Ex Parte Ariza

913 S.W.2d 215, 1995 WL 653105
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 24, 1996
Docket03-95-00216-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 913 S.W.2d 215 (Ex Parte Ariza) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex Parte Ariza, 913 S.W.2d 215, 1995 WL 653105 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinions

BEA ANN SMITH, Justice.

Appellant was charged in the proceeding below with engaging in organized criminal activity by delivering marihuana. See Tex.PenaI Code Ann. § 71.02 (West 1994).1 In a previous Bexar County proceeding appellant’s 1982 Ford pickup was forfeited to the State, based on the allegation that it was used to commit the felony offense of possession or delivery of marihuana. See Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 59.02 (West Supp.1995); Tex.Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.120-.121 (West Supp.1995). Both of these proceedings arose out of the same occurrence. Appellant claims that, because he was punished by the forfeiture, double jeopardy bars the Comal County prosecution. See Stephens v. State, 806 S.W.2d 812, 814 (Tex. Crim.App.1990), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 929, 112 S.Ct. 350, 116 L.Ed.2d 289 (1991) (pretrial writ of habeas corpus appropriate remedy to review double jeopardy claim). Because the same offense formed the basis for each proceeding, and because the forfeiture already punished appellant for that offense, we hold that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution bars appellant’s prosecution.

Background

In November 1994, appellant’s truck was forfeited to the State based on the allegation that the truck was

intended to be used in the commission of a delivery, manufacture, and/or possession of ... MARIHUANA, in violation of the Texas Health and Safety Code, Section 481.120 and/or Section 481.121_

The cited provisions of the Health and Safety Code prohibit the delivery and possession of marihuana. See Tex.Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.120-.121 (West Supp.1995). The seizing officer’s affidavit specifically alleged that appellant’s truck was used to “facilitate the commission of ... Delivery of Marijuana”; it stated that appellant was arrested “during the buy bust operation in which Ari-za, Cruz, Castillo, and Gonzales delivered approximately 23 pounds of marijuana” to an investigator. Although the final judgment does not reflect whether the truck was forfeited pursuant to possession or delivery of marihuana, we conclude from the seizing officer’s affidavit that the forfeiture arose from the offense of delivery of marihuana.

In October 1994, appellant was indicted for engaging in organized criminal activity. See Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 71.02 (West 1994). The indictment alleged that in January of that year appellant delivered over five but less than fifty pounds of marihuana, and that he committed 2 the offense

[218]*218with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or the profits of a combination, consisting of the defendant and ISRAEL CASTILLO, JUAN GONZALES and CARLOS JOSE CRUZ....

The parties do not dispute that both the forfeiture proceeding and the criminal prosecution arose out of the same criminal occurrence.

Discussion and Holding

The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment states that no person shall “be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” U.S. Const, amend. V. This clause “represents a fundamental ideal in our constitutional heritage” and has been held to apply to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 794, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 2062, 28 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969). The Double Jeopardy Clause protects against three distinct abuses: a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal; a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and multiple punishments for the same offense. United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 440, 109 S.Ct. 1892, 1897, 104 L.Ed.2d 487 (1989). The protection against multiple punishments, at issue in this case, is deeply rooted in the Double Jeopardy Clause. James Madison, in drafting the initial version of that Clause, focused explicitly on the issue of multiple punishment: “No person shall be subject, except in eases of impeachment, to more than one punishment or one trial for the same offense.” 1 Annals of Cong. 434 (1789-1791) (J. Gales ed. 1834) (cited in Halper, 490 U.S. at 440, 109 S.Ct. at 1897). Although Texas forfeiture proceedings are civil in nature, this label does not prevent the sanction of forfeiture from being characterized as punishment under the Double Jeopardy Clause. Montana Dept. of Rev. v. Kurth Ranch, — U.S.-,-, 114 S.Ct. 1937, 1946-47, 128 L.Ed.2d 767, 779 (1994).

Double Jeopardy and the Underlying Criminal Offenses

First, we determine whether the criminal offenses which formed the basis of each proceeding are the “same” for the purpose of the Double Jeopardy Clause. In making this determination, we employ the Blockburger test and ask whether each offense contains an element not contained in the other. United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. 688,-, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 2856, 125 L.Ed.2d 556, 568 (1993); Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932); Rice v. State, 861 S.W.2d 925 (Tex.Crim.App.1993). If the answer to this question is ‘no,’ then the offenses are the “same” for the purpose of the Double Jeopardy Clause. Dixon, 509 U.S. at -, 113 S.Ct. at 2856, 125 L.Ed.2d at 568; Rice, 861 S.W.2d at 925.

A person commits the offense of delivery of marihuana when that person knowingly or intentionally transfers, actually or constructively, marihuana to another. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.120, 481.002(8) (West 1992 and Supp.1995). A person commits the offense of engaging in organized criminal activity, as alleged in the indictment, if, with intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination, he commits delivery of marihuana. Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 71.02(a)(5) (West 1994); see also Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 1.07(12) (West 1994); Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 481.002(5), 481.032(a)(3) (West 1992). For the State to prove that appellant engaged in organized criminal activity by delivering marihuana, it must prove all the elements of the Bexar County offense—delivery of marihuana. Thus, for the purpose of the Double Jeopardy Clause, these are the “same” offenses.

Civil Forfeiture and Punishment

We next consider whether the forfeiture of the truck amounted to punishment for the offense of delivery of marihuana. We note that the order of the forfeiture and the criminal prosecution is irrelevant to our analysis; the Double Jeopardy Clause will bar the second sanction if both sanctions are deemed punishment. United States v. Tilley, 18 F.3d 295, 298 n. 5 (5th Cir.),

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