Opinion ID: 474874
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Multiple Count Sentencing.

Text: 83 Allen was convicted and sentenced on four counts which, as the prosecution admits, all arose from the same set of facts. Allen contends that because he was subject to the same penalty for each count, all but one of those counts should be vacated. 84 The double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment protects against multiple punishments for the same offense. 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 a fact which the other does not. Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). The Blockburger test has been applied consistently to questions of statutory construction on the assumption that Congress ordinarily does not intend to punish the same offense under two different statutes. Ball v. United States, 470 U.S. 856, 105 S.Ct. 1668, 1672, 84 L.Ed.2d 740 (1985); North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 717, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 2076, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969). A single transaction can give rise to more than one conviction, under separate statutory provisions, without violating the Constitution. United States v. Dennison, 730 F.2d 1086 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 916, 105 S.Ct. 293, 83 L.Ed.2d 228 (1984). 85 In the present case, Allen was convicted under four separate statutory provisions. 4 Each individual conviction consists of a separate violation of the laws of the United States and requires proof of facts unique to that specific conviction. 5 In this context, that in itself is enough to meet the Blockburger test. Therefore, Allen was properly sentenced by the district court. 86