Opinion ID: 1746430
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Single behavioral incident analysis

Text: We turn next to the issue of whether appellant committed the criminal sexual conduct offense and attempted murder offense as part of a single behavioral incident. The trial court concluded that these offenses were separate and sentenced appellant for both. Applying the single behavioral incident provision of Minn.Stat. § 609.035, subd. 1 (1996) with limited exceptions a court may only sentence a defendant once for a single behavioral incident even though it results in multiple crimes. The statute provides: [I]f a person's conduct constitutes more than one offense under the laws of this state, the person may be punished for only one of the offenses and a conviction or acquittal of any one of them is a bar to prosecution for any other of them. Minn.Stat. § 609.035, subd. 1. [9] The principle that only one sentence may be imposed based on a single behavioral incident protects defendants from both multiple sentences and multiple prosecutions [10] and ensures that punishment    will be commensurate with the criminality of defendant's misconduct. Johnson, 273 at 399, 141 N.W.2d at 520-21. In determining whether a course of conduct consists of a single behavioral incident we have considered factors of time and place    [and] whether the segment of conduct involved was motivated by an effort to obtain a single criminal objective. Id. at 404, 141 N.W.2d at 524. The state has the burden to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the conduct underlying the offenses did not occur as part of a single behavioral incident. See State v. Griffin, 336 N.W.2d 519, 525 (Minn.1983) (concluding state has burden at sentencing hearing to prove by a preponderance of the evidence defendant's criminal history); State v. Zuehlke, 320 N.W.2d 79, 82 (Minn.1982) (noting state has burden of proof on single behavioral incident issue). The state argues that our decision in State v. Bookwalter, 541 N.W.2d 290 (Minn.1995), is strong support for the trial court's conclusion. We disagree. In Bookwalter, as here, we considered whether the defendant's criminal sexual conduct and attempted murder offenses arose from a single behavioral incident, but the circumstances in Bookwalter were quite different. Bookwalter broke into the victim's van looking for something to steal. See id. at 291. The victim later entered the van unaware that Bookwalter was hiding in the back seat and it was only after she had driven several miles that she realized Bookwalter was in the van. See id. He ordered her to drive to an isolated area and when they arrived, he pulled her into the back of the van and sexually assaulted her. See id. at 292. Then he drove the van to another location about two miles away, told the victim to leave the van and forced her into a wooded area where he punched her, hit her head with a stick and attempted to choke her. See id. at 293. On Bookwalter's conviction of criminal sexual conduct and attempted murder, the trial court held that the crimes were not part of a single behavioral incident and imposed sentence on each count. See id. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that the trial court did not err by imposing multiple sentences. See id. We too affirmed, concluding that the conduct underlying the offenses did not constitute a single behavioral incident because of the differences in time and place between the two offenses. See id. at 296-97. Further, different criminal objectives motivated the offenses, as Bookwalter had no premeditated plan. See id. at 296; cf. State v. Herberg, 324 N.W.2d 346, 349 (Minn.1982) (concluding two acts of criminal sexual conduct against the same victim in separate counties comprised a single behavioral incident because defendant drove the victim to a different location only to avoid detection and planned to continue his attack). Bookwalter testified that he decided to sexually assault his victim only after she entered the van, and after the sexual assault he drove the van to another location where he made the decision to attempt to kill her. See Bookwalter, 541 N.W.2d at 296. In contrast, here it is not at all clear whether appellant entered the victim's apartment with the intent to sexually assault and then to attempt to kill her, or whether he made separate decisions to commit each offense. Certainly appellant committed the sexual assault and attempted murder as part of a continuum of escalating violence beginning with his unlawful entry into the victim's apartment and concluding with his act of tying the scarf tightly around her neck. For example, appellant threatened the victim with a knife during the sexual assault and subsequently stabbed her several times. But there is no way to reach a rational conclusion that the stabbing occurred as part of the sexual assault or the attempted murder. [11] Unlike Bookwalter, the state has not met its burden of proving a change in appellant's criminal objective during the course of this incident to support a break in the continuum of appellant's criminal conduct. We are also persuaded that there is little distinction in time and place between the sexual assault and attempted murder. The trial court emphasized that appellant committed the attempted murder subsequent to the sexual assault and in a different room, but more is needed than that the crimes occurred at a different time and place. Significant weight cannot be given to the factor of time because the record does not indicate how much time passed during these eventsand it is obvious that there will always be some difference in time in a sequence of the commission of different criminal offenses. As to place, the distance between the bedroom and the living room was a matter of only a few feet, hardly justifying a conclusion that the offenses were not part of a single behavioral incident. As respondent has failed to meet its burden of proving the sexual assault and attempted murder were separate offenses, we hold that the trial court erred in imposing sentences as to both offenses. Reversed and remanded for resentencing in accordance with the court's ruling herein.