Opinion ID: 1129992
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Vacation of Duplicative Convictions

Text: The district court vacated as duplicative Rodriguez' convictions for felony murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft. R., v. 1 at 216-219; Am.R., v. 9 at 2235-36. The court then concluded that this is the extent of relief available to the defendant. Id. at 217, 219. The district court did not err in vacating the duplicative convictions or in upholding the death sentence after that vacation. [C]onspiracy constitutes a single offense, although the agreement upon which the charge is founded contemplates the performance of several criminal acts. People v. Bradley, 169 Colo. 262, 265, 455 P.2d 199, 200 (1969). Although Rodriguez and his cohorts agreed to several criminal acts and then carried out that agreement, under the facts of this case, the conspiracy violated only a single statute, and Rodriguez can constitutionally receive only a single penalty for a single crime. Id.; see Colo. Const. art. II, § 18; § 18-2-201(4), 8 C.R.S. (1978) (stating that [i]f a person conspires to commit a number of crimes, he is guilty of only one conspiracy so long as such multiple crimes are part of a single criminal episode); Braverman v. United States, 317 U.S. 49, 53, 63 S.Ct. 99, 102, 87 L.Ed. 23 (1942) (Whether the object of a single agreement is to commit one or many crimes, it is in either case that agreement which constitutes the conspiracy which the statute punishes. The one agreement cannot be taken to be several agreements and hence several conspiracies because it envisages the violation of several statutes rather than one.). Likewise, Rodriguez cannot be convicted for both felony-murder and first-degree murder after deliberation for the murder of a single victim. See People v. Glover, 893 P.2d 1311, 1314 (Colo.1995); People v. Lowe, 660 P.2d 1261, 1269-71 (Colo.1983); see also infra part XV. Throughout his brief, and particularly in Issue 13, Rodriguez argues that the vacation of the duplicative convictions mandates vacation of his death sentence because [t]he death verdict is tainted by the consideration of illegal convictions and is itself illegal and unreliable. Rodriguez' Opening Brief at 96; see Johnson v. Mississippi, 486 U.S. 578, 108 S.Ct. 1981, 100 L.Ed.2d 575 (1988) (holding that a capital sentencer violates the Eighth Amendment by considering a conviction which is later reversed as unconstitutional). As stated in part I of this opinion, the sentencing jury found six statutory aggravating factors relevant to this case, see § 16-11-103(6), 8A C.R.S. (1986):(1) committing murder while under a felony sentence of imprisonment; (2) intentionally killing a person kidnapped by him or by anyone associated with him; (3) intentionally killing a person in furtherance of an agreement to kill; (4) intentionally causing the death of a person in the course of or in furtherance of a felony or in his immediate flight therefrom; (5) killing in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner; and (6) committing murder for the purpose of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or prosecution. See R., v. 4 at 746-753. The evidence supporting the vacated convictions also supports two of the aggravating factors found by the jury: (1) intentionally killing a person in furtherance of an agreement to kill, § 16-11-103(6)(e); and (2) intentionally causing the death of a person in the course of or in furtherance of a felony or in the immediate flight therefrom, § 16-11-103(6)(g). However, section 16-11-103 does not require a conviction for either felony murder or conspiracy to commit murder before those aggravating factors are found. Rather, the statute defines the relevant aggravating factors as follows: [t]he defendant has been a party to an agreement to kill another person in furtherance of which a person has been intentionally killed; and [t]he defendant committed a class 1, 2, or 3 felony and, in the course of or in furtherance of such or immediate flight therefrom, he intentionally caused the death of a person other than one of the participants. [55] § 16-11-103(6)(e) and (g). Further, in Instruction No. 19, the trial court instructed the jury as follows: These seven alleged aggravating factors are the only aggravating factors you may consider in this case. The fact that you have found Mr. Rodriguez guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree is not an aggravating factor. Except as required by [the aggravating factor of section 16-11-103(6)(g) ], the fact that you have found Mr. Rodriguez guilty of other crimes is not an aggravating factor. R., v. 4 at 777. Thus, the jury was specifically instructed not to consider Rodriguez' convictions as aggravating factors, and the jury is presumed to have followed those instructions. See Armentrout v. FMC Corp., 842 P.2d 175, 187 (Colo.1992) (civil case holding same). Even after the vacation of the felony murder conviction, Rodriguez meets the requirements of the aggravating factor found in section 16-11-103(6)(g). Rodriguez stands convicted of first-degree sexual assault, second-degree kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. When the jury convicted