Opinion ID: 1202601
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Bending of the Law for Fashionable Ends

Text: On 21 June 1990, C.D. was walking along Seventh Street in Parkersburg when she was accosted by the appellant, Ronald Dean Rummer. A few moments earlier, Ms. D. had spotted Mr. Rummer following her slowly in his car while she walked. After circling the block, Mr. Rummer parked his car, got out and chased Ms. D. until he caught up with her. Appellant then stuck one hand between the victim's legs and his other hand up the victim's blouse and said Baby, I want to screw you. In the process, the victim tripped and both the victim and Mr. Rummer tumbled to the ground. The victim then broke free, ran down the street, and called the police. [2] Appellant was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse under W.Va. Code 61-8B-7 [1984]; one count for touching Ms. D.'s breasts, and one count for touching her sex organ. The jury convicted him on both counts, and the circuit court sentenced him to concurrent terms of one to five years in prison. I dissent because the conviction on both counts of first-degree sexual abuse violates double jeopardy provisions of both the West Virginia and United States Constitutions. A. Appellant's main assignment of error is that his conviction on two counts of first-degree sexual abuse under W.Va.Code 61-8B-7 [1984] violates constitutional protections against double jeopardy. [3] The fact that the multiple convictions resulted in concurrent sentences does not render the double jeopardy issue moot. [4] W.Va.Code 61-8B-7 [1984] provides, in part: (a) A person is guilty of sexual abuse in the first degree when: (1) Such person subjects another person to sexual contact without their consent, and the lack of consent results from forcible compulsion. The Legislature defined sexual contact in W.Va.Code 61-8B-1(6) [1986]: Sexual contact means any intentional touching, either directly or through clothing, of the anus or any part of the sex organs of another person, or the breasts of a female or intentional touching of any part of another person's body by the actor's sex organs, where the victim is not married to the actor and the touching is done for the purpose of gratifying the sexual desire of either party. In Syl. pt. 8 of State v. Zaccagnini, 172 W.Va. 491, 308 S.E.2d 131 (1983), we adopted the Blockburger test [5] for determining whether multiple convictions arising from the same transaction violate double jeopardy protections: 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 the other does not. However, this test is not necessarily dispositive of the issue of multiple punishments for the same offense. In State v. Miller, 175 W.Va. 616, 336 S.E.2d 910 (1985), we noted that even though the Blockburger test is technically met by separate convictions for kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault (each requires proof of a different fact), if the kidnapping is merely incidental to the sexual assault, then double jeopardy would bar conviction and punishment for both offenses. As we held in Syl. pt. 4, State v. Reed, 166 W.Va. 558, 276 S.E.2d 313 (1981): Double jeopardy prohibits multiple punishment for the same offense, therefore under our criminal sexual conduct statute, W.Va.Code, 61-8B-1, et seq. [1986], a single sexual act cannot result in multiple criminal convictions. We held similarly in Fortner, 182 W.Va. at 363, 387 S.E.2d at 830: [W]here the evidence shows only one continuing sexual offense culminating in a single act of sexual intercourse, conviction and punishment of the accused for unlawful sexual behavior entirely ancillary to such sexual intercourse violates double jeopardy. A comparison of Fortner and Reed shows the intricacies of double jeopardy protections that the Blockburger test cannot adequately handle. In Fortner, the defendant was charged with ten counts of second-degree sexual assault, ten counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of conspiracy, and one count each of kidnapping and abduction with intent to defile; Reed involved a situation where the defendant was charged with separate counts of sexual assault, sexual abuse and sexual misconduct. Although the circumstances in both Reed and Fortner passed the Blockburger test, we found a double jeopardy violation for the convictions for acts incident to the sexual assault, but we did not find any error in Fortner for separate convictions involving separate acts in different locations at different times. We dealt with our unease at the lack of guidance we received from the Blockburger test by limiting the rule of Reed to ancillary