court of Appeals panel in this case. This dichotomy is understandable. It is difficult to discern a coherent pattern for when the single act of violence/merger paradigm applies and when it does not. As concluded in Patten, it seems that the test which is applied depends upon how the parties have argued the case, not upon doctrinal consistency. 280 Kan. at 393. This brings us back to the issue raised in this case. Will the divergent theories continue, especially in light of the recent holding in Patten clarifying that a strict elements test applies rather than an evidence test? The answer is no. We conclude that the single act of violence/merger analysis should no longer be applied when analyzing double jeopardy or multiplicity issues in the context of multiple description cases where a defendant has been convicted of violations of multiple statutes arising from the same course of conduct. We reach this conclusion for several reasons. First, use of the single act/merger test broadens the scope of protection beyond that provided under the Fifth Amendment. While we can recognize a broader right under the Kansas Constitution, we have not explicitly done so in our multiplicity cases. Generally, provisions of the Kansas Constitution which are similar to the Constitution of the United States have been applied in a similar manner. See, e.g., State v. Morris, 255 Kan. 964, 979-81, 880 P.2d 1244 (1994) (right to counsel under § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights provides same protection as accorded by Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution); State v. Schultz, 252 Kan. 819, 824, 850 P.2d 818 (1993) (§ 15 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights identical in scope to Fourth Amendment); State ex rel. Tomasic v. Kansas City, Kansas Port Authority, 230 Kan. 404, 426, 636 P.2d 760 (1981) (§ 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights given same effect as Equal Protection Clause of Fourteenth Amendment). No reason has been suggested why we should do otherwise in the area of double jeopardy. Second, as discussed, we have previously stated that the Fifth Amendment provides the same protection as does the Kansas Constitution. E.g., State v. Cady, 254 Kan. 393, 396-97, 867 P.2d 270 (1994). Third, rejecting the single act of violence/merger doctrine in the context of multiple description cases reconciles the difference in the treatment of single act of violence cases dealing with felony murder and the treatment of all other cases dealing with a single act of violence paradigm. Fourth, rejecting the single act of violence/merger doctrine in the context of multiple description cases reconciles the difference in the treatment of successive prosecution cases, which have been analyzed in a manner consistent with the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fifth Amendment, with the treatment of multiple description cases, which have not been analyzed in a manner consistent with the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fifth Amendment. See, e.g., State v. Edgington, 223 Kan. 413, 416, 573 P.2d 1059 (1978). Fifth, there is no justification for continuing to apply commonlaw multiplicity doctrines, at least in the context of multiple description cases, in light of the passage of K.S.A. 21-3107, which has been recognized as setting limitations on the parameters of multiplicity. K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 21-3107 provides: (1) When the same conduct of a defendant may establish the commission of more than one crime under the laws of this state, the defendant may be prosecuted for each of such crimes. Each of such crimes may be alleged as a separate count in a single complaint, information or indictment. (2) Upon prosecution for a crime, the defendant may be convicted of either the crime charged or a lesser included crime, but not both. (Emphasis added.) The statute is a clear statement of legislative intent to have multiple convictions when separate statutes describe the criminal conduct except when one of the statutes proscribes a lesser included crime of another. In light of those provisions, there is no basis for application of the common law in multiple description cases. See State v. Berberich, 248 Kan. 854, 858, 811 P.2d 1192 (1991) (finding that prior to the 1969 adoption of the Kansas Criminal Code, Kansas followed the traditional common-law rule on instructing the jury on lesser included offenses, i.e., the elements test, and that statute had replaced common law); see Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U.S. at 368-69 (cumulative punishment constitutional when a legislature specifically authorizes cumulative punishment under two statutes, regardless of whether those two statutes proscribe the `same' conduct under Blockburger ). Sixth, if we were to continue applying the single act/merger doctrine we would be doing so based upon case law which is impossible to reconcile and holdings that have not been consistently applied. Finally, we recently adopted the same-elements test in Patten. In doing so, we stated: What most recommends the strict elements analysis is its logical, mechanical ease of application and, hence, certainty. Consideration of the facts proved, in contrast, puts multiplicity on a case-by-case basis. Patten, 280 Kan. at 393. To continue application of the single act/merger doctrine would immediately undermine this rationale. For these reasons we hold that the test to determine whether charges in a complaint or information under different statutes are multiplicitous is whether each offense requires proof of an element not necessary to prove the other offense; if so, the charges stemming from a single act are not multiplicitous. We further hold that this same-elements test will determine whether there is a violation of § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights when a defendant is charged with violations of multiple statutes arising from the same course of conduct. Because the single act of violence/merger analysis has resulted in outcomes which cannot be reconciled with cases applying the same-elements test, lack of predictability as to outcome, disparate analysis, broader protection than required by the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights and contravention of K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 21-3107, the single act of violence/merger analysis will no longer be applied to analyze double jeopardy or multiplicity issues. We disapprove any language in previous cases which utilized a single act of violence/merger rationale as the basis for holding that two convictions which were based upon different statutes were multiplicitous or resulted in a violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment or § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights.
As recognized in Colgate, there is a distinction between multiple description cases and cases arising when a defendant is charged with multiple violations of a single statute. In a case where a defendant is convicted of multiple violations of a single statute, the test to determine whether the convictions violate § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights is the same test as used to determine if there is a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment: whether there is more than one conviction for the allowable unit of prosecution.