Rodriguez of first-degree felony murder, they necessarily found that Rodriguez intentionally caused his victim's death in the course of, in furtherance of, or in flight from one of these felonies. Both the conviction for murder after deliberation and the conviction for felony murder were constitutionally obtained. The fact that both convictions cannot constitutionally stand does not require nullification of the jury's finding which supported the felony murder conviction and the aggravating factor. This situation differs from that in Johnson, 486 U.S. at 584-90, 108 S.Ct. at 1985-89. In Johnson, the capital sentencer might have relied, in part, upon a prior felony conviction which derived from an unconstitutionally obtained confession. The Supreme Court held that, even if the prosecution had not argued the conviction in support of a death sentence, there would be a possibility that the jury's belief that petitioner had been convicted of a prior felony would be decisive in the choice between a life sentence and a death sentence. Id. at 586, 108 S.Ct. at 1987 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). However, in Johnson, the conviction which the sentencing jury considered was constitutionally unsound for two reasons: first, it was based upon an involuntary confession; and, second, the defendant was unconstitutionally denied his right to appeal. Id. at 582, 108 S.Ct. at 1984-85. In contrast, Rodriguez' conviction for felony murder was not defective and would stand had he not been convicted of murder after deliberation for the same crime. Likewise, the jury could appropriately consider the aggravating factor found in section 16-11-103(6)(e): intentionally committing a murder pursuant to an agreement to do so. Rodriguez' conviction for conspiracy to commit murder is the only conspiracy conviction relevant to the determination of the aggravating factors. See § 16-11-103(6). [56] The district court appropriately upheld Rodriguez' conviction for conspiracy to commit murder while vacating the other two conspiracy convictions. See Am.R., v. 9 at 2235-36. When a conviction must be vacated as duplicative, the district court should select[ ] the combination of offenses that produce[s] the most convictions and the longest sentences in order to maximize the effect of the juries' verdicts. Glover, 893 P.2d at 1315. Although the three conspiracies of which Rodriguez was convicted are each punishable as a class 5 felony, see § 18-2-201(5), 8 C.R.S. (1978), retention of the conviction for conspiracy to commit murder would likely produce the longest sentence due to the greater applicability of the aggravating factors found in section 16-11-103. Clemons v. Mississippi, 494 U.S. 738, 110 S.Ct. 1441, 108 L.Ed.2d 725 (1990), and Zant v. Stephens, 462 U.S. 862, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983), do not support the argument that Rodriguez' death sentence must be set aside due to the vacation of his convictions for felony murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit aggravated motor vehicle theft. These cases are inapposite because both cases dealt with a death sentence imposed by a jury that had relied upon a constitutionally invalid statutory aggravating factor. See Clemons, 494 U.S. at 742-43, 110 S.Ct. at 1444-45 (jury relied upon the aggravating circumstance that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, which the United States Supreme Court determined was unconstitutionally vague); Stephens, 462 U.S. at 885-87, 103 S.Ct. at 2747-49 (jury relied upon the aggravating circumstance that the defendant had a substantial history of serious assaultive criminal convictions, which the Georgia Supreme Court invalidated as unconstitutionally vague). By contrast, the aggravating factors at issue here are neither unconstitutional per se nor supported by evidence unconstitutionally obtained or admitted. Rodriguez' three vacated convictions were not unconstitutionally entered or obtained and are vacated only because of their duplicity. Accordingly, we need not vacate Rodriguez' death sentence due to the vacation of his convictions for felony murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit aggravated motor vehicle theft. The evidence supporting both the vacated convictions and the challenged aggravating factors was properly before the sentencing jury. See § 16-11-103(1)(b) (allowing the capital sentencer to consider [a]ll evidence ... that the court deems relevant to the nature of the crime,... including any evidence presented in the guilt phase of the trial). Although the district court's handling of this case is far from ideal, its failure to earlier vacate the duplicative convictions affected neither the aggravating factors which the jury applied nor the resultant sentence of death. In part IX(A) of this opinion, we remand Rodriguez' conviction for first-degree sexual assault as a class 2 felony to the district court with directions to vacate that judgment and sentence and to enter judgment and sentence for the lesser included offense of first-degree sexual assault as a class 3 felony. We conclude that this remand also does not affect Rodriguez' death sentence for reasons analogous to those stated above.