acts relating to single acts of penetration: It is important to explain that this holding is limited to the facts of this case. Here the sexual contact demonstrated at trial was ancillary to one act of sexual intercourse. We are not confronted with two acts of sexual intercourse, nor are we confronted with an act of sexual intercourse and then an act of sexual contact separated by some period of time. It would appear to the court that unlawful sexual intercourse could not possibly occur without a certain amount of sexual contact and it seems unreasonable to us that the Legislature contemplated the division of one act of rape into its component elements for the purposes of punishment. [Footnote omitted.] Reed, 166 W.Va. at 568-569, 276 S.E.2d at 320. Such ad hoc departures from the Blockburger test show that in the area of sexually assaultive behavior, the test fails to clarify when a conviction on multiple counts for essentially the same offense violates double jeopardy protections. It has become easier for courts to cite the Blockburger test and then use it as a pretext for their decisions than to determine whether multiple convictions in a given instance violate double jeopardy principles. Reliance on this type of jurisprudence gives us only anecdotal comparisons to prior cases; it does not give us a framework with which to determine whether the double jeopardy protections have been violated in this case. Many courts in other jurisdictions that have grappled with these issues have come to the same conclusion. The New Mexico Supreme Court, in Swafford v. State, 112 N.M. 3, 9, 810 P.2d 1223, 1229 (1991), identified the limited utility of Blockburger: While early manifestations of the Blockburger test indicated that the test may well have been a constitutional test for determining the sameness of two offenses, later decisions by the [United States Supreme] Court have retreated substantially from that position. Beginning with Prince v. United States, 352 U.S. 322, 77 S.Ct. 403, 1 L.Ed.2d 370 (1957) (examining legislative history of Federal Bank Robbery Act for indicia of intent to permit multiple punishment), the Court repeatedly has stated that the question of whether punishments are unconstitutionally multiple depends on whether the legislature has authorized multiple punishment. See, e.g., Whalen v. United States, 445 U.S. 684, 688-89, 100 S.Ct. 1432, 1435-36, 63 L.Ed.2d 715 (1980). Indeed, where the legislature has explicitly authorized multiple punishment the judicial inquiry is at an end, multiple punishment is authorized and proper, and the Blockburger test is irrelevant. Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U.S. 359, 368, 103 S.Ct. 673, 679, 74 L.Ed.2d 535 (1983). After examining the limitations of the Blockburger test, the court went on to develop a more comprehensive two-part test for determining the validity of multiple punishments for the same conduct: The first part of our inquiry asks the question that Supreme Court precedents assume to be true: whether the conduct underlying the offenses is unitary.... The second part focuses on the statutes at issue to determine whether the legislature intended to create separately punishable offenses. Only if the first part of the test is answered in the affirmative, and the second in the negative, will the double jeopardy clause prohibit multiple punishment in the same trial. Swafford, 112 N.M. at 13, 810 P.2d at 1233. Because the two-part Swafford test examining the nature of the conduct and the legislative intent to create separate punishable offenses is more comprehensive, this test should have been adopted by the majority. [6] The Wisconsin Court of Appeals in Harrell v. State, 88 Wis.2d 546, 277 N.W.2d 462 (1979), after analyzing the factors that courts have used to decide similar cases, developed a more specific framework that is useful in analyzing the unitary conduct question: In our analysis of reported cases, we have been able to identify the following: (1) nature of the act; (2) time; (3) place; (4) intent; (5) cumulative punishment; (6) muscular contraction; and (7) number of victims. The presence or absence of a single factor or a combination of factors other than the nature of the act is not conclusive of the issue. Harrell, 88 Wis.2d at 572, 277 N.W.2d at 472-473. We have applied many of these factors in deciding cases such as Reed, Fortner, and Miller, and the majority should have adopted this framework to determine when conduct is unitary. [7] When the factors listed in Harrell are applied to the circumstances of this case, they conclusively prove that the conduct was in fact unitary. B. 1.