Opinion ID: 853758
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Double Jeopardy and Reprosecution After Acquittal on Felony Murder Charge

Text: In his first trial, the defendant was tried for robbery, felony murder by robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery. Because the first trial resulted in an acquittal on the felony murder charge and mistrials on the robbery and conspiracy charges, the defendant contends that federal double jeopardy jurisprudence [6] prohibited a second trial on the robbery and conspiracy charges. [7] Federal double jeopardy jurisprudence bars a defendant from being prosecuted for an offense after being acquitted for the same offense. North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 717, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 2076, 23 L.Ed.2d 656, 664-65 (1969) (reiterating that the Fifth Amendment guarantee against double jeopardy ... protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal) (citing Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 78 S.Ct. 221, 2 L.Ed.2d 199 (1957)); United States v. Ball, 163 U.S. 662, 671, 16 S.Ct. 1192, 1195, 41 L.Ed. 300, 303 (1896) (The verdict of acquittal was final, and could not be reviewed, on error or otherwise, without putting [the defendant] twice in jeopardy, and thereby violating the Constitution.). The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a verdict of acquittal, however erroneous, is an absolute bar to a subsequent prosecution for the same offense. Green, 355 U.S. at 188, 78 S.Ct. at 223-24, 2 L.Ed.2d at 204 ([I]t has long been settled under the Fifth Amendment that a verdict of acquittal is final, ending a defendant's jeopardy, and even when `not followed by any judgment, is a bar to a subsequent prosecution for the same offence.' ... Thus it is one of the elemental principles of our criminal law that the Government cannot secure a new trial by means of an appeal even though an acquittal may appear to be erroneous.) (quoting Ball, 163 U.S. at 671, 16 S.Ct. at 1195, 41 L.Ed. at 303) (citations omitted). Thus, any retrial or subsequent prosecution of the defendant on the felony murder charge would clearly violate the defendant's federal and state double jeopardy rights. The State, however, did not retry or subsequently prosecute the defendant on the felony murder charge, but instead retried the defendant on the robbery and conspiracy charges, upon which the jury had been unable to reach a verdict. Thus, we must determine whether the robbery, of which the defendant was convicted in the second trial, constitutes the same offense as the felony murder charge, of which he was acquitted in the first trial. The test for determining whether two or more offenses constitute the same offense under the federal Double Jeopardy Clause was outlined in Blockburger v. United States : [W]here 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. Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306, 309 (1932). Our review of alleged violations of the federal Double Jeopardy Clause is limited to the relevant statutes. Grinstead v. State, 684 N.E.2d 482, 486 (Ind.1997). See also Iannelli v. United States, 420 U.S. 770, 785 n. 17, 95 S.Ct. 1284, 1294 n. 17, 43 L.Ed.2d 616, 627 n. 17 (1975) (the Blockburger test focuses on the statutory elements of the offense) (citations omitted). A conviction for the crime of felony murder [8] requires proof that a person was killed during the commission or attempted commission of one of several specified felonies, including robbery, but a conviction for the crime of robbery [9] does not require proof of any facts in addition to those required to prove felony murder by the robbery. Thus, under the Blockburger test, the robbery is the same offense as the felony murder by robbery. However, even though felony murder by robbery and robbery are the same offense under the federal Blockburger test, the defendant's retrial on the robbery charge is not precluded by federal double jeopardy principles. The Blockburger test does not always determine whether there is a double jeopardy violation because the same offense issue is only one aspect of double jeopardy jurisprudence. Other aspects of federal double jeopardy jurisprudence are relevant to this case. [10] Even though two or more charged offenses may constitute the same offense under the Blockburger test, a defendant may be tried in the same proceeding for multiple offenses, including greater and lesser included offenses, because the jeopardy is simultaneous. See Jeffers v. United States, 432 U.S. 137, 152 & n. 20, 97 S.Ct. 2207, 2217 & n. 20, 53 L.Ed.2d 168, 181 & n. 20 (1977) (a defendant is normally entitled to have charges on a greater and lesser offense resolved in one proceeding) (plurality opinion); United States v. Larkin, 605 F.2d 1360, 1367-68 (5th Cir. 1979), modified on reh'g on other grounds, 611 F.2d 585 (1980), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 939, 100 S.Ct. 2160, 64 L.Ed.2d 793 (1980). Furthermore, a defendant may be retried for a lesser offense, of which he was convicted at the first trial, after that conviction is reversed on appeal, and this is true