Court Opinion

ID: 9665291
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 00:44:09.278941+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:14.461019
License: Public Domain

RENDLEN, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
For the reasons following, I respectfully dissent.
On January 13th, 1979, Otis Thompson at gunpoint robbed Donald Dickerson, an employee of a cleaning shop. He was tried and convicted of first degree robbery and armed criminal action on July 13,1979, and in October of that year was sentenced as a *771dangerous offender to life imprisonment for robbery and ten years for armed criminal action.1 Robbery and armed criminal action were then and at all times since have been discrete statutory crimes, each accompanied by a separate punishment provision. The punishment ordered for Thompson fell within the prescribed statutory range. It should be emphasized that Thompson was convicted and sentenced for both crimes in a single trial. When Thompson was sentenced (1979) the definitive statement in vogue regarding Double Jeopardy was found in the 1977 decision of State v. Treadway, 558 S.W.2d 646 (Mo. banc 1977). Faced in that case with a constitutional challenge of Double Jeopardy, this court approved convictions and punishments in a single trial for the simultaneously committed crimes of (1) robbery and (2) armed criminal action: “[M]ultiple convictions are permissible if the defendant has in law and in fact committed separate crimes.” Id. at 651, citing State v. Toombs, 826 Mo. 981, 34 S.W.2d 61, 64 (1930). Further, without question, the Legislature intended defendant Treadway’s offenses to be treated as separate crimes and that the court so found.2 Thus, since Treadway if the Legislature prescribed convictions and punishments for both crimes, then a court’s imposition of such convictions and sentences would be valid. In its holding, this court swept aside Donald Treadway’s argument that such convictions violated Missouri’s Constitutional prohibitions against placing a person again in jeopardy for an offense after once being acquitted for that offense. 558 S.W.2d at 651, citing Mo. Const. Art. I, § 19. The court in Treadway added that the prohibition against Double Jeopardy precluding a second conviction for the same offense (as forbidden by Missouri’s common law and by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment) had not been violated when the defendant received two separate sentences for two separate crimes. 558 S.W.2d at 651. In the case at bar, Otis Thompson knew, by virtue of Treadway, that neither the Missouri Constitution nor the federal Constitution invalidated his conviction or sentences on Double Jeopardy grounds. At the time of his conviction and sentencing, it could not have been said that Thompson had any reasonable expectation of being constitutionally relieved of his conviction or sentence for armed criminal action. Thereafter, this court in Sours I (Jan. 1980) attempted to engraft a new and untenable interpretation of the Double Jeopardy provision onto the federal Constitution’s Double Jeopardy Clause. However, this temporary breach was promptly repaired on April 16, 1980, when the Supreme Court of the United States decided Whalen v. United States, 445 U.S. 684, 100 S.Ct. 1432, 63 L.Ed.2d 715 (April 6, 1980). In Whalen the Supreme Court stated: “The Double Jeopardy Clause at the very least precludes federal courts from imposing consecutive sentences unless authorized by Congress to do so.” Id. at 689, 100 S.Ct. at 1436. (Emphasis added.) Driving home its point the Court continued: “the legislative power, including the power to define criminal offenses and to prescribe the punishments to be imposed ... resides wholly with the Congress.” Id. The import of Whalen was that although the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibited courts from assessing double punishment for the same *772acts when not so authorized by the Legislature, the Clause did not prohibit the Legislature from statutorily prescribing more than one sentence for the same acts and establishing separate crimes. Therefore, if the Legislature authorized such double punishment, a court would not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause by meting out the punishment prescribed.
