Opinion ID: 2100441
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Jury Instructions 17 and 18 Created Confusion Among the Jurors Because They Acquitted the Defendant of Manufacturing Methamphetamine, but Convicted Him of Conspiracy to Manufacture Methamphetamine, Thereby Raising Issues of Double Jeopardy and Collateral Estoppel.

Text: A. Arguments. Defendant argues jury Instructions 17 and 18 are cumulative, confusing, and prejudicial because alternative A in instruction 18 amounts to a restatement of Instruction 17. Defendant maintains jury confusion is apparent because he was acquitted of the manufacturing charge (Instruction 17), but convicted on the charge of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine (Instruction 18). Defendant contends that double jeopardy is at issue because, based on the confusing nature of Instructions 17 and 18, he was convicted of the same crime in which he was acquitted. Defendant further argues collateral estoppel is at issue because the prior proceeding (the trial) demonstrates that the jury acquitted him on the same basis and employing the same facts it used to convict him. B. Analysis. Iowa Code section 124.401(1) provides in pertinent part: [I]t is unlawful for any person to manufacture, deliver, or possess with intent to manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance ... or to act with, enter into a common scheme or design with, or conspire with one or more other persons to manufacture, deliver, or possess with the intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance. Instruction 17 provided that, in order to prove defendant guilty of manufacturing a controlled substance, the State needed to show defendant: (1) manufactured methamphetamine, or (2) aided and abetted another who manufactured methamphetamine, or (3) acted together with another who manufactured methamphetamine. Instruction 18 provided three alternative ways in which the State could prove defendant guilty of conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance. Alternative A required proof that the defendant knowingly acted with one or more persons to manufacture or attempt to manufacture methamphetamine. Alternative B required proof that the defendant entered into a common scheme or design with one or more persons to manufacture or attempt to manufacture methamphetamine. Alternative C required proof that the defendant agreed with one or more persons that one or more of them would commit the offense of manufacturing or attempting to manufacture methamphetamine. In considering defendant's argument, we have substantial doubt that inconsistent verdicts returned by the jury in the same trial can give rise to a double jeopardy violation or create a collateral estoppel. As the court of appeals has concluded, inconsistent verdicts on multiple counts in the same trial do not ordinarily taint the validity of a verdict of guilt. State v. Pearson, 547 N.W.2d 236, 241 (Iowa Ct.App.1996). Such inconsistencies may result from the jury's exercise of its power of leniency. Id. In Dunn v. United States, 284 U.S. 390, 393, 52 S.Ct. 189, 190, 76 L.Ed. 356, 359 (1932), the Supreme Court held that a criminal defendant could not challenge a conviction on one count of a multiple count indictment solely because it may be inconsistent with an acquittal by the jury on another count. The court stated that [c]onsistency in the verdict is not necessary. Each count in an indictment is regarded as if it was a separate indictment. Id. If jury verdicts are to be examined for inconsistency, the test to be applied is whether the verdict is so logically and legally inconsistent as to be irreconcilable within the context of the case. Hoffman v. Nat'l Med. Enters., Inc., 442 N.W.2d 123, 126-27 (Iowa 1989). Under that test, defendant's assertion of inconsistency fails. The same instructions that are challenged in the present case were considered by this court in the appeal of Fintel's codefendant in State v. Corsi, 686 N.W.2d 215, 222 (Iowa 2004). In Corsi we recognized that, although all of the alternatives contained in Instruction 18 were not technically elements of a conspiracy, they did accurately instruct the jury as to the various methods in which a person could violate Iowa Code section 124.401(1) without actually completing a manufacture of a controlled substance. Corsi, 686 N.W.2d at 222. In contrast, the elements set forth in Instruction 17 convey to the jury the various methods by which a person may violate that statute by causing the completed manufacture of a controlled substance. For this reason, there was no inconsistency or duplication in the instructions. Nor was there any inconsistency in the jury's acquittal of defendant with respect to a completed manufacture of a controlled substance under the elements of Instruction 17 while convicting him based on the elements of this statutory crime that do not require a completed manufacture.