Opinion ID: 2581663
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: S.A. 21-3108(2)(b)

Text: Section (2)(b) of K.S.A. 21-3108, on which Judge Greene relied in his dissent, bars a prosecution if the defendant was prosecuted earlier for a different crime and that prosecution [w]as terminated by a final order or judgment, even if entered before trial, which required a determination inconsistent with any fact necessary to a conviction in the subsequent prosecution. We have never interpreted or applied this more general double jeopardy provision. Its potential effect on this case was raised for the first time by Judge Greene; neither party had argued that this section was controlling before the district court or had cited it in the brief submitted to the Court of Appeals. We excuse Schroeder's failure to preserve this issue for review, because we recognize that all three exceptions to the general rule that a new legal theory may not be asserted for the first time on appeal are applicable in this case. The newly asserted theory involves only a question of law arising on proved or admitted facts and is finally determinative of the case; consideration of the theory is necessary to serve the ends of justice or prevent denial of fundamental rights; and the judgment of the district court may be upheld despite its reliance on the wrong ground for its decision. See State v. Wiegand, 275 Kan. 841, Syl. ¶ 2, 69 P.3d 627 (2003). Here, the plain language of K.S.A. 21-3108(2)(b) is clearly applicable to ban prosecution of the attempted theft by deception charge in Saline County. In the Norton County case, Schroeder was found not guilty on the central charge of theft of the cattle by deception. That finding was inconsistent with [a] fact necessary to conviction on the attempted theft of the check by deception in Saline County, i.e., that Schroeder's exchange of cattle for the check was deceitful. Viewing the State's factual basis for the check charge charitably, Schroeder's acceptance of the check was only wrongful if he was misrepresenting his right to sell the cattle. In effect, the Norton County jury already found that the State failed to prove the absence of that right. We believe our reasoning here is supported by the United States Supreme Court's double jeopardy decision in Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 25 L. Ed. 2d 469, 90 S. Ct. 1189 (1970). In Ashe, three or four men broke into a house and robbed six men playing poker. The defendant was charged with robbery of one of the poker players, and a jury found him not guilty. He was later charged with robbery of a different poker player. The State presented the same witnesses and evidence in the second trial as it did in the first trial. The second jury convicted, and the defendant argued on appeal that his double jeopardy rights had been violated by the second prosecution. 395 U.S. at 437-40. The Supreme Court determined that the doctrine of collateral estoppel applied in criminal cases and was embodied in the Fifth Amendment guarantee against double jeopardy. 397 U.S. at 443, 445-46. Once a jury determined that the defendant was not guilty of the robbery, the State could not present the same or different identification evidence in a second prosecution . . . in the hope that a different jury might find that evidence more convincing. 397 U.S. at 446. Here, as in Ashe, the jury in the first trial determined that Schroeder was not guilty of involvement in the theft of the cattle. The State then sought a guilty verdict on the same facts and evidence for a different crime that required Schroeder either to have stolen the cattle or to have possessed stolen property. These questions had already been decided against the State. Under K.S.A. 21-3108(2)(b), and consistent with the application of collateral estoppel to prevent double jeopardy in Ashe, the second prosecution was barred. The Court of Appeals is reversed. The district court is affirmed.