Court Opinion

ID: 9429973
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:28:28.164917+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:08.485236
License: Public Domain

Justice Stevens,
concurring in the judgment.
The Court correctly holds that petitioner’s conduct may support a conviction under either § 922(h)(1) or § 1202(a)(1), but not both. In reaching that conclusion the Court unnecessarily volunteers the opinion that “there is no bar to the Government’s proceeding with prosecution simultaneously under the two statutes.” Ante, at 860; see also ante, at 859. Even if that opinion were well founded, I see no reason why this Court should go out of its way to encourage prosecutors to tilt the scales of justice against the defendant by employing such tactics.
The views that Justice Marshall expressed in his dissent in Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U. S. 359, 371-372 (1983), succinctly explain why I concur in the Court’s judgment today:
“[T]he entry of two convictions and the imposition of two sentences cannot be justified on the ground that the legislature could have simply created one crime but prescribed harsher punishment for that crime. This argument incorrectly assumes that the total sentence imposed is all that matters, and that the number of convictions that can be obtained is of no relevance to the concerns underlying the Double Jeopardy Clause.
“When multiple charges are brought, the defendant is ‘put in jeopardy’ as to each charge. To retain his freedom, the defendant must obtain an acquittal on all charges; to put the defendant in prison, the prosecution need only obtain a single guilty verdict. The prosecution’s ability to bring multiple charges increases the risk that the defendant will be convicted on one or more of those charges. The very fact that a defendant has been arrested, charged, and brought to trial on several charges may suggest to the jury that he must be guilty *868of at least one of those crimes. Moreover, where the prosecution’s evidence is weak, its ability to bring multiple charges may substantially enhance the possibility that, even though innocent, the defendant may be found guilty on one or more charges as a result of a compromise verdict. The submission of two charges rather than one gives the prosecution ‘the advantage of offering the jury a choice — a situation which is apt to induce a doubtful jury to find the defendant guilty of the less serious offense rather than to continue the debate as to his innocence.’ Cichos v. Indiana, 385 U. S. 76, 81 (1966) (Fortas, J., dissenting from dismissal of certiorari).”*
Accordingly, I concur in the judgment.

The following footnote is appended to the quoted passage:
“It is true that compromise is possible even under the familiar procedure whereby a lesser included offense is submitted along with a greater offense and the jury is told that it can convict on only one charge. Under the usual procedure, however, the risk of an irrational compromise is reduced by the rule that a lesser included offense will not be submitted to the jury if the element that distinguishes the two offenses is not in dispute. See, e. g., Sansone v. United States, 380 U. S. 343 (1965); United States v. Tsanas, 572 F. 2d 340, 345-346 (CA2), cert. denied, 435 U. S. 995 (1978).” 459 U. S., at 372, n. 4 (Marshall, J., dissenting).