Opinion ID: 167624
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: request for coa — double jeopardy/due process

Text: 35 Lee also asks us to expand the COA initially granted by the district court in order to allow him to appeal the district court's denial of the double jeopardy and due process arguments he asserted in his federal habeas petition. In order for us to grant a COA, Lee must make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). To do so, Lee must demonstrate that reasonable jurists could debate whether (or, for that matter, agree that) the [issue] should have been resolved in a different manner or that the issue[] . . . w[as] adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). 36 Lee's double jeopardy and due process arguments concern the sentence he received for Count 5. As previously noted, Count 5 charged Lee with sexual assault and alleged that between October 4, 1996 and December 31, 1998, Lee committed oral sex on a minor victim. At the time he pled guilty to Count 5, Lee admitted these allegations, including the date range, but was unable to indicate more definitely when the events occurred. Lee did indicate, however, that he had sexual contact with the victim alleged in Count 5 on three or four occasions. At the sentencing hearing on May 24, 2000, the district court sentenced Lee to not less than twelve nor more than fifteen years on Count 5. Notably, that sentence was within the fifteen-year maximum sentence authorized under Wyoming law for third-degree sexual assaults occurring after July 1, 1997, see Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-306(a)(iii), but far greater than the five-year maximum sentence authorized under Wyoming law for such crimes prior to July 1, 1997. On July 21, 2000, a hearing was held during which the prosecution was allowed to supplement the record on the factual basis with respect to Count 5 in order to establish that the underlying facts of the crime occurred after July 1997. Although the trial court ultimately resentenced Lee on Count 3 because the acts underlying that count occurred prior to July 1, 1997, the trial court did not alter Lee's sentence on Count 5. 37 In his direct appeal, Lee argued that he was illegally sentenced on Count 5. Lee also argued that the sentencing process on Count 5, in particular the trial court's decision to allow the prosecution to present supplemental evidence regarding the dates when the acts underlying Count 5 occurred, violated his right not to be subjected to double jeopardy. The Wyoming Supreme Court rejected both of these arguments. The Wyoming Supreme Court first concluded that [b]ecause [Lee] specifically acknowledged his guilt and that the crime occurred at any time between October 4, 1996, and December 31, 1998, his sentence on Count 5 was not illegal. App. at 265. The Wyoming Supreme Court also concluded that the supplemental evidence presented by the prosecution regarding Count 5 was superfluous because all the evidence offered already existed in the sentencing record.... Id. at 266. More specifically, the Wyoming Supreme Court noted that [t]he prosecution's sole `supplemental' evidence consisted of a police officer's testimony regarding the same information that was included in the affidavit of probable cause. Id. Thus, the Wyoming Supreme Court concluded that while th[e] effort to supplement the record after the sentence was imposed may not have been appropriate, no harm was done. Id. Finally, the Wyoming Supreme Court rejected Lee's double jeopardy argument: 38 Mr. Lee also complains that the sentencing process somehow raised a double jeopardy issue. However, this claim is supported merely by reference to Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 [120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435] (2000). In Apprendi, the United States Supreme Court found a New Jersey state statute unconstitutional because it removed determination of one of the elements of a felony offense — whether the offense was committed with a biased purpose — from the jury for determination by the judge on the lesser standard of preponderance of the evidence. We fail to see how this authority has any bearing on the circumstances of this case. (citation omitted). 39 The double jeopardy clause protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and multiple punishments for the same offense. (citations omitted). When we analyze the protection against double jeopardy in terms of multiple prosecutions and cumulative punishments, we apply the statutory elements test defined in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299 [52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306] (1932). (citation omitted). However, the instant case presents neither multiple prosecutions nor multiple punishments for the same offense. Moreover, Mr. Lee has failed to cite persuasive authority or make cogent argument in support of his double jeopardy contentions. (citations omitted). Therefore, the issue merits no further consideration. 40 Id. at 267-68. 41 Lee reasserted these double jeopardy and due process arguments in his federal habeas petition (and included in his petition additional due process arguments that were not asserted in state court). Lee argued, in particular, that where there has been no change related to the original conviction (either by a successful appeal of the conviction by the defendant or an appeal of the sentence by the State), the State should only be entitled to one opportunity to demonstrate that the sentence imposed is proper for the offense of conviction. App. at 27. By adding to the record after the fact, Lee argued, the State was permitted to justify a sentence three times longer than the sentence which was permissible for the offense of conviction based on the facts admitted at the time of the plea. Id. Lastly, citing Apprendi, Lee argued that [t]he hearing at which the State supplemented the record could not be said to comport with the due process standards necessary to prove a `fact' — the date of the offense — which tripled [his] maximum sentencing exposure. Id. 42 The district court rejected Lee's arguments: 43 Mr. Lee's double jeopardy and due process arguments are misplaced. This Court agrees with the Wyoming Supreme Court that Apprendi is not applicable to this case and does not support either a double jeopardy or a due process claim. Mr. Lee was not subjected to multiple punishments for the same offense. Further, although a court may not increase a defendant's sentence once the defendant has a legitimate expectation of finality in his original sentence, (citation omitted), Mr. Lee's sentence was not increased by the trial court. 44 By pleading guilty, a defendant admits involvement in the crime up to and including the last date alleged in the charge. (citation omitted). Mr. Lee pleaded guilty to sexual assault on LB [the minor victim in Count 5] between October 4, 1996, and December 31, 1998. The supplemental evidence offered by the state does not change the fact that Mr. Lee admitted that he sexually assaulted LB after the July 1, 1997 effective date of the penalty increase. Additionally, the evidence in the record at sentencing provided a factual basis that Mr. Lee sexually assaulted LB after July 1, 1997. (citation to record omitted). Mr. Lee has not shown that [the] Wyoming Supreme Court improperly rejected his due process or double jeopardy argument. 45 Id. at 390-91. 46 After reviewing the record on appeal, we conclude there is no basis for granting a COA to Lee on his double jeopardy and due process arguments. To begin with, the Wyoming Supreme Court found, as a matter of historical fact, that (1) Lee admitted to engaging in wrongful conduct after July 1, 1997, and (2) the supplemental evidence presented by the prosecution was superfluous because the same evidence was before the trial court at the time of Lee's sentencing. The first of these findings is amply supported by the record on appeal (in particular the transcript of Lee's guilty plea hearing), and thus Lee cannot establish that the finding amounted to an unreasonable determination... in light of the evidence presented in the state court proceeding. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2). As for the second finding, Lee has not argued that it was unreasonable under § 2254(d)(2), nor has he even presented an adequate record on appeal to allow us to determine whether the evidence available to the trial court at the time of sentencing was the same as the supplemental evidence later presented by the prosecution. 4 Moreover, as noted by the Wyoming Supreme Court, Lee simply has not been subjected to multiple punishments for the same offense. E.g., North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 717, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969) (discussing the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment). Rather, he was subjected to a single, twelve-to-fifteen year sentence for his admitted crime of engaging in oral sex with a minor at some point between July 1, 1997, and December 31, 1998. 5 47 The district court's denial of federal habeas relief with respect to Lee's Fifth Amendment self-incrimination claim is AFFIRMED. Lee's request for an expanded COA is DENIED.