even though the first trial also resulted in a verdict of acquittal on a greater offense. See Price v. Georgia, 398 U.S. 323, 326-27, 90 S.Ct. 1757, 1759-60, 26 L.Ed.2d 300, 304 (1970). In Price, the defendant was tried simultaneously on murder and manslaughter charges and was convicted of the lesser offense. The conviction was reversed on appeal, and the defendant was retried and convicted on both charges. The Supreme Court reversed the murder conviction obtained in the second trial on the ground that the acquittal on that charge in the first trial barred its reprosecution, but the Court indicated that a retrial on the manslaughter charge was proper: [A] concept of continuing jeopardy ... has application where criminal proceedings against an accused have not run their full course.... The continuing jeopardy principle necessarily is applicable to this case. Petitioner sought and obtained the reversal of his initial conviction for voluntary manslaughter by taking an appeal. Accordingly, no aspect of the bar on double jeopardy prevented his retrial for that crime. Id. The doctrine of continuing jeopardy applies in the context of mistrials. Early in its history, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that the federal Double Jeopardy Clause does not bar the reprosecution of a defendant when a trial court terminates the first trial by discharging a jury that is unable to agree on a verdict. United States v. Perez, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 579, 580, 6 L.Ed. 165, 165-66 (1824). The Court reasoned that the law has invested courts of justice with the authority to discharge a jury from giving any verdict, whenever, in their opinion, taking all the circumstances into consideration, there is a manifest necessity for the act, and when the trial judge permits the defendant to be retried because the ends of public justice would otherwise be defeated. Id. at 580, 6 L.Ed. at 165. The Court has held that the federal Double Jeopardy Clause does not prohibit a retrial when the mistrial was a manifest necessity, even if the mistrial is declared over the defendant's objection. Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 98 S.Ct. 824, 54 L.Ed.2d 717 (1978). The Court explained that, without exception, the courts have held that the trial judge may discharge a genuinely deadlocked jury and require the defendant to submit to a second trial. This rule accords recognition to society's interest in giving the prosecution one complete opportunity to convict those who have violated its laws. Id. at 509, 98 S.Ct. at 832, 54 L.Ed.2d at 730. The Court has also held that the federal Double Jeopardy Clause generally does not bar a defendant's retrial when the first trial for the same crime ends in a mistrial at the defendant's request or when the defendant acquiesces in the mistrial. U.S. v. Dinitz, 424 U.S. 600, 96 S.Ct. 1075, 47 L.Ed.2d 267 (1976). Thus, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently held that a retrial following a `hung jury' does not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause. Richardson v. United States, 468 U.S. 317, 324, 104 S.Ct. 3081, 3085, 82 L.Ed.2d 242, 250 (1984) (citing Logan v. United States, 144 U.S. 263, 297-98, 12 S.Ct. 617, 628, 36 L.Ed. 429, 441 (1892)). The Court has stated: The double-jeopardy provision of the Fifth Amendment, however, does not mean that every time a defendant is put to trial before a competent tribunal he is entitled to go free if the trial fails to end in a final judgment. Such a rule would create an insuperable obstacle to the administration of justice in many cases in which there is no semblance of the type of oppressive practices at which the double-jeopardy prohibition is aimed. There may be unforeseeable circumstances that arise during a trial making its completion impossible, such as the failure of a jury to agree on a verdict. In such event the purpose of law to protect society from those guilty of crimes frequently would be frustrated by denying courts power to put the defendant to trial again.... What has been said is enough to show that a defendant's valued right to have his trial completed by a particular tribunal must in some instances be subordinated to the public's interest in fair trials designed to end in just judgments. Wade v. Hunter, 336 U.S. 684, 688-89, 69 S.Ct. 834, 837, 93 L.Ed. 974, 978 (1949). In Richardson, the U.S. Supreme Court, explaining that a hung jury is [not] the equivalent of an acquittal, held: [T]he failure of the jury to reach a verdict is not an event which terminates jeopardy.... [A] trial court's declaration of a mistrial following a hung jury is not an event that terminates the original jeopardy to which [the defendant] was subjected. The Government, like the defendant, is entitled to resolution of the case by verdict from the jury, and jeopardy does not terminate when the jury is discharged because it is unable to agree. Richardson, 468 U.S. at 325-26, 104 S.Ct. at 3086, 82 L.Ed.2d at 251. Thus, the concept of continuing jeopardy applies to a mistrial caused by a deadlocked jury. See, e.g., United States v. Sanford, 429 U.S. 14, 97 S.Ct. 20, 50 L.Ed.2d 