At the very time the Supreme Court decided Whalen it was also considering certio-rari to review State v. Sours, 593 S.W.2d 208 (Mo. banc 1980) (hereafter Sours I). On May 27, 1980, any lingering question as to whether Whalen was the controlling law was dispelled when the Supreme Court vacated and remanded Sours I “for further consideration in light of Whalen .... ” Missouri v. Sours, 446 U.S. 962, 100 S.Ct. 2935, 64 L.Ed.2d 820 (1980). However, in August of 1980 this court in State v. Sours, 603 S.W.2d 592 (Mo. banc 1980) (hereafter Sours II), refused the teachings of Whalen and again declared that Scott Sours’ conviction for both robbery and armed criminal action constituted a violation of this court’s notion of the United States Constitution’s Double Jeopardy provision. Certiorari was again applied for, but before the United States Supreme Court could take action, Scott Sours was released from the penitentiary. Thus, on January 26,1981, certiorari was denied, although it should be noted that because of Sours’ release, two of the reporting judges would have dismissed the petition “as moot.” 449 U.S. 1131, 101 S.Ct. 953, 67 L.Ed.2d 118 (January 26, 1981). However, in less than two months the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Albernaz v. U.S., 450 U.S. 333,101 S.Ct. 1137, 67 L.Ed.2d 275 (March 9, 1981), removed any basis for doubt that this court had indeed been erroneously interpreting the Fifth Amendment. The defendants in Al-bernaz had been convicted of conspiracy to import marijuana [count I] and conspiracy to distribute marijuana [count II]; each count was in violation of a separate provision of the United States Code. The defendants had received consecutive sentences on each count, and the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine whether “Congress intended consecutive sentences to be imposed for the violation of those two conspiracy statutes and, if so, whether such cumulative punishment violates the Double Jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.” Id. at 335,101 S.Ct. at 1140. The Court pointed out that it was confronted with separate offenses with separate penalty provisions contained in “distinct subchapters of the act.” Id. at 336, 101 S.Ct. at 1141. The Court went further and cited Brown v. Ohio:
“[w]here consecutive sentences are imposed at a single criminal trial, the role of the constitutional guarantee is limited to assuring that the court does not exceed its legislative authorization by imposing multiple punishments for the same offense.” 432 U.S., at 165 [97 S.Ct., at 2225]. Thus, the question of what punishments are constitutionally permissible is not different from the question of what punishment the Legislative Branch intended to be imposed. Where Congress intended, as it did here, to impose multiple punishments, imposition of such sentences does not violate the Constitution.
Albernaz, 450 U.S. at 344, 101 S.Ct. at 1145. There can be no doubt that this, in the clearest language, made manifest that it was permissible for the Legislature of Missouri to authorize the conviction for separate crimes and the imposition of separate punishments in a single trial. But somehow a majority of this court could not be dissuaded from its intention of striking down armed criminal action convictions in Missouri. In State v. Haggard, 619 S.W.2d 44 (Mo. banc July 14, 1981), this court in the opinion issued on motion for rehearing, reaffirmed the proposition expressed in Sours II — namely, that by enactment of these two statutes, the Missouri Legislature intended to twice punish the appellant, but again erroneously insisted that such multiple punishments for the same offense arising out of the same transaction violated the majority’s mistaken view of Double Jeopardy. Haggard, 619 S.W.2d at 51. Thus, notwithstanding the United States Supreme *773Court’s pronouncements in Albernaz, this court reversed Haggard’s conviction for armed criminal action. This court’s mistaken view concerning the meaning of Double Jeopardy as repeated in Haggard was again stripped away when Haggard was vacated and remanded on February 22, 1983, for further consideration in light of Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U.S. -, 103 S.Ct. 673, 74 L.Ed.2d 535 (1983). In the meantime, the United States Supreme Court, acutely aware of Missouri Supreme Court’s refusal to yield to federal mandates, granted certio-rari from one of the many cases in our Court of Appeals for which armed criminal action convictions had been vacated because of Sours. Through its decision in Hunter, decided on January 19, 1983, the Supreme Court made it impossible for this court to continue any pretense that its mistaken notion of Double Jeopardy was valid. Chastising this court, the Chief Justice speaking for the Court stated that our Haggard ruling “manifests a misreading of our cases on the meaning