Opinion ID: 2063555
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Was This a Proper Sentence?

Text: Jackson alleges three grounds for error relating to the sixty year sentence itself. First, Jackson contends that sentencing him for both murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury violates the Double Jeopardy Clause. U.S. Const. amend. V. The Double Jeopardy Clause protects against (1) a second prosecution for the same offense after an acquittal, (2) a second prosecution for the same offense after a conviction, and (3) multiple punishments for the same offense. Whalen v. United States, 445 U.S. 684, 100 S.Ct. 1432, 63 L.Ed.2d 715 (1980); North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969). Multiple penalties may be imposed for the same offense where the will of the legislative body to do so is clear. Whalen, 445 U.S. at 693, 100 S.Ct. at 1438. Thus, legislative intent is central to a Double Jeopardy inquiry, and courts have used a same-elements test to make this analysis. The classic formulation of this test has been as follows: 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 a fact which the other does not. Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). This Blockburger same-elements test is but a rule of statutory construction to aid in determining whether the legislature intended multiple punishments. Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U.S. 359, 368, 103 S.Ct. 673, 679, 74 L.Ed.2d 535 (1983). [S]imply because two criminal statutes may be construed to proscribe the same conduct under the Blockburger test does not mean that the Double Jeopardy Clause precludes the imposition, in a single trial, of cumulative punishments pursuant to those statutes, id., so long as that is the legislature's intent. Moreover, there are a number of relationships which do not of themselves satisfy the same-elements test. For instance, overlapping proof between two crimes does not violate double jeopardy. United States v. Solomon, 753 F.2d 1522 (9th Cir.1985). Indeed, a substantial overlap in the proof offered to establish the different crimes is allowed. Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977). The government may even pursue subsequent prosecution where, to establish an essential element of the offense charged in that prosecution, it must prove conduct which constitutes an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted. United States v. Dixon, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 125 L.Ed.2d 556 (1993) (overruling Grady v. Corbin, 495 U.S. 508, 110 S.Ct. 2084, 109 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990)). Jackson cites cases of this Court issued before the decision six months ago in Dixon which involved murder or attempted murder and some other offense, such as robbery, which becomes a higher penalty felony when it results in bodily injury. In Malott v. State (1985), Ind., 485 N.E.2d 879, for example, we held that when an attempted murder conviction and a robbery resulting in serious bodily injury both rely on but a single act of shooting, the Double Jeopardy Clause permits only a simple class C robbery conviction. By contrast, we have suggested that evidence showing non-superficial injury separate from the gunshots might sustain multiple punishments consistent with the Double Jeopardy Clause. Mitchell v. State (1989), Ind., 541 N.E.2d 265 (class B robbery not permissible when evidence shows single gunshot wound to head and other injuries are only superficial). Whether the distinction drawn by Malott and Mitchell can be sustained in light of United States v. Dixon we need not resolve to dispose of Jackson's contention. Certainly our legislature intended to create two crimes by enacting statutes prohibiting robbery and prohibiting murder, and the statutes in question meet the Blockburger same-elements test. Furthermore, there were a great many injuries inflicted on Michelle Seagraves before she finally died. A pathologist observed that Seagraves was strangled with a ligature around her neck, and bleeding in the neck showed that when the ligature was applied she was still alive. The strangulation obviously occurred before the gunshot wound to the back of the neck, inasmuch as the gunshot would have caused immediate death. The pathologist also noted multiple injuries to the head with a blunt instrument, though he could not determine whether any of these were fatal. These multiple injuries inflicted on Michelle Seagraves were not a single act for purposes of our analysis in Mitchell and Malott. Second, Jackson claims that his punishment was manifestly unreasonable. Ind. Appellate Rule 17(B). The circumstances of this crime, described in our original opinion, Jackson, 597 N.E.2d at 954-55, place it among the most calculating and brutal crimes. In light of the evidence about the offense and the offender, we cannot conclude that the trial court's sentence is manifestly unreasonable. Third, Jackson contends that the trial court erred in not finding as mitigating circumstances his prior work history and the support available to him from family and others. We note that Judge Stewart mentioned these facts in his sentencing from the bench, and we conclude that his refusal to make a written finding of mitigating circumstances represented a conclusion that they did not merit reduction of sentence. Even if it was error not to find mitigating circumstances, we cannot say that the sentence was erroneous in light of the strength of the aggravating circumstances. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court. DeBRULER, GIVAN, DICKSON and SULLIVAN, JJ., concur.