17 (1976) (per curiam); Downum v. United States, 372 U.S. 734, 736, 83 S.Ct. 1033, 1034, 10 L.Ed.2d 100, 102 (1963); Green, 355 U.S. at 188, 78 S.Ct. at 224, 2 L.Ed.2d at 205. Likewise, in cases in which the prosecutor charges different offenses in separate counts and the jury reaches a verdict as to some counts but not as to others, the jury may render a verdict as to the charge or charges upon which the jurors do agree, and the charges on which they do not agree may be tried again. See Selvester v. United States, 170 U.S. 262, 269-70, 18 S.Ct. 580, 582-83, 42 L.Ed. 1029, 1032 (1898). The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that an acquittal on a greater offense does not preclude a retrial on a lesser offense to which continuing jeopardy has attached, and this result obtains whether the applicability of continuing jeopardy results from an appellate reversal of a conviction as in Price or from a mistrial caused by a deadlocked jury. Larkin, 605 F.2d at 1369 (citing United States v. Scott, 464 F.2d 832 (D.C.Cir. 1972); Forsberg v. United States, 351 F.2d 242 (9th Cir.1965)). In Green, 355 U.S. 184, 78 S.Ct. 221, 2 L.Ed.2d 199, the Supreme Court discussed the doctrine of implied acquittal. In Green, the jury at the first trial was instructed on the offenses of first- and second-degree murder and found that the defendant was guilty of second-degree murder. The defendant's conviction was reversed on appeal. On remand, the defendant was again tried for first- and second-degree murder and ultimately convicted of first-degree murder. The Supreme Court held that the defendant's retrial on the charge of first-degree murder subjected him to double jeopardy. Id. at 191, 78 S.Ct. at 225, 2 L.Ed.2d at 206 ([T]his case can be treated no differently, for purposes of former jeopardy, than if the jury had returned a verdict which expressly read: `We find the defendant not guilty of murder in the first degree but guilty of murder in the second degree.'). See also Price, 398 U.S. at 329, 90 S.Ct. at 1761, 26 L.Ed.2d at 305 ([T]his Court has consistently refused to rule that jeopardy for an offense continues after an acquittal, whether that acquittal is express or implied by a conviction on a lesser included offense when the jury was given a full opportunity to return a verdict on the greater charge.). The Court held that if the jury is given a full opportunity to return a verdict on the greater offense and instead convicts on a lesser offense, an implicit acquittal with respect to the greater offense results. Green, 355 U.S. at 191, 78 S.Ct. at 225, 2 L.Ed.2d at 206. The Court has summarized Green as hold[ing] only that when one is convicted of a lesser offense included in that charged in the original indictment, he can be retried only for the offense of which he was convicted rather than that with which he was originally charged. United States v. Tateo, 377 U.S. 463, 465 n. 1, 84 S.Ct. 1587, 1589 n. 1, 12 L.Ed.2d 448, 450 n. 1 (1964). The Michigan Supreme Court summarized the Green holding as follows: a defendant may be retried for any of the lesser included offenses, but may not be retried for an offense greater than the one of which he was originally convicted. People v. Garcia, 448 Mich. 442, 531 N.W.2d 683, 690 (1995). The U.S. Supreme Court has held that, where a defendant has been tried and convicted of a lesser included offense, he cannot be subsequently tried in a separate prosecution for the greater offense without violating double jeopardy. Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977). The Court, however, clearly limited the application of this holding to separate prosecutions, stating that [w]e are not concerned here with the double jeopardy questions that may arise when a defendant is retried on the same charge after a mistrial.... [11] Id. at 165 n. 5, 97 S.Ct. at 2225 n. 5, 53 L.Ed.2d at 194 n. 5. In the present case, the defendant's federal double jeopardy rights would have been violated had he been convicted and sentenced for both felony murder and the underlying felony because the conviction for murder during the commission of a felony would necessarily require proof of the underlying felony. [12] Harris v. Oklahoma, 433 U.S. 682, 682, 97 S.Ct. 2912, 2913, 53 L.Ed.2d 1054, 1056 (1977); Hobson v. State, 675 N.E.2d 1090, 1094 (Ind. 1996); Kennedy v. State, 674 N.E.2d 966, 967 (Ind.1996); Gregory-Bey v. State, 669 N.E.2d 154, 157 (Ind.1996); Moore v. State, 652 N.E.2d 53, 59 (Ind.1995); Swafford v. State, 498 N.E.2d 1188, 1191 (Ind. 1986); Eddy v. State, 496 N.E.2d 24, 29 (Ind.1986); Williams v. State, 426 N.E.2d 662, 670 (Ind.1981); Mitchell v. State, 270 Ind. 4, 7, 382 N.E.2d 932, 934 (1978) (The United States Supreme Court has held that where a felony murder conviction requires proof of the underlying felony, the two offenses are considered to be the `same' within the meaning of the Double Jeopardy Clause.) (citing Harris, 433 U.S. 682, 97 S.Ct. 2912, 53 L.Ed.2d 1054). But the defendant was not convicted on the felony murder by robbery charge. He was instead acquitted. Subsequently, he was retried on the robbery charge after a mistrial because the jury was unable