Fagan v. Commonwealth

374 S.W.3d 274, 2012 WL 3631410, 2012 Ky. LEXIS 110
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 23, 2012
DocketNo. 2010-SC-000791-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 374 S.W.3d 274 (Fagan v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Kentucky Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fagan v. Commonwealth, 374 S.W.3d 274, 2012 WL 3631410, 2012 Ky. LEXIS 110 (Ky. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

Chief Justice MINTON.

A circuit court jury convicted Anthony Wayne Fagan of theft by unlawful taking [276]*276over $10,000 and three counts of first-degree criminal mischief. The trial court sentenced him to a total of twenty years’ imprisonment. Fagan now appeals as a matter of right,1 asserting that (1) his convictions for theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 and first-degree criminal mischief violate double jeopardy; (2) the trial court erred by amending the final judgment more than ten days after its entry; and (3) the trial court erroneously ordered Fagan to pay restitution exceeding a $100,000 statutory cap.

On review, we find that Fagan’s convictions do not violate double jeopardy; and the statutory cap is not applicable to the trial court’s restitution order. But we agree that the trial court lacked authority to amend the final judgment more than ten days after its entry. So we affirm Fagan’s convictions and sentence. But we vacate the trial court’s amended judgment and remand to the trial court to reinstate the final judgment as originally entered.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY.

VMV is a Kentucky-based shop that rebuilds and refurbishes locomotives. In January 2010, the plant manager at VMV discovered that someone cut and removed the copper cables from thirty-four locomotives at the shop. To protect against further theft, VMV hired off-duty police officers to watch the property at night. And a few nights after discovering the vandalized locomotives, a security guard notified the authorities when he observed two subjects walking along VMVs fence. The subjects went under the fence and disappeared behind several locomotives, where the police confronted them. Both subjects fled to the fence and began climbing it, throwing items over as they went. They entered the woods, where police eventually found Fagan lying at the base of a tree. Police also located a flashlight, wrenches, and a cable-cutting tool at the site where Fagan and his cohort climbed the fence.

At trial, Fagan’s cousin testified that in the fall of 2009, Fagan paid her to help him sell scrap metal. In January, she noticed that the color of the metal changed from dark to bright silver. Around this time, Fagan called her more often and paid her more to deliver the metal.

Fagan removed over $30,000 worth of cable from the locomotives. Of the damaged locomotives, First Union owned three, GATX owned twenty-four, and NRE owned seven. The repairs to the locomotives cost much more than just the $30,000 worth of cable because it was not possible to splice the high-voltage cables. The cost of repair for the locomotives owned by GATX and First Union totaled over $400,000.

The McCracken County grand jury indicted Fagan for one count of theft by unlawful taking over $10,000, thirty-three counts of first-degree criminal mischief, one count of second-degree criminal mischief, and being a first-degree persistent felony offender (PFO 1). At the close of the Commonwealth’s case-in-chief, the thirty-three counts of first-degree criminal mischief were merged into three counts, one for each victim. And before the penalty phase of the trial began, the Commonwealth abandoned the PFO 1 charge.

The jury convicted Fagan of theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 and all three counts of first-degree criminal mischief. The jury recommended a punishment of five years’ imprisonment on each charge, to run consecutively for a total of twenty years’ imprisonment. The trial court sentenced Fagan in accordance with the jury’s [277]*277recommendation and ordered Fagan to pay restitution to the victims.

II. ANALYSIS.

A. Fagan’s Convictions for Theft by Unlawful Taking Over $10,000 and First-Degree Criminal Mischief do not Violate Double Jeopardy.

The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, in pertinent part, that no person shall “be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” Section 13 of the Kentucky Constitution is nearly identical to, and provides protections that parallel those provided in, the Fifth Amendment.2 And the General Assembly codified these principles in Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 505.020. Double jeopardy principles protect an accused from being prosecuted or sentenced multiple times for the same offense.

Fagan argues that his convictions for theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 and first-degree criminal mischief violate double jeopardy because in order to accomplish the theft, it was necessary for him to damage the locomotives.3 So he claims that the elements of these two offenses are the same under the facts of his case. We disagree because “an overlap of proof does not, of its own accord, establish a double jeopardy violation.”4

Kentucky uses the Blockburget5 double jeopardy test. “[Wjhere the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of a fact which the other does not.”6 The Block-burger test “focuses on the proof necessary to prove the statutory elements of each offense, rather than on the actual evidence presented at trial.”7 So the test can be satisfied despite substantial overlap in the evidence used to prove the offenses.8

Through his course of conduct, Fa-gan violated the two distinct statutes of theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 and first-degree criminal mischief. So we must look at the elements of these two offenses to determine whether each requires proof of an additional fact that the other does not.

A person commits theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 when he (1) unlawfully (2) takes or exercises control over movable property of another (3) with the intent to deprive the owner; and (4) the value of the property taken is $10,000 or more.9

A person is guilty of first-degree criminal mischief when (1) having no right to do so (or any reasonable ground to believe that he has such right) (2) he intentionally or wantonly (3) defaces, destroys, or dam[278]*278ages any property (4) causing pecuniary loss of $1,000 or more.10

Applying the Blockburger test, theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 requires intent to deprive the owner of the property; but first-degree criminal mischief does not. And first-degree criminal mischief requires the property be defaced, destroyed, or damaged; but theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 does not. So each statute requires proof of a fact that the other does not.

And we note that the jury instructions also required the jury to find different elements for each conviction.11 Because each conviction required proof of a fact that the other conviction did not, Fagan’s convictions for both theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 and first-degree criminal mischief do not violate double jeopardy.

B. The Trial Court Lacked Authority to Amend Fagan’s Final Judgment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
374 S.W.3d 274, 2012 WL 3631410, 2012 Ky. LEXIS 110, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fagan-v-commonwealth-ky-2012.