Opinion ID: 1984754
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Accessory Charge.

Text: In Commonwealth v. Cepulonis, 374 Mass. 487 (1978), we held that if the elements of a crime for which a defendant faces prosecution are the same as the elements of a crime for which he or she has already faced prosecution, the second prosecution may be barred on double jeopardy grounds. We noted that this test or rule may require some modulation when applied to a case in which the prior prosecution occurred in a Federal court. Id. at 494-495. We said that the fact that a Federal crime is punishable much more lightly than the parallel State crime may justify a subsequent prosecution by the State. Id. at 495. Because the indictments charging accessory before the fact to murder are punished much more severely in the Commonwealth than federally, we conclude that these charges fall within the exception expressly set forth in Cepulonis. A comparison of the penalties accompanying a conviction on a RICO charge and the penalties for conviction on the accessory charges shows a wide difference in the severity of the penalties for the respective Federal and State crimes with which the defendants have been charged. The RICO statute provides that any individual who violates its prohibitions shall be fined not more than $25,000, or shall be imprisoned for not more than twenty years, or both, and shall forfeit any interest in or proceeds from any racketeering enterprise. 18 U.S.C. § 1963 (Supp. II 1984). In prosecuting the defendants, the United States Attorney also sought a twenty-five year enhanced penalty pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3575 (1982), on the ground that the defendants are dangerous special offenders. Thus, in addition to fines and forfeitures, the defendants faced a maximum of forty-five years' imprisonment. By contrast, G.L.c. 274, § 2, provides that an accessory before the fact to a crime shall be punished in the manner provided for the punishment of the principal felon, and G.L.c. 265, § 2, provides that any individual found guilty of murder in the first degree shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Our conclusion that the Federal crime in question is punished much more lightly than the State crime is based on three factors. First, because the RICO statute allows for punishment by fine without imprisonment, it is clear that the minimum statutory penalty for the Federal crime is far less severe than the minimum State penalty of life imprisonment without parole. Second, as a maximum penalty, a RICO violation carries a sentence of twenty years' imprisonment (with or without fines and forfeitures), or, in the case of a dangerous offender, forty-five years' imprisonment (with or without fines and forfeitures). The State statute's maximum penalty is, again, life imprisonment without parole. Third, under Federal law, an individual convicted of a RICO violation and given the maximum sentence of twenty years' imprisonment may be eligible for parole after serving one-third of that sentence. 18 U.S.C. § 4205 (a) (1982). If sentenced to a term of more than thirty years (as in the case of a defendant given an enhanced penalty), an individual convicted of a RICO violation may be eligible for parole after serving ten years of the original sentence. No possibility of parole exists for the convicted accessory before the fact to murder in the first degree. [7] G.L.c. 265, § 2. See Commonwealth v. Forde, 392 Mass. 453, 459 (1984). The defendants assert that in Cepulonis we upheld the dismissal of the State charges of armed robbery and confining against that defendant following a Federal trial for bank robbery, in spite of the fact that the Commonwealth's penalties were more severe than the Federal penalties. The defendants point out that the Commonwealth's armed robbery and confining charges carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, G.L.c. 265, §§ 17 & 21, whereas the Federal bank robbery statute had a maximum penalty of twenty years and twenty-five years, 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a) and (d) (1982). From that fact the defendants conclude that the life sentence for murder in the first degree should not be dispositive. We do not agree. The defendants' argument ignores the discretionary nature of the maximum life sentences permitted under the State statutes under consideration in Cepulonis and also ignores the fact that parole is available under both the Federal and State statutes, and that under the State statute probation is available. 18 U.S.C. § 4205 (a) (1982). Aldoupolis v. Commonwealth, 386 Mass. 260, 267, cert. denied sub nom. Savoy v. Massachusetts, 459 U.S. 864 (1982). Clearly, the Federal RICO charges for which the defendants stand convicted are punished much more lightly than the State charges of being accessories before the fact to murder. [8] Thus, the State prosecution is not barred on double jeopardy grounds. Cepulonis, supra at 495. Accord People v. Formicola, 407 Mich. 293, 298 (1979); People v. Cooper, 398 Mich. 450 (1976). In Cepulonis, we relied on the Michigan case of People v. Cooper, 398 Mich. 450 (1976). That case, however, did not compare the statutory schemes in determining whether double jeopardy principles barred the subsequent trial, but only compared the maximum possible sentences. Subsequently, the Supreme Court of Michigan divided over the narrowness of such a focus. See People v. Gay, 407 Mich. 681 (1980) (a 4-3 decision). In People v. Gay , the Supreme Court of Michigan determined that the maximum sentence in a felony-murder prosecution was so similar to that in a Federal prosecution for robbery, assault by means of a dangerous weapon while committing a bank robbery, and taking the life of another while committing a bank robbery, that a State prosecution was barred. The Michigan court concluded that discretion for early release, similar to the Federal parole, existed in Michigan through the device of executive pardon or reprieve. Id. at 698. See note 7, supra. The Michigan court rejected the argument that the Federal statutory punishment most closely comported with the State's penalty for second degree murder, and the statute therefore represented a significant variant from the State's penalty for first degree felony-murder. Based on the Michigan court's conclusion that there was facial identity of the maximum life sentences available under either statute, the court held that the fact that under one statute the sentence was mandatory and the other discretionary was of no consequence. The court did note that Michigan's minimum sentence for second degree murder was potentially much less severe  any term of years or probation  than the Federal minimum sentence of ten years. Id. at 700-701. Three Justices dissented in Gay. The dissenting Justices compared the Federal and State statutes and concluded that their maximum penalties were greatly disparate within the meaning of Cooper because (1) while the Federal statute provided for a mandatory minimum sentence of not less than ten years, the maximum sentence was entirely discretionary; (2) the Federal statute provided for discretionary parole eligibility while the State statute did not; (3) discretionary commutation of defendants' sentences had been very sparingly allowed in the past half-century; and (4) the Federal statutory penalty more closely resembled the State scheme for second degree murder. Id. at 725-726 (Williams, J., dissenting). Moreover, the dissenters noted that both statutory schemes in Cooper provided for discretionary maximum penalties, in the case of the Federal statute for twenty years, and in the case of the State statute for life or for any term of years. The dissenters further noted that parole was available under both statutes. Id. at 727-728. After reviewing People v. Gay , we conclude that considering the statutory scheme as a whole provides a more thoughtful analysis and allows for a more precise definition of the true severity of the parallel statutory punishments. In our view, an analysis which focuses on the maximum possible penalty while ignoring much lower mandatory minimums and the possibility of parole is not wholly satisfactory. Van Hoek, Criminal Procedure, 1980 Annual Survey of Michigan Law, 27 Wayne L. Rev. 695, 727 (1981). [9] Accordingly, we conclude that the defendants may be tried on charges of being accessories before the fact to the murder of Angelo Patrizzi without violating the principles of double jeopardy as set forth in Commonwealth v. Cepulonis .