to reach a verdict and then convicted of robbery. From the rule that a defendant may not be convicted and sentenced for both felony murder and the underlying felony it does not logically follow that a defendant's federal double jeopardy rights are violated when, in one trial, a defendant is acquitted of felony murder but convicted and sentenced for the underlying felony [13] or, as in this case, when a defendant is acquitted of felony murder, retried for the underlying felony because the first trial resulted in a mistrial on that charge, and then convicted and sentenced for the underlying offense. [14] While the State is required to prove all the essential elements of the felony murder including the underlying felony in order for the jury to convict the defendant of felony murder, a verdict of acquittal on the felony murder charge would not necessarily require the jury to have found the underlying felony was not proven. Stated differently, in order to acquit of felony murder, the fact-finder would not necessarily have determined that the underlying felony was not proven. In this case, we cannot conclude that the acquittal on the felony murder charge resulted from any failure by the State to prove the elements of the robbery. The jury could not reach a verdict on the robbery and conspiracy charges, and, for this reason, the judge declared a mistrial as to those charges. If the State had failed to prove the robbery, the underlying felony, we presume that the jury would have reached a verdict of acquittal. We hold that the defendant was not placed in jeopardy twice for the same offense. Rather, the initial jeopardy, which was suspended because of mistrial, continued upon retrial. [15] We conclude, therefore, that the defendant's federal double jeopardy rights were not violated when he was retried on the robbery charge after he was acquitted of felony murder in the first trial and a mistrial was declared on the other two charges. [16] 2. Collateral Estoppel The defendant asserts that his acquittal on the felony murder charge barred, under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, the relitigation of certain factual issues in his retrial. More specifically, the defendant argues that [c]ollateral estoppel applies to relitigating the facts which support conviction for the robbery charge, the conspiracy to commit robbery and those facts which proved the necessary elements of `serious bodily injury' making the convictions Class A felonies under Ind. Code 35-42-5-1(2) and 35-41-5-2(a). Brief of Defendant-Appellant at 13. We understand the defendant's contention to be that, in acquitting him of the charged felony murder by robbery, the jury necessarily determined that the State failed to prove: (1) that he killed Turner; (2) that he committed robbery resulting in serious injury to Turner; and (3) that he aided, induced, or caused the killing of Turner in the course of the robbery. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that collateral estoppel in criminal trials is an ingredient of the protection against double jeopardy guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 25 L.Ed.2d 469 (1970). Ashe incorporated the rule of collateral estoppel into the guarantee against double jeopardy to protect a man who has been acquitted from having to `run the gauntlet' a second time. Id. at 446, 90 S.Ct. at 1195, 25 L.Ed.2d at 477. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that, while `[c]ollateral estoppel' is an awkward phrase, ... it stands for an extremely important principle in our adversary system of justice. It means simply that when an issue of ultimate fact has once been determined by a valid and final judgment, that issue cannot again be litigated between the same parties in any future lawsuit. Id. at 443, 90 S.Ct. at 1194, 25 L.Ed.2d at 475. See also Harris v. Washington, 404 U.S. 55, 92 S.Ct. 183, 30 L.Ed.2d 212 (1971); Bonham v. State, 644 N.E.2d 1223, 1226 (Ind.1994) (`Generally, collateral estoppel operates to bar a subsequent relitigation of the same fact or issue where that fact or issue was necessarily adjudicated in a former suit and the same fact or issue is presented in the subsequent lawsuit.') (quoting Sullivan v. American Cas. Co., 605 N.E.2d 134, 137 (Ind.1992)). The interplay between double jeopardy and collateral estoppel has been described this way: [W]hile the parent doctrine of double jeopardy bars a subsequent prosecution based on a different section of the criminal code when the evidence required to support a conviction upon one of [the indictments] would have been sufficient to warrant a conviction upon the other, its progeny, collateral estoppel, bars only the reintroduction or relitigation of facts already established against the government. To state the distinction in more prosaic terms, the traditional bar of jeopardy prohibits the prosecution of the crime itself, whereas collateral estoppel, in a more modest fashion, simply forbids the government from relitigating certain facts in order to establish the fact of the crime. United States v. Mock, 604 F.2d 341, 343-44 (5th Cir.1979), quoted in Little v. State, 501 N.E.2d 412, 414 (Ind.1986). With