of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment.” Hunter, 459 U.S. at-, 103 S.Ct. at 677. Further emphasizing this point, the Court stated: “with respect to cumulative sentences imposed in a single trial the Double Jeopardy Clause does no more than prevent the sentencing court from prescribing greater punishment than the legislature intended.” (Emphasis added.) Id. at-, 103 S.Ct. at 678. Observing that the Missouri Supreme Court had construed the two statutes at issue as defining the same crime, and that the Missouri Supreme Court had recognized that the Legislature intended cumulative punishment for violations of the statutes, the Court accepted the Missouri court’s construction of the Missouri statutes. Id. at -, 103 S.Ct. at 679, citing O’Brien v. Skinner, 414 U.S. 524, 531, 94 S.Ct. 740, 743, 38 L.Ed.2d 702 (1974). But, the Court went on to state “we are not bound by the Missouri Supreme Court’s legal conclusion that these two statutes violate the Double Jeopardy Clause, and we reject its legal conclusion.” Id. In summary, the Court stated that where a Legislature specifically authorizes cumulative punishment under two statutes, “a court’s task of statutory construction is at an end and the prosecutor may seek and the trial court or jury may impose cumulative punishment under such statutes in a single trial.” Id. at-; 103 S.Ct. at 679. (Emphasis added.)
The case at bar does not involve retrospective application of new interpretations of Constitutional law. Nor is there here a question of finality.
The rulings in Hunter, presaged by the decision in Whalen, the reversal of Sours I, and the decision in Albernaz, came as no surprise. Hence, Otis Thompson was validly convicted and sentenced; under the existing law, and only in the first four months of 1980 (between Sours I and Whalen) could Thompson have expected his sentence to have been altered. The possibility was dispelled by Whalen, and put to rest in the summer of 1980 when Sours I was reversed and remanded. In the months that followed, the United States Supreme Court repeatedly reinforced its ruling in Whalen and its reversal of Sours I. The majority in the case at bar somehow treats this as something different from what it is, by assuming that Hunter effected a “change ” in the law that reaches back to harm defendant Thompson. Such is not the case; instead, the meaning of Double Jeopardy under Hunter is identical to the meaning that prevailed (both in federal and in state courts) before, at the time and after Thompson’s trial and conviction. It was our court under Sours I that attempted to change the meaning of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, however, under the Supremacy Clause, this court’s brief flirtation with that erroneous interpretation should have been immediately corrected by this court in Sours II during the summer of 1980. However, in Sours II this court again refused to properly apply federal Double Jeopardy Doctrine. Had this court properly applied the law, there would have been no reversal of Thompson’s armed criminal action conviction in January of 1981. Therefore, applying Hunter’s principles to Otis Thompson does not constitute a retrospective application of a *774“change” in Constitutional law, for there was no “change.” The Fifth Amendment, as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court, was the same at the time of Thompson’s conviction as it is now: Double Jeopardy did not and does not prohibit the imposition of multiple sentences for the same acts because the Legislature has so provided by statute.
Furthermore, this is not a question to be swept under the shibbolith of “finality.” The finality argument could have application only if there has been a change in constitutional interpretation and a new doctrine announced by the Supreme Court. Such is not the case; instead we have a situation in which this court was briefly mistaken as to the meaning of the Constitution and now refuses to recognize or remedy that mistake.
Finally, I address the question of the equities involved. This defendant is presently incarcerated under his life sentence; there was no justifiable legal or constitutional basis for reversing his armed criminal action conviction.
In this setting the majority admits that this court possesses the judicial power to recall the mandate in this case. Majority Opinion at 3, citing Reimers v. Frank B. Connet Lumber Co., 273 S.W.2d 348, 349 (Mo.1954). The final question is one of judicial policy. Should this court correct its mistake after the time of certiorari petition to the United States Supreme Court has elapsed or such petition is denied? I submit that in the strange context created by this court’s decisions, a judgment, based on an erroneous constitutional interpretation that occurred repeatedly and affected more than one hundred identifiable cases, should be reviewed.
