Opinion ID: 1693833
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 33

Heading: Multiple Punishments for use of Weapon

Text: Iromuanya argues that by imposing separate, consecutive sentences for the convictions of use of a weapon to commit a felony, the district court imposed multiple punishments for the same act in that both counts stemmed from the single shot that he fired. A similar issue was addressed in State v. Trevino, 230 Neb. 494, 432 N.W.2d 503 (1988), in which the defendant opened fire on a group of people, causing serious injury to Mark Heil. The defendant was found guilty of attempted second degree murder and the use of a firearm to commit that felony in connection with the injury to Heil. In a second prosecution, consolidated with the first for trial, the defendant was also convicted of first degree assault upon Heil and use of a firearm in the commission of that felony. In his appeal from two consolidated cases, the defendant alleged that the two convictions for the use of a firearm against Heil offended the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because they amounted to multiple punishments for the same conduct. In rejecting this contention, this court applied the principle that where a legislature specifically authorizes cumulative punishments under two statutes proscribing the same conduct, the prosecution may, in a single trial, seek and the court may impose such cumulative punishments without offending the Double Jeopardy Clause. State v. Trevino, supra , citing Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U.S. 359, 103 S. Ct. 673, 74 L. Ed. 2d 535 (1983). We noted that under the Nebraska statute defining the offense of use of a weapon to commit a felony, the offense was to be 'treated as a separate and distinct offense from the felony being committed' and that the sentence 'shall be consecutive to any other sentence imposed.' State v. Trevino, 230 Neb. at 521, 432 N.W.2d at 521, quoting § 28-1205(3) (Reissue 1985). We concluded that because the defendant was found guilty of two distinct predicate offenses, attempted second degree murder and first degree assault, the trial court did not err in imposing consecutive sentences on the two corresponding convictions for use of a weapon to commit a felony. A dissent took the position that Nebraska law does not authorize cumulative punishment for attempted murder and assault where both offenses arise from the same conduct, and the dissent concluded that the assault and corresponding firearm convictions should have been reversed and dismissed. Nebraska law clearly authorizes cumulative punishments for the attempted second degree murder of Jenkins and the second degree murder of Cooper. Thus, when he fired the handgun, Iromuanya committed two predicate offenses. The language of § 28-1205 is the same today as it was at the time Trevino was decided. Because a firearm was used to commit each predicate offense, the district court properly found that there were two separate and distinct offenses of use of a weapon to commit a felony, and the court properly imposed consecutive sentences for each count. Iromuanya's multiple punishments argument also relies on State v. Pruett, 263 Neb. 99, 638 N.W.2d 809 (2002), in which we reiterated our statement in State v. Ring, 233 Neb. 720, 447 N.W.2d 908 (1989), that the Legislature's purpose in creating a separate offense of using a weapon in the commission of a felony was to discourage individuals from carrying deadly weapons while they commit felonies. State v. Pruett, 263 Neb. at 105, 638 N.W.2d at 815. In both Pruett and Ring, we held that an unintentional crime could not serve as the predicate felony for a weapons charge under § 28-1205. In this case, however, intent is an essential element of both of the predicate felonies of which Iromuanya was convicted. Accordingly, we find no merit in the argument that his conviction on the two weapons counts amounted to impermissible multiple punishments.