Opinion ID: 6506
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Guidelines Authorize Multiple Punishment

Text: 36 We therefore turn to the Guidelines to determine the appropriate punishment-- single or multiple--to be assessed. 39 The Tenth Circuit's observation that grouping rules under the Guidelines prevents double counting and thus count manipulation is accurate. If Witte had been convicted in one proceeding of both the cocaine and marijuana offenses, grouping of counts--aggregation of the drug quantities--would result in a Guideline range of 292-365 months. The high end of the range serves as a cap to the length of the sentence (punishment) that Witte can receive for both offenses. 40 But the question here is whether Congress intended Witte to be subject to multiple punishments (a second punishment) for the cocaine--that had already been included in relevant conduct for a related sentence--as long as the aggregate length of his sentences did not exceed the lesser of the cap provided by the range or the statutory maximum sentence. 37 The Tenth Circuit found no authority in the Guidelines that Congress intended to punish a defendant a second time for conduct that has previously been aggregated into the base offense level for a related sentence in an earlier prosecution. 41 But that court did not have the benefit of the present Sec. 5G1.3(b) of the Guidelines, which Witte concedes in his motion to dismiss would require imposition of concurrent sentences if he were tried and convicted of the cocaine offense. Section 5G1.3 provides in pertinent part: 38 Imposition of a Sentence on a Defendant Subject to an Undischarged Term of Imprisonment 39 (b) If ... the undischarged term of imprisonment resulted from offense(s) that have been fully taken into account in the determination of the offense level for the instant offense, the sentence for the instant offense shall be imposed to run concurrently to the undischarged term of imprisonment. 42 40 The commentary to Sec. 5G1.3(b), application note 2, reflects that 41 Subsection (b) ... addresses cases in which the conduct resulting in the undischarged term of imprisonment has been fully taken into account under Sec. 1B1.3 (Relevant Conduct) in determining the offense level for the instant offense. This can occur, for example where a defendant is prosecuted in both federal and state court, or in two or more federal jurisdictions, 43 for the same criminal conduct or for different criminal transactions that were part of the same course of conduct. 44 42 The commentary clearly permits a defendant to be prosecuted--and sentenced--in more than one federal proceeding for different criminal offenses that were part of the same course of conduct. 45 More importantly, a defendant's base offense level for each offense of conviction--unless the Guidelines expressly provide otherwise--must be determined on the basis of all relevant conduct. 46 The principle that all relevant conduct be considered in determining a defendant's base offense level is neither optional nor hortatory; it is mandatory. 43 Read in pari materia, Sec. 5G1.3(b) clearly provides that the government may convict a defendant of one offense and punish him for all relevant conduct; then indict and convict him for a different offense that was part of the same course of conduct as the first offense--and sentence him again for all relevant conduct. To repeat, this proposition merely reflects Congress's specific intent that all relevant conduct be considered in determining a defendant's sentence. Consequently, we find no basis for distinguishing the situation described by Sec. 5G1.3(b) from the one before us today. 44 Like it or not, we are satisfied that Sec. 5G1.3 reflects Congress's intent to prevent punishment from being larger if the government chooses to proceed with two different proceedings--and that Congress accomplishes this intent--not by foreclosing a second prosecution but by directing that the length of the resulting term of imprisonment be no greater than that which would have resulted from prosecution and conviction on both counts in a single proceeding. Section 5G1.3(b), therefore, accomplishes in successive proceedings what grouping of counts pursuant to Sec. 3D1.2 accomplishes in a single proceeding. Thus Sec. 5G1.3(b) is authority ... that Congress intended to punish a defendant a second time for conduct that has previously been aggregated into the base offense level for a related sentence in an earlier prosecution, authority that the Tenth Circuit--without the benefit of Sec. 5G1.3(b) in its present form--found lacking when it analyzed Koonce's double jeopardy challenge. 47 45 The Second Circuit had the benefit of Sec. 5G1.3(b) but distinguished the situation in McCormick from that described in Sec. 5G1.3(b). That distinction concerns when the defendant will be punished for both offenses in a single sentencing proceeding, i.e., whether the defendant will be punished for both offenses at sentencing for the first offense (McCormick's situation) or at sentencing for the second offense (the Second Circuit's view of Sec. 5G1.3(b)). But in our view, under Sec. 5G1.3(b) and relevant conduct principles, the defendant is punished for both offenses both at sentencing for the first offense and at sentencing for the second offense. 46 With all due respect, we believe that the Second Circuit's analysis of Sec. 5G1.3(b) suffers from two errors: first, it ignores--under Sec. 5G1.3(b)--the application of relevant conduct principles to sentencing for the first offense; second, it does not consider McCormick's situation at the relevant stage addressed by Sec. 5G1.3(b), i.e., at the sentencing stage for purposes of the instant offense. 48 The McCormick court did not consider that, at sentencing for the second offense, McCormick could be punished again for all relevant conduct. Section 5G1.3(b) assumes that a defendant has been prosecuted and convicted for the instant offense--an offense that was part of the same course of conduct as an offense for which there is already a conviction and for which an appropriate Guidelines sentence has been assessed (hence the application of relevant conduct at the first sentencing proceeding)--and that it has proceeded to the sentencing stage. 47 Nevertheless, the Second Circuit recognized that in a case governed by subsection (b), the Sentencing Commission would require concurrent sentencing to avoid multiple punishments. 49 Thus, two sentences, though concurrent, have been authorized by the legislature in this situation, and thus would not violate double jeopardy. The significance of this analysis should be obvious: it is not the subsequent prosecution that is affected, but the subsequent sentence that may be pronounced and the manner in which such sentence may be imposed, assuming that the permitted subsequent prosecution produces a conviction.