McClendon v. State

513 So. 2d 102
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedSeptember 11, 1987
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 513 So. 2d 102 (McClendon v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McClendon v. State, 513 So. 2d 102 (Ala. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

513 So.2d 102 (1986)

Kenneth E. McCLENDON
v.
STATE.

8 Div. 568.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

December 30, 1986.
Rehearing Denied January 27, 1987.
Certiorari Quashed September 11, 1987.

*103 William R. Self II, Huntsville, for appellant.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and P. David Bjurberg, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Alabama Supreme Court 86-636.

BOWEN, Presiding Judge.

Kenneth E. McClendon was convicted for the unlawful possession of cocaine. His sentence of five years' imprisonment was suspended and he was placed on three years' probation. On appeal, McClendon argues that his conviction was barred on principles of former jeopardy. We disagree.

The facts are undisputed. On the night of October 12, 1985, McClendon had both marijuana and cocaine in his possession. That same night, he was arrested and charged by municipal complaint for the personal possession of marijuana, a violation of § 20-2-70, Code of Alabama 1975, "generally adopted by [Guntersville] city ordinance 552."

On October 26, 1985, McClendon pleaded guilty in municipal court to the misdemeanor possession of marijuana and was fined $200 plus costs. On January 15, 1986, he was indicted for the possession of cocaine, a felony.

On March 31, 1986, McClendon filed a motion to dismiss alleging jeopardy under Vogel v. State, 426 So.2d 863 (Ala.Cr.App. 1980), affirmed on another ground, writ quashed as to instant issue, 426 So.2d 882 (Ala.1982), cert. denied, 462 U.S. 1107, 103 S.Ct. 2456, 77 L.Ed.2d 1335 (1983), which held that the simultaneous possession of several types of drugs where the fact of possession occurs at the same time and in the same place, constitutes but one offense of possession. "It is thus our holding that where, as here, there is but a single point of control in time and place over several types of controlled substances, only a single offense has been committed, the offense of possession of controlled substances, and only one sentence is authorized." Vogel, 426 So.