Opinion ID: 1347972
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: multiple charges and punishment for the same offense

Text: Were the charges alleged in the complaint and Mincey's convictions for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery multiplicitous with her convictions for aiding and abetting attempted first-degree murder and aiding and abetting aggravated robbery? The question of whether convictions are multiplicitous is a question of law over which this court's review is unlimited. See State v. Perry, 16 Kan. App.2d 150, 151, 823 P.2d 804 (1991). The parties argue that the law regarding multiplicity has become confused by this court's decisions in State v. Webber, 260 Kan. 263, 918 P.2d 609 (1996); State v. Warren, 252 Kan. 169, 843 P.2d 224 (1992); State v. Fike, 243 Kan. 365, 757 P.2d 724 (1988); and State v. Hobson, 234 Kan. 133, 671 P.2d 1365 (1983). To point out why there is confusion requires an analysis of K.S.A. 21-3107 and a short discussion of these cases. Prior to the enactment of the Kansas Criminal Code, K.S.A. 21-3101 et seq., and the Code of Criminal Procedure, K.S.A. 22-2101 et seq., the method for determining if there were multiple prosecutions and punishment for the same offense was the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution, which protects against (1) a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, (2) a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and (3) multiple punishments for the same offense. Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 165, 53 L. Ed.2d 187, 97 S. Ct. 2221 (1977). The language of § 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights is very similar to the language contained in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Both provide in effect that no person shall be twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense. The language of the Fifth Amendment guarantees no greater protection to an accused than does § 10 of the Kansas Bill of Rights. Therefore, the three underlying protections contained in the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution are contained in § 10 of the Kansas Bill of Rights. In order to implement, codify, and define the constitutional guarantees of the Double Jeopardy Clause, the Kansas Legislature enacted two statutes: (1) K.S.A. 21-3107, multiple prosecutions for the same act, and (2) K.S.A. 21-3108, effect of former prosecution. K.S.A. 21-3107 defines the right of the prosecution to charge more than one offense based on the same act and to convict of an included offense not specifically charged. It formulates the limitations upon unfair multiple prosecutions and punishment. K.S.A. 21-3108, which covers the complex problems of former jeopardy, is not applicable to this case. Part of the confusion arises because K.S.A. 21-3107 is a complex statute that allows for multiple prosecutions for the same act; prohibits conviction and punishment of the crime charged and an included crime; and, in addition, requires the judge to instruct the jury on the crime charged and all lesser crimes of which the accused could be found guilty. It states in part: (1) When the same conduct of a defendant may establish the commission of more than one crime under the laws of this state, the defendant maybe prosecuted for each of such crimes. Each of such crimes may be alleged as a separate count in a single complaint, information or indictment. (2) Upon prosecution for a crime, the defendant may be convicted of either the crime charged or an included crime, but not both. An included crime may be any of the following: (a) A lesser degree of the same crime; (b) an attempt to commit the crime charged; (c) an attempt to commit a lesser degree of the crime charged; or (d) a crime necessarily proved if the crime charged were proved. (3) In cases where the crime charged may include some lesser crime, it is the duty of the trial court to instruct the jury, not only as to the crime charged but as to all lesser crimes of which the accused might be found guilty under the information or indictment and upon the evidence adduced. If the defendant objects to the giving of the instructions, the defendant shall be considered to have waived objection to any error in the failure to give them, and the failure shall not be a basis for reversal of the case on appeal. The parties and courts have added to the confusion by failing to recognize that in some instances Fike, Warren, Webber, and Hobson raise questions that required application of different sections of the statute. The discussions and analysis of these and other cases is further confused by use of the terms duplicity and multiplicity, which refer to defects in the charging document, i.e., the complaint or information. Duplicity in a criminal pleading is the joining of two or more distinct and separate offenses in a single count in a complaint or information. Multiplicity in a criminal pleading is the charging of a single offense in several counts of a complaint or information. The fact that an accused is charged with multiple crimes in a complaint or information is not in and of itself a violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause. The clause merely prevents a defendant from being punished more than once for the same crime. State v. Freeman, 236 Kan. 274, Syl. ¶¶ 4, 5, 689 P.2d 885 (1984).