the doctrine of collateral estoppel, the prime consideration is whether the party against whom the prior judgment is pled had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue and whether it would be otherwise unfair under the circumstances to permit the use of collateral estoppel. Bonham, 644 N.E.2d at 1226 (quoting Sullivan, 605 N.E.2d at 138). We have also noted: We agree that `once a defendant has satisfied one jury that he is not guilty of a crime, constitutionally-rooted considerations of fairness preclude the Government from injecting any issues necessarily decided in his favor into a second trial for another offense.' Little, 501 N.E.2d at 415 (quoting United States v. Mespoulede, 597 F.2d 329, 330 (2d Cir.1979)). When we apply the doctrine of collateral estoppel, we determine what the first judgment decided and examine how that determination bears on the second case. Webb v. State, 453 N.E.2d 180, 183 (Ind.1983) (citing Mespoulede, 597 F.2d 329). Ashe further instructs: Where a previous judgment of acquittal was based upon a general verdict, as is usually the case, this approach requires a court to [ ]examine the record of a prior proceeding, taking into account the pleadings, evidence, charge, and other relevant matter, and conclude whether a rational jury could have grounded its verdict upon an issue other than that which the defendant seeks to foreclose from consideration.[] Ashe, 397 U.S. at 444, 90 S.Ct. at 1194, 25 L.Ed.2d at 475-76 (quotation marks and footnote omitted). As we further observed in Little: Application of collateral estoppel in this context requires that the trial court determine what facts were necessarily decided in the first law suit. The court must examine the record of the prior proceeding, taking into consideration the pleadings, evidence, charge and other relevant matters. Ashe, 397 U.S. at 444, 90 S.Ct. at 1194, 25 L.Ed.2d at 475. Then the court must decide whether the government in a subsequent trial attempted to relitigate facts necessarily established against it in the first trial. See United States v. Mock, 604 F.2d at 343, 344. If so, evidence of the former offense must be suppressed. The federal decisions have made clear that the rule of collateral estoppel in criminal cases is not to be applied with the hypertechnical and archaic approach of a 19th century pleading book, but with realism and rationality. Ashe, 397 U.S. at 444, 90 S.Ct. at 1194, 25 L.Ed.2d at 475. Little, 501 N.E.2d at 415. The Indiana Court of Appeals explained the application of this two-step process: Determining what the first judgment decided involves an examination of the record of the prior proceedings including the pleadings, evidence, charge and any other relevant matters. The court must then decide whether a reasonable jury could have based its verdict upon any factor other than the factor of which the defendant seeks to foreclose consideration. If the jury could have based its decision on another factor, then collateral estoppel does not bar relitigation. Segovia v. State, 666 N.E.2d 105, 107 (Ind. Ct.App.1996) (citing Webb, 453 N.E.2d at 184) (internal citations omitted). In the first trial, as to the felony-murder count on which the jury acquitted the defendant, the jury instructions stated in relevant part: In Count II, the crime of murder is defined ... a person who knowingly or intentionally kills another human being while committing or attempting to commit robbery, commits murder, a felony. To convict the defendant, the State must have proved each of the following elements, the defendant number one (1) killed; number [two] (2), David S. Turner; number three (3), while committing robbery by unlawfully, knowing taking property to-wit: approximately ten (10) pounds of marijuana, from David S. Turner, by using force on David S. Turner, resulting in serious bodily injury to David S. Turner; number four (4), in Delaware County, Indiana. If the State failed to prove each of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant not guilty. Record at 1892. This instruction misstates the law in a manner favorable to the defendant. The crime of murder may occur, essentially, in either of two forms: (1) as a knowing or intentional killing, or (2) as felony murder, which does not require a knowing or intentional killing, but rather only a killing while committing or attempting to commit one of the prescribed felonies. IND.CODE § 35-42-1-1. [17] Significantly, the jury instruction required specific culpability, an element of proof not actually required by statute for the charged offense of felony murder. The jury was also instructed regarding accomplice liability and directed that it could find the defendant guilty of felony murder if it found felony murder committed by another person and if the jury also found that the defendant knowingly aided, induced, or caused the other person to commit an offense. Record at 1899-1900. [18] However, other instructions stated that [a] person engages in conduct `knowingly' if, when he engages in the conduct, he is aware of a high probability that he is doing so, Record at 1896, and that [t]he State is only required to produce