Opinion ID: 1403275
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Mr. Taylor's Claim of Collateral Estoppel (Issue Preclusion)

Text: As an initial observation we note that, unlike the precedent in the federal courtsincluding Yeager and Ashe our double jeopardy precedent does not require that a defendant prove that a prosecution is barred on double jeopardy grounds. Instead, our precedent on the burden of proof in such circumstances is the two-part process set forth in Syllabus Point 2, State v. Sears, supra , where we held that: In order to establish a double jeopardy claim, the defendant must first present a prima facie claim that double jeopardy principles have been violated. Once the defendant proffers proof to support a nonfrivolous claim, the burden shifts to the State to show by a preponderance of the evidence that double jeopardy principles do not bar the imposition of the prosecution or punishment of the defendant. It is clear to us that Mr. Taylor has met his burden to proffer a prima facie claim that his retrial on the murder indictment would violate double jeopardy. Mr. Taylor points to the fact that a critical issue of ultimate fact in both the conspiracy count and the murder count was that he killed Derrick Osborne. Under our law, a conspiracy indictment requires that the State allege an overt act made in furtherance of the conspiracy being alleged. In Mr. Taylor's case, that alleged overt act was that he shot and killed Derrick Osborne with a firearm. In the murder indictment, it is similarly alleged that Mr. Taylor killed Derrick Osborne. The allegation that Mr. Taylor killed Derrick Osborne is therefore clearly a critical issue of ultimate fact in all of the charges against Mr. Taylor. Yeager, 129 S.Ct. at 2368-69. The State could not convict Mr. Taylor on either count unless is was proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mr. Taylor killed Derrick Osborne. Mr. Taylor was acquitted of the conspiracy count, and the jury deadlocked on the murder count. Since the issue of whether Mr. Taylor killed Derrick Osborne was in both the conspiracy indictment and murder indictment, and the jury decided the conspiracy indictment in Mr. Taylor's favor, Mr. Taylor made a prima facie case, shifting the burden to the State to prove that double jeopardy does not bar a retrial. To meet its burden, the State argues that double jeopardy does not bar Mr. Taylor's retrial because the jury did not, in acquitting Mr. Taylor of the conspiracy charge, necessarily decide the ultimate issue of whether Mr. Taylor shot and killed Derrick Osborne. Instead, the State argues, the jury could have only decided that the State failed to prove Mr. Taylor entered into an agreement with the alleged co-conspirators to kill Derrick Osborne. We agree that the jury's acquittal of Mr. Taylor does not mean that it necessarily decided the issue of ultimate factthat Mr. Taylor shot and killed Derrick Osbornein Mr. Taylor's favor. In reaching our conclusion, we have relied upon the rationale of Justice McHugh in State v. Porter, supra , which we today elevate to the following point of law: In determining whether collateral estoppel bars retrial of a defendant following a trial where a jury acquitted the defendant on one or more charges, but deadlocked on other charges, a court must examine the record of the prior proceeding, taking into account the pleadings, evidence, jury charge, and all other relevant matter, and conclude whether a rational jury could have grounded its verdict of acquittal upon an issue other than the issue which the defendant seeks to bar from reprosecution. Applying this analysis, we initially note that judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy count against Mr. Taylor was a general verdict. The verdict form signed by the jury did not delineate or specify which element[s] the jury concluded that the State had failed to prove. The jury did not decide any special interrogatories that may have revealed the basis of their decision to acquit Mr. Taylor. Absent this clear statement from the jury, we must instead look to the record to determine whether a jury could rationally have grounded its verdict upon an issue other than that which the defendant seeks to preclude. In reviewing the record, we find the trial court's charge to the juryas to what the jury must find to convict Mr. Taylor of conspiracy to commit first degree murderto be dispositive of Mr. Taylor's collateral estoppel claim. This jury charge is as follows: Before the defendant can be convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, the State of West Virginia must overcome the presumption that [Mr. Taylor], is innocent and prove to the satisfaction of the jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that: [Mr. Taylor]; in Marion County, West Virginia; on, or about or before the 28th day of May, 2007; intentionally entered an agreement and conspired with other persons, to-wit: Lafayette Jenkins, Steven Podolsky, and Donell Lee; for the purpose of killing Derrick Osborne; and that [Mr. Taylor], Lafayette Jenkins, Steven Podolsky, and/or Donell Lee, conspirators; subsequent to the agreement; committed an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy, which conspiracy had not terminated. If after impartially considering, weighing and comparing all the evidence, both that of the state and that of the defendant, the jury and each member of the jury is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the truth of the charge as to each of these elements of conspiracy to commit murder, you may find [Mr. Taylor] guilty as charged in the indictment[.] If the jury and each member of the jury has a reasonable doubt of the truth of the charge as to any one or more of these elements of conspiracy to commit murder, you shall find the defendant not guilty. (Emphasis added). Reviewing the trial court's charge to the jury on the conspiracy count, it is clear that several critical issues of ultimate fact were required to be found by the jury before it could convict Mr. Taylor of conspiracy to commit first degree murder. These ultimate issues are that Mr. Taylor: (1) intentionally entered into an agreement; (2) conspired with all of the named co-conspirators for the purpose of killing Derrick Osborne; (3) committed the overt act of murdering the decedent in furtherance of the conspiracy; and (4) that the conspiracy had not been abandoned when the murder occurred. The sole overt act alleged in the conspiracy indictment was that Mr. Taylor shot and killed the decedent. This alleged fact is also a critical issue of ultimate fact in the murder indictment. However, it cannot be rationally concluded from the record that the jury necessarily decided, in acquitting Mr. Taylor of the conspiracy charge, that Mr. Taylor did not shoot and kill the decedent. Instead, the jury could have found that the conspiracy alleged in the indictment did not occur or had been abandoned before the murder occurred. It could also be that the jury did not believe Mr. Taylor shot and killed Derrick Osborne, as alleged. It is also a rational conclusion that members of the jury were split in their decision as to which of the specific elements they believed the State had failed to prove, but rather were only unanimous in their judgment that the State had failed to prove all of the elements, all the ultimate issues of fact, necessary to prove a conspiracy to commit first degree murder. None of these factual scenarios were necessarily decidedto the rational exclusion of all othersby the jury in its decision to acquit Mr. Taylor. The trial court's charge to the jury was clear: [i]f the jury and each member of the jury has a reasonable doubt of the truth of the charge as to any one or more of these elements of conspiracy to commit murder, you shall find the defendant not guilty. (Emphasis added). Our decision is consistent with other jurisdictions that have considered criminal collateral estoppel cases following the decision in Yeager. See, e.g., United States v. Howe, 590 F.3d 552, (C.A.8 Ark.) (2009), where, following remand by the United States Supreme Court with directions to apply its decision in Yeager, the Court of Appeals held that defendant's retrial on a deadlocked jury count was not barred under collateral estoppel because the court was unable to conclude from the record that the ultimate issue of fact sought to be barred from reprosecution was necessarily decided by jury in its prior acquittal of the defendant in another count.