Opinion ID: 2976089
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Double Jeopardy Considerations

Text: In pertinent part, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that no person shall “be subject for the same offence [sic] to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” Petitioner Cowherd now contends, however, that he was in fact convicted multiple times for the same crime. In support of that argument, he notes that counts 1 and 2 of the indictment returned against him “are identical charges of first degree rape, and counts 3 through 6 are identical charges of first degree sodomy.” In fact, both counts 1 and 2 did read identically, charging that “[o]n or about the 6th day of April, 1993, in Fayette County, - 10 - No. 06-5610 Cowherd v. Million Kentucky, the above named Defendant committed first degree rape by forcing Edna Galbreath to engage in sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion.” Similarly, counts 3, 4, 5, and 6 each charged that “[o]n or about the 6th day of April, 1993, in Fayette County, Kentucky, the above named Defendant committed first degree sodomy by engaging in deviate sexual intercourse with Edna Galbreath by forcible compulsion.” Such poorly-drafted indictments present at least two potential double jeopardy problems: (1) the possibility that insufficient specificity in the indictment would not enable Cowherd “to plead convictions or acquittals as a bar to future prosecutions”; and (2) the possibility that the undifferentiated counts would subject Cowherd “to double jeopardy in his initial trial by being punished multiple times for what may have been the same offense.” Valentine v. Konteh, 395 F.3d 626, 634-35 (6th Cir. 2005). Unlike the situation presented in Valentine, however, the trial evidence adduced in the proceedings against Cowherd cured any defects in the indictment’s drafting. In Valentine, the defendant was charged with 20 identically-worded counts of child rape and 20 identically-worded counts of felonious sexual penetration, all occurring at some unspecified time between March 1, 1995, and January 16, 1996. See id. at 628-29. At trial, however, “[t]he only evidence as to the number of offenses was provided by the testimony of the child victim, who described typical abuse scenarios and estimated the number of times the abusive offenses occurred, e.g., ‘about 20,’ ‘about 15' or ‘about 10' times.” Id. at 628. Consequently, neither the defendant nor any reviewing court could ascertain for certain whether the resulting 40 convictions were in fact connected to 40 separate, proven crimes. - 11 - No. 06-5610 Cowherd v. Million By contrast, petitioner Cowherd cannot now claim that he is unsure of the basis for his six sexual offense convictions. The trial testimony of the victim clearly delineated the sequence of events that occurred on April 6, 1993. According to Galbreath, Cowherd bound her, threatened her with a knife, and forced her to engage in vaginal, anal, and oral sex before pausing to cook and eat a meal, leave the premises, return, ingest illegal drugs, and then repeat the vaginal, anal, and oral sexual assaults. More importantly, Cowherd himself admitted to each of the charged activities but insisted that Galbreath was a willing participant in the acts. The indictment, despite inartful drafting, nevertheless charges Cowherd with two counts of vaginal rape and four counts of sodomy. The only testimony at trial regarding the alleged crimes clearly indicated that the petitioner twice penetrated Galbreath’s vagina with his penis against her will, twice penetrated her anus with his penis against her will, and twice forced his penis into her mouth against her will. Moreover, the jury convicted Cowherd of each of the two rape charges and of each of the four sodomy allegations. The confluence of the charges, the trial testimony, and the jury verdicts thus ensures both that Cowherd could successfully plead these convictions as a bar to any future prosecution based upon these acts, and that Cowherd was punished only for these six crimes and only once for each of the six offenses. The petitioner’s double jeopardy challenge is thus without merit, and the district court appropriately concluded that the state court’s treatment of this issue was neither contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, clearly established Supreme Court precedent relevant to the claim. - 12 - No. 06-5610 Cowherd v. Million