such evidence as will satisfy you beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime charged was committed by the defendant, as a principal or as an accessory, with the requisite intent, Record at 1897. Considered together, we find that the instructions directed the jury in the defendant's first trial that, even if the jury found that the defendant aided in the commission of robbery, before it could find the defendant guilty of felony murder, the State must also prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's participation in the killing was knowing or intentional. We find evidence in the first trial casting doubt on whether the defendant knowingly or intentionally participated in the killing. According to Craig's testimony, [19] Craig hit Turner twice on the head, the second blow knocking him to the floor unconscious. Ransom then taped Turner's hands behind his back with shipping tape. The defendant hit Turner on the head with a piece of metal and placed a plastic garbage bag over Turner's head. [20] Ransom pressed the air out of the bag and taped the bag tightly around Turner's neck. Hartman, Craig, and Ransom drove in Hartman's truck to a remote area to dispose of Turner's body, but the defendant refused to go along because he did not want to ride in the truck with the body. According to Hartman's testimony, Hartman was the middle man in the drug deal between Turner and Craig, and the profit from this sale would provide Hartman with the money necessary to leave town. Hartman also testified that Turner dropped Hartman off at the Hartman residence at around 9:00 p.m. and that Craig and Turner then left in Turner's car. Hartman testified that the defendant was at the Hartman residence, lying on the couch sick, and that Craig and Ransom were not at the Hartman residence. Craig and Ransom, according to Hartman's testimony, returned to the Hartman residence around midnight. The defendant testified that he did not have any conversation with Hartman, Ransom, Craig, or anyone else regarding robbing Turner of marijuana. He also testified that, on the day of the robbery, he was sick and spent the day at the Hartman residence on the couch. In his testimony he recounted that he saw Craig and Ransom on the day of the robbery, but that he did not hear any talk regarding the sale of any drugs that night. He also testified that, on the day of the robbery, he never went to the house where the robbery occurred, that he did not hit Turner on the head with any object, that he did not plan to rob Turner, that he did not rob Turner or participate in the robbery, that he did not put a bag over Turner's head, that he did not kill Turner, see him killed, or assist anyone in the killing, and that he did not load Turner's body into a truck or dispose of the body in the country. His testimony also was that he did not learn that Turner was dead until he arrived back in Indiana, after being arrested in Florida. When Turner's body was discovered, his hands were still taped behind his back. There were no obvious gun shot or stab wounds or any fractures. Because the body was so badly decomposed, those examining the body could not determine whether Turner died of suffocation, a broken neck, or any other natural or unnatural cause, and they finally concluded that the cause of death was undetermined homicidal violence. We conclude that a rational jury could have acquitted the defendant of felony murder, under its instructions from the trial court, because the evidence did not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly or intentionally killed Turner. A second ground for our conclusion is that a rational jury could have acquitted the defendant of felony murder upon an issue other than those the defendant seeks to foreclose under the doctrine of collateral estoppel. We agree with the opinion of the Court of Appeals on rehearing in its analysis of the claim. Griffin, 694 N.E.2d 304. Writing for the court, Judge Kirsch stated: The question, then, is whether a reasonable jury could have based its acquittal of Griffin of the felony murder upon any factor other than Griffin's participation in the robbery and conspiracy. We think it could. Because the cause of Turner's death was not known, it was reasonable for the jury to have concluded that the killing occurred after the robbery had been completed. Therefore, the felony murder could reasonably have been based upon Griffin's non-participation in the killing. A determination of Griffin's non-participation in the killing, does not preclude relitigation of his participation in the robbery or the conspiracy, issues the jury was unable to decide in the first trial. Griffin's retrial was not barred by principles of collateral estoppel. Id. at 306. For each of these reasons, we therefore find that the first jury could reasonably have grounded its verdict of acquittal upon an issue other than those the defendant now seeks to foreclose from consideration. We hold that collateral estoppel did not bar the retrial of the defendant on charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit robberythe charges on which the first jury was unable to reach a verdict.