Commonwealth v. Breeland

664 A.2d 1355, 445 Pa. Super. 147, 1995 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2242
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 3, 1995
Docket16; 27; 111
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 664 A.2d 1355 (Commonwealth v. Breeland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Breeland, 664 A.2d 1355, 445 Pa. Super. 147, 1995 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2242 (Pa. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

CAVANAUGH, Judge:

On April 19,1994, appellants Antoine Breeland, Robert L. Coleman, Jr. and Brian L. Freeman were charged, by federal indictment, with distribution of crack cocaine and conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. Also on April 19, 1994, York City Police charged appellants with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, and criminal conspiracy to commit these three offenses. The state charges arose out of a drug-related shooting incident in which one man was killed and another was seriously wounded. The case on the federal charges proceeded to trial and appellants Coleman and Freeman were found guilty on both counts; while appellant Breeland was found guilty of the distribution charge but acquitted of the conspiracy charge. Appellants all subsequently filed pretrial motions alleging that the state prosecution was barred by virtue of the federal trial, under principles of double jeopardy and/or collateral estoppel. The trial court rejected appellants’ arguments and denied relief. These consolidated appeals followed. After careful review, we affirm.1

Appellants first contend that the federal verdict bars the trial of the related state offenses under principles of double jeopardy, because the same underlying facts and conduct are necessary to prove both the federal and state offenses. More [153]*153specifically, appellants’ assert that because the prosecution in the federal case, introduced evidence of the drug-related shooting in order to prove the conspiracy to distribute charge, the state prosecution is barred by the double jeopardy clause, because it will be necessary to prove conduct (the drug-related shooting incident) for which appellants have already been prosecuted.

Before addressing the merits of this issue, we must first determine the scope of our double jeopardy inquiry. Appellants contend that the proper inquiry was established by the United States Supreme Court in Grady v. Corbin, 495 U.S. 508, 110 S.Ct. 2084, 109 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990), and adopted by this Court for purposes of state double jeopardy analysis in Commonwealth v. Labelle, 397 Pa.Super. 179, 579 A.2d 1315 (1990) (en banc), rev’d. on other grounds, 531 Pa. 256, 612 A.2d 418 (1990).2 This Court has analyzed the Grady double jeopardy test and stated:

To determine whether a prosecution is barred by double jeopardy, the first prong of the inquiry requires the application of the Blockburger [v. U.S., 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932) ] test. Blockburger compares the statutory elements of the charged offenses to determine whether they are either identical or one is a lesser included offense of the other. If each statutory provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not, they are not the “same offense” under Blockburger and as such the prosecution survives the initial prong of the inquiry.
The second prong of the inquiry was established in Grady. Even if the offenses would pass muster under the [154]*154Blockburger test, the Grady Court held that an additional requirement must be met to overcome a double jeopardy challenge. We must determine “[whether] the government, to establish an essential element of an offense charged in [a subsequent] prosecution, will prove conduct that constitutes an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted.” Grady v. Corbin, [495] U.S. at [520], 110 S.Ct. at 2093, 109 L.Ed.2d at 564 (emphasis added) [in Yingling ].
Commonwealth v. Yingling, 407 Pa.Super. 151, 595 A.2d 169, 171 (1991) (footnote omitted).

Commonwealth v. Smith, 426 Pa.Super. 31, 33-34, 626 A.2d 178, 179-80 (1993), quoting, Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 415 Pa.Super. 227, 229, 608 A.2d 1093, 1094 (1992).

The Commonwealth counters that the United States Supreme Court specifically overruled the second or “same conduct” prong of the Grady test in United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. 688, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 125 L.Ed.2d 556 (1993). Thus, the Commonwealth maintains that a double jeopardy analysis requires only an application of the Blockburger “same elements” test.

Appellants, nonetheless, contend that the Grady “same conduct” test is applicable in the present case because: (1) the Court’s decision in Dixon has only a limited application and only nominally overruled Grady; (2) the double jeopardy clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution affords greater protections to an accused than the Federal Constitution; and (3) the “same conduct” test has been the law of this Commonwealth since our Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Bolden, 472 Pa. 602, 373 A.2d 90 (1977).

After reviewing the applicable federal and Pennsylvania caselaw, we agree with the Commonwealth that the Block-burger “same elements” test, which was reespoused in Dixon as the only inquiry necessary under a federal double jeopardy analysis, is likewise the only inquiry necessary when performing a double jeopardy analysis in Pennsylvania. From a review of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dixon, it is [155]*155abundantly clear that the Court specifically and emphatically overruled Grady, and rejected the “same conduct” test as wholly inconsistent with both earlier Supreme Court precedent and the clear common law understanding of double jeopardy. Dixon, 509 U.S. at-, 113 S.Ct. at 2860, 125 L.Ed.2d at 573. The Court also noted that the “same conduct” test espoused in Grady had proved to be unstable in application and a continuing source of confusion, and must be overruled. Id. at---, 113 S.Ct. at 2863-64, 125 L.Ed.2d at 576-77.

We also note that our supreme court has recently addressed, in Commonwealth v. Caufman, 541 Pa. 299, 662 A.2d 1050 (1995) (70 W.D.App.Dkt.1993, filed July 20, 1995), the applicability of the Grady “same conduct” test when performing a double jeopardy analysis. In Caufman, the court recognized that Grady had been expressly overruled by the United States Supreme Court in Dixon, that the “same conduct” test had been rejected, and that the Blockburger “same elements” test was once again the sole inquiry when performing a double jeopardy analysis. Caufman at 301, 662 A.2d at 1051. Our supreme court then addressed the merits of the case, applying only the “same elements” test. Thus, the court’s recent pronouncement undercuts appellants’ contention that the Grady “same conduct” test remains viable in this Commonwealth.

With respect to appellants’ contention that the Pennsylvania Constitution provides greater double jeopardy protection than the Federal Constitution, we likewise find no merit. Appellants neither proffer, nor are we aware, of any caselaw which establishes a higher standard in Pennsylvania, where, as here, there are successive prosecutions in different jurisdictions.

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Commonwealth v. Breeland
664 A.2d 1355 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
664 A.2d 1355, 445 Pa. Super. 147, 1995 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2242, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-breeland-pasuperct-1995.