Since 1976, when the armed criminal action statute was enacted, 1976 Mo.Laws 780, the General Assembly has persistently endeavored to deter violent crime by imposing more severe punishment on those convicted of committing crimes with dangerous or deadly weapons. The General Assembly’s intent to impose additional punishment for commission of a felony with a dangerous or deadly weapon could not be more clear. Section 571.015 provides that “any person who commits any felony ... by, with, or through the use, assistance, or aid of a dangerous or deadly weapon is also guilty of the crime of armed criminal action.” (Emphasis added.) Three times the statute in its several sections declares, “[t]he punishment imposed pursuant to this subsection shall be in addition to any punishment provided by law for the crime committed by, with or through the use, assistance or aid of a dangerous or deadly weapon.” Section 571.015, RSMo 1978. (Emphasis added.) When, in 1981, a majority of this court somehow expressed doubt as to the legislative intent to punish for both crimes, State ex rel. Westfall v. Ruddy, 621 S.W.2d 42, 45 (Mo. banc 1981), the General Assembly immediately reacted in terms un-susceptible to misinterpretation. Section 571.017, RSMo Cum.Supp.1982 provides: “Nothing contained in any other provision of law, except as provided in subsection 5 of section 571.105, shall prevent imposition of sentences for both armed criminal action and the crime committed by, with, or through the use, assistance, or aid of a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon.” For the past three years, however, the General Assembly’s persistent efforts to protect Missouri citizens have been as persistently frustrated by this court’s decisions, which have caused a dendritic growth of cases in our court of appeals, the roots of which have choked the intentions of our Legislature. Just when it appears that Missouri v. Hunter, — U.S. —, 103 S.Ct. 673, 74 L.Ed.2d 535 (1983), has ended this court’s continued opposition, the majority would throw a new obstacle under the guise of “finality” into the legislation’s path. Such obstruction is unnecessary, and the recrudescence of Sours — however slight — is contrary to sound judicial policy.
Defendant was lawfully convicted and sentenced for committing a felony with a deadly weapon, and there was no justifiable legal or constitutional basis for this court’s reversal of his armed criminal action conviction. He is presently incarcerated!, serving *775the life sentence for first degree robbery; equitable considerations therefore do not militate against affirming the companion conviction of armed criminal action. Finally, affirmance would finally permit effectu-ation of the General Assembly’s effort to deter violent crime by more severely punishing those convicted of committing felonies with dangerous or deadly weapons. It is not this court’s role to support or oppose legislation, however, it is our role to enforce such legislation if constitutionally permissible. In refusing to impose the punishment legislatively mandated I submit the court, has erred, for it should not set itself as superior to the people’s elected representatives in establishing public policy.
For the reasons stated, I would recall the mandate issued in defendant’s case February 11,1981, and enter judgment affirming defendant’s conviction for armed criminal action.

. Thompson was acquitted on a charge of having murdered John Cox, a brother of the proprietor of the cleaning shop where Donald Dickerson was robbed.

. Although a host of our later cases, beginning with Sours v. State 593 S.W.2d 208 (Mo. banc 1980) (Sows I) (see discussion below) contradicted Treadway, the majority in Sours I conceded that the Legislature intended that convictions for both crimes were possible and that punishment for both was permissible. “The General Assembly clearly intended that both [the armed criminal action statute] and the statute defining the underlying felony be applied to a defendant in a prosecution arising out of a single transaction.” Id. at 216. This admission was reiterated in State v. Sours, 603 S.W.2d 592, 598 (Mo. banc 1980) (Sours II) and again in the opinion issued on motion for rehearing in State v. Haggard, 618 S.W.2d 44, 51 (Mo. banc 1981). In this connection, it should be noted that the author of the above three opinions authored the majority opinion in the case at bar.