Opinion ID: 773090
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Inconsistent Theories in Multiple Prosecutions for the Same Crime

Text: 18 Dickerson's second Due Process claim rests on a comparison of the theories employed by the prosecution when charging Dickerson in the trial below and his co-conspirators in the previous trials in Georgia and South Carolina. The Government's cases in Georgia and South Carolina rested on Nelson's participation in multiple cocaine distribution conspiracies covering distinct geographic regions of the United States, including Florida. See Nelson I. The Government in this case indicted Nelson and Dickerson, among others, for their involvement in one overarching conspiracy to distribute cocaine from South Florida throughout the eastern seaboard and midwest states of the United States, including Georgia and South Carolina. R1-30-2. Essentially, Dickerson claims that the fundamental inconsistency between the theory of the case underlying the South Carolina prosecution and the theory used to prosecute him here constitutes prosecutorial misconduct and gives rise to a violation of his Due Process rights. 19 Dickerson claims his prosecution falls within the line of cases raising concerns about the Due Process implications of separate prosecutions for the same crime under contradictory theories or inconsistent factual premises. See, e.g., Jacobs v. Scott, 513 U.S. 1067, 115 S.Ct. 711, 130 L.Ed.2d 618 (1995) (Stevens, J., dissenting from denial of cert.); Thompson v. Calderon, 120 F.3d 1045, 1055 (9th Cir.1997) (Fletcher, J., writing for en banc plurality), rev'd on other grounds, 523 U.S. 538, 118 S.Ct. 1489, 140 L.Ed.2d 728 (1998); Drake v. Kemp, 762 F.2d 1449, 1470 (11th Cir.1985) (Clark, J., concurring), cert. denied, 478 U.S. 1020, 106 S.Ct. 3333, 92 L.Ed.2d 738 (1986). 5 The facts of this case, however, do not support such a claim. 6 20 Dickerson has failed to establish the type of inconsistency here that was present in the cases cited. The prosecution in Jacobs, Thompson, and Drake did assert a new theory or factual premise inconsistent with that presented in a previous trial for the same crime against another defendant. In those cases, however, the inconsistency in the subsequent presentation was essential in order to prosecute the individual in question. In other words, the Government in those subsequent cases could not have prosecuted the remaining individual for the same crime had the Government maintained the theory or facts argued in the earlier trial. 7 Even if, as Dickerson alleges, the Government argued a theory in the underlying prosecution that was inconsistent with that presented in the trials of Dickerson's co-conspirators, the change in the prosecution's argument was not undertaken in order to allow the Government to prosecute Dickerson. Dickerson would have been susceptible to prosecution as a conspirator whether the Government alleged the existence of multiple conspiracies, as in the trials of Dickerson's co-conspirators, or one overarching conspiracy, as in Dickerson's trial. Cf. United States v. Paul, 217 F.3d 989, 998 (8th Cir.2000). (rejecting Due Process claim based on inconsistent prosecutorial arguments because defendant could have been convicted under either theory), reh'g en banc denied. 21 Underlying Thompson and Drake-and implicit in Justice Stevens' dissent in Jacobs-is the concern that the Government would attempt to prosecute and convict multiple defendants for the same crime in the hopes that one of them is the true perpetrator of the crime. The state cannot divide and conquer in this manner. Such actions reduce criminal trials to mere gamesmanship and rob them of their supposed search for truth. Thompson, 120 F.3d at 1059 (quoting Drake, 762 F.2d at 1479). No such concerns of mere gamesmanship are implicated here, however, where any alleged inconsistency in the Government's conspiracy theory had no impact on the likelihood of Dickerson being convicted.