Opinion ID: 1779869
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether culp was convicted of multiplicitous counts, thereby violating his right to due process of law.

Text: ¶ 52. Culp argues that his rights under the Mississippi and United States Constitutions were violated when he was charged with both aggravated assault and capital murder by felonious abuse of a child. As this issue involves constitutional rights the standard of review is de novo. Palm v. State, 748 So.2d 135, 142 (Miss. 1999). ¶ 53. Culp recasts his argument from Issue IV, asserting that because the aggravated assault merged with capital murder by felonious abuse of a child his conviction for aggravated assault should be vacated. Culp additionally asserts that the charges of aggravated assault and capital murder merged into a single count of capital murder, because neither requires proof of an additional element. ¶ 54. Mississippi follows the test set out by the United States Supreme Court in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), when interpreting Miss.Code Ann. § 99-7-2(1). [9] White v. State, 702 So.2d 107, 109 (Miss.1997). In applying this statute, we note that the principles of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution apply, and we use the Blockburger test to determine if a set of facts violates the Double Jeopardy Clause. White, 702 So.2d at 109. ¶ 55. The Blockburger Court said 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 an additional fact that the other does not. Blockburger, 284 U.S. at 304, 52 S.Ct. 180. ¶ 56. The crime of capital murder by felonious abuse of a child requires proof that a child is involved. This is an additional element that must be proven for capital murder that is not required for aggravated assault. Aggravated assault requires proof of an intent to kill, while capital murder by felonious abuse of a child can be committed with or without intent to kill. Intent to kill is an additional element not required for capital murder by felonious abuse of a child. Therefore, under the Blockburger test, there is no violation of Culp's constitutional rights. When each separate crime charged requires proof of a fact that the other does not, the Blockburger test is satisfied, notwithstanding a substantial overlap in the proof offered to establish the crimes. This wellstated logic was correctly applied by the Mississippi Court of Appeals in Towner v. State, 812 So.2d 1109, 1114 (Miss.Ct.App.2002)(citing Iannelli v. United States, 420 U.S. 770, 785 n. 17, 95 S.Ct. 1284, 43 L.Ed.2d 616 (1975)), and today we adopt and apply it in the present case. ¶ 57. In Powell v. State, 806 So.2d 1069, 1074 (Miss.2001), this Court applied the same elements test articulated in Blockburger, clearly indicating that the proper inquiry concerns the elements of the crime, rather than the underlying facts. In the present case, the fact that one crime was committed with a baseball bat and the other with a knife is irrelevant. The United States Supreme Court used similar language in United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. 688, 689, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 2851, 125 L.Ed.2d 556 (1993), stating that the Blockburger test inquires whether each offense contains an element not contained in the other; if not, they are the `same offence' and double jeopardy bars additional punishment and successive prosecution. ¶ 58. The Blockburger test does not look to the facts adduced at trial but rather focuses on the elements of the offense charged. Brock v. State, 530 So.2d 146, 150 (Miss.1988) (citing Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 166, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 2225-26, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977)). Differences in underlying facts are not relevant for determining whether Culp's constitutional rights have been violated by double jeopardy. Culp's multiplicitous counts argument is without merit.