Opinion ID: 1711620
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: sentencing for felony murder and underlying felony

Text: Although not complained of at trial or on appeal, a double jeopardy problem remains. McHenry was sentenced for both felony murder and aiding and abetting attempted robbery. Plain error exists where there is an error, plainly evident from the record but not complained of at trial, which prejudicially affects a substantial right of a litigant and is of such a nature that to leave it uncorrected would cause a miscarriage of justice or result in damage to the integrity, reputation, and fairness of the judicial process. Perrine v. State, 249 Neb. 518, 544 N.W.2d 364 (1996). The Double Jeopardy Clause precludes multiple punishment for the same offense imposed in a single proceeding. North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969), overruled on other grounds, Alabama v. Smith, 490 U.S. 794, 109 S.Ct. 2201, 104 L.Ed.2d 865 (1989). The multiple punishment prong of the double jeopardy bar seeks to ensure that the total punishment did not exceed that authorized by the legislature. See United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 450, 109 S.Ct. 1892, 1903, 104 L.Ed.2d 487 (1989). See, also, State v. Detweiler, 249 Neb. 485, 544 N.W.2d 83 (1996). A determination of whether two convictions in a single trial lead to multiple punishment depends upon whether the legislature that designated the criminal statutory scheme intended that cumulative sentences be applied for conviction on both offenses. If the statute clearly and affirmatively indicates that the legislature intended that the defendant be punished cumulatively under both charges and the sentences for both charges are imposed in a single trial, the Double Jeopardy Clause is not offended. See State v. Detweiler, supra . A conviction of felony murder and the underlying felony in the same proceeding is a species of impermissible multiple punishment if the legislature did not designate that multiple sentences should be applied for conviction on both offenses. See Jones v. Thomas, 491 U.S. 376, 109 S.Ct. 2522, 105 L.Ed.2d 322 (1989). In the case at bar, there is no affirmative indication in either the felony murder statute or the robbery statute that the Legislature intended that a defendant should be punished independently for both felony murder and the underlying felony on which it relies. See Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 28-303, 28-324, and 28-206 (Reissue 1995). As a result, McHenry's conviction and sentence for both felony murder and the underlying felony violates the Double Jeopardy Clause's proscription against multiple punishments for the same offense. The underlying felony merges into a felony murder conviction and cannot be punished separately, barring a clear indication by the Legislature that independent punishments were intended. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that vacating the sentence for an underlying felony cures the double jeopardy violation at hand. See Jones v. Thomas, supra . As a result, we vacate the sentence for the underlying felony.