Opinion ID: 891710
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Because the Armed Robbery Conviction Implicates Double Jeopardy Concerns, We Vacate the Armed Robbery Conviction.

Text: {38} Finally, Defendant contends that his constitutional protection against double jeopardy was compromised because the district court convicted him of both felony murder and the underlying predicate felony of armed robbery. See U.S. Const. amend. V; N.M. Const. art. II, § 15. The bar on double jeopardy serves the obvious purpose of ensuring that a defendant is not punished twice for the same offense. See State v. Frazier, 2007-NMSC-032, ¶ 13, 142 N.M. 120, 164 P.3d 1. However, it also serves the important purpose of ensuring that a defendant does not suffer the imposition of multiple convictions for a single offense. See Schoonmaker, 2008-NMSC-010, ¶ 50, 143 N.M. 373, 176 P.3d 1105. This Court has acknowledged that the peril inherent in double jeopardy convictions extends beyond the consequences of punishment and sentencing. See State v. Pierce, 110 N.M. 76, 87, 792 P.2d 408, 419 (1990). Indeed, a second conviction may expose a defendant to a multitude of harmful `collateral' consequences, such as impacting parole eligibility, elevating sentencing for future crimes under repeat offender guidelines, and the `societal stigma' that attaches to any conviction. Id. (quoting Ball v. United States, 470 U.S. 856, 864-65, 105 S.Ct. 1668, 84 L.Ed.2d 740 (1985)). We review double jeopardy claims de novo. State v. Quick, 2009-NMSC-015, ¶ 6, 146 N.M. 80, 206 P.3d 985. {39} This Court has set forth a clear procedure by which a district court must protect a defendant's right not to be subjected to double jeopardy. In the event the jury finds a defendant guilty of two crimes arising from the same offense, simply merging the two felonies post-conviction is not enough. See Schoonmaker, 2008-NMSC-010, ¶ 50, 143 N.M. 373, 176 P.3d 1105. Rather, the trial judge must explicitly vacate one of the convictions. Id. ([T]he district court was required not only to `merge' Defendant's convictions. . . but to vacate one of those alternative convictions; simply sentencing Defendant for only one conviction was not enough.) (citing State v. Mercer, 2005-NMCA-023, ¶ 29, 137 N.M. 36, 106 P.3d 1283). Under Schoonmaker, merging two convictions does not vacate one of them. Thus, the trial judge must both merge and vacate an underlying offense to avoid the peril of double jeopardy. {40} In the instant matter, the State argues that no conviction occurred for the underlying offense, so double jeopardy concerns are not implicated. We disagree. Under New Mexico law, a conviction occurs when a defendant is found guilty by the verdict of the jury [and that verdict is] accepted and recorded by the court. NMSA 1978, § 30-1-11 (1963). Thus, the conviction dovetails with the finding of guilt and it is separate from the subsequent sentencing process. See Padilla v. State, 90 N.M. 664, 666, 568 P.2d 190, 192 (1977) ([A] `conviction' refers to a finding of guilt and does not include the imposition of a sentence.) (citing State v. Larranaga, 77 N.M. 528, 424 P.2d 804 (1967)). {41} In the district court's judgment and sentencing order, Judge Eichwald explicitly adjudged Defendant guilty of [all] offenses, including the underlying armed robbery charge. The order served as an explicit acceptance and recording of the jury's guilty verdicts for both felony murder and the underlying felony of armed robbery, constituting convictions under Section 30-1-11. Because the order constituted a conviction for both counts, Schoonmaker required the district court to vacate the underlying armed robbery conviction. See 2008-NMSC-010, ¶ 50, 143 N.M. 373, 176 P.3d 1105. Instead, the order merely states that Count II [(armed robbery)] merges into Count I [(first degree felony murder)]. Even though the order proceeds to impose a sentence only for first degree felony murder, the conviction for armed robbery is not vacated. This oversight runs afoul of double jeopardy concerns by leaving the conviction for armed robbery untouched, and arguably still intact. Accordingly, we vacate the armed robbery conviction.