Opinion ID: 2575837
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Double-Description Claim

Text: {26} We first address Defendant's double-description claim. In double-description cases, we consider first whether the conduct underlying the offenses is unitary and then consider whether the Legislature intended multiple punishments for this conduct. See Swafford, 112 N.M. at 13, 810 P.2d at 1233. If the conduct is unitary, a defendant cannot be convicted of both felony murder and the predicate felony. State v. Contreras, 120 N.M. 486, 491, 903 P.2d 228, 233 (1995). There can be no conviction for killing in the course of a felony without proof of all of the elements of the felony. Id. Therefore, the predicate felony is subsumed within the offense of felony murder, and cannot support a separate conviction. Id. In this case, the jury returned convictions for felony murder, armed robbery, and aggravated burglary. The district court dismissed the armed robbery conviction. {27} When determining whether Defendant's conduct was unitary, we consider whether Defendant's acts are separated by sufficient indicia of distinctness. Swafford, 112 N.M. at 13, 810 P.2d at 1233. On several occasions, this Court has previously considered whether the force used to commit a murder merged with the force constituting an element of another crime and therefore was unitary conduct requiring further analysis of legislative intent. Foster, 1999-NMSC-007, ¶¶ 34, 40, 126 N.M. 646, 974 P.2d 140 (concluding that convictions for kidnapping and felony murder did not involve unitary conduct although convictions for armed robbery and felony murder did); State v. Cooper, 1997-NMSC-058, ¶¶ 61-62, 124 N.M. 277, 949 P.2d 660 (holding that the force used to commit felony murder did not merge with the force underlying an aggravated battery conviction); State v. Livernois, 1997-NMSC-019, ¶¶ 21-22, 123 N.M. 128, 934 P.2d 1057 (upholding convictions for first-degree murder and aggravated burglary); Contreras, 120 N.M. at 490, 903 P.2d at 232 (holding that murder and theft were unitary conduct when the victim had been stabbed once and the defendant immediately took the victim's cab and its contents). In our consideration of whether conduct is unitary, we have looked for an identifiable point at which one of the charged crimes had been completed and the other not yet committed. See, e.g., Foster, 1999-NMSC-007, ¶ 34, 126 N.M. 646, 974 P.2d 140; Cooper, 1997-NMSC-058, ¶ 59, 124 N.M. 277, 949 P.2d 660. We have also looked for an event that intervened between the initial use of force and the acts that caused death. See, e.g., Cooper, 1997-NMSC-058, ¶ 61, 124 N.M. 277, 949 P.2d 660. In Cooper, we concluded that death was not the consequence of a defendant's initial act of battery because there was a struggle between victim and defendant in which several different weapons were used. Id. We held that this struggle was an intervening event between an aggravated battery and later murder, and therefore the underlying conduct was not unitary. In these situations, which are not intended to be exclusive of other possibilities, we have characterized the conduct as not unitary and have held multiple punishments were authorized. {28} The statutory definition of the relevant crimes controls the conduct we consider. Aggravated burglary is the unauthorized entry of a dwelling with the intent to commit a felony therein, when the entrant either is armed with a deadly weapon; after entering, arms himself with a deadly weapon; [or] commits a battery upon any person while in such place, or in entering or leaving such place. Section 30-16-4. The jury was instructed to return a guilty verdict with respect to the aggravated burglary claim if it found that Defendant entered a dwelling without authorization ... with the intent to commit any felony or theft once inside ... [and that] defendant touched or applied force to [the victim] in a rude or angry manner while entering or leaving, or while inside. {29} The State theorized that Defendant broke into the victim's home intending to steal. Defendant was surprised by the victim's return to the house, attacked him, and in the course of an extended struggle, killed him. The State argues on appeal that the underlying conduct was not unitary because the aggravated burglary took place when Defendant first used a weapon against the victim, while the murder took place at a later point in time. Defendant argues that the force used in the aggravated burglary was the same force used to commit the felony murder, and that all of the events took place in the same location as part of a single struggle. See Contreras, 120 N.M. at 490, 903 P.2d at 232. {30} The jury was not instructed to determine when the aggravated burglary was completed. Nevertheless, the evidence offered at trial supports a conclusion that Defendant's conduct was not unitary. Cf. Foster, 1999-NMSC-007, ¶ 31, 126 N.M. 646, 974 P.2d 140 (reviewing evidence presented at trial for sufficient indicia of distinctness). The record shows that Defendant used several weapons during the attack. While the initial use of force completed the crime of aggravated burglary, the evidence shows that the death was not caused by this initial attack alone. The facts that several weapons were used and that strands of Defendant's hair were found in the victim's hands indicate an intervening struggle during which the victim defended himself. We conclude that the conduct in this case is not unitary, but consists of at least two distinct acts: the initial attack, completing the crime of aggravated burglary, and the later murder. [4] Cooper, 1997-NMSC-058, ¶¶ 60-62, 124 N.M. 277, 949 P.2d 660 (affirming convictions for felony murder and aggravated battery where the evidence showed that death was not the consequence of the initial act of battery but followed a struggle). {31} Because the conduct underlying the convictions for aggravated burglary and felony murder was not unitary, we do not consider whether the [L]egislature intended to create separately punishable offenses for the unitary conduct. Swafford, 112 N.M. at 13, 810 P.2d at 1233. We therefore affirm the aggravated burglary conviction.