Opinion ID: 163420
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Protections Under the Double Jeopardy Clause

Text: 25
26 The Double Jeopardy Clause protects defendants against (1) a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, (2) a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and (3) multiple punishments for the same offense. North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 717, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969), overruled in part by Alabama v. Smith, 490 U.S. 794, 109 S.Ct. 2201, 104 L.Ed.2d 865 (1989). Before the clause is implicated, however, some event, such as an acquittal, must terminate the original jeopardy. Richardson v. United States, 468 U.S. 317, 325, 104 S.Ct. 3081, 82 L.Ed.2d 242 (1984). 27 b. Greater and lesser included offenses are generally the same offense for double jeopardy purposes. 28 In Blockburger v. United States, in the context of unrelated criminal offenses, the Court articulated the following general rule: 29 The applicable rule is that, 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 which the other does not. 30 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). Subsequent cases make clear that, where the protections of the Double Jeopardy Clause have attached, prosecution for a greater offense generally bars prosecution for a lesser included offense. United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. 688, 706-07, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 125 L.Ed.2d 556 (1993). 31 The Oklahoma courts have held that second degree burglary, OKLA. STAT. ANN. tit. 21, § 1435, is a lesser included offense of first degree burglary, OKLA. STAT. ANN. tit. 21, § 1431. In other words, under Oklahoma's construction of these two provisions, [t]he prosecutor who has established [second degree burglary] need only prove [that the dwelling house was occupied at the time of the breaking and entering] in order to establish [first degree burglary]; the prosecutor who has established [first degree burglary] necessarily has established [second degree burglary] as well. Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 167-68, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977). Thus, conviction of [the] greater crime, [first degree burglary], cannot be had without conviction of the lesser crime, [second degree burglary]. Harris v. Oklahoma, 433 U.S. 682, 683, 97 S.Ct. 2912, 53 L.Ed.2d 1054 (1977). Accordingly, applying Blockburger, first and second degree burglary under Oklahoma law constitute `the same statutory offense' within the meaning of the Double Jeopardy Clause. Brown, 432 U.S. at 168, 97 S.Ct. 2221. 32