Opinion ID: 853312
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sentencing for Felony Murder and Robbery as a Class B Felony

Text: West was convicted of murder, felony murder, and robbery as a Class A felony. The trial court concluded that double jeopardy precluded sentencing on both the murder and felony murder convictions, and imposed its sentence only for the felony murder conviction. This, in turn, created the problem that double jeopardy precludes sentencing on felony murder and robbery, where the felony murder conviction is predicated on the robbery. See Richardson v. State, 717 N.E.2d 32, 49 (Ind.1999) (It is a violation of Article I, Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution, if, with respect to either the statutory elements of the challenged crimes or the actual evidence used to convict, the essential elements of one challenged offense also establish the essential elements of another challenged offense.) (emphasis in original). If sentence had been imposed for murder instead of felony murder, this would present no issue, and West has not raised any double jeopardy issue on appeal. Because life without parole was proper based on the felony murder conviction, however, any double jeopardy issue raised by the trial court's imposing sentence for felony murder and robbery as a Class B felony is of no practical consequence and we will not attempt to untangle this knot. Cf. Roop v. State, 730 N.E.2d 1267, 1270 n. 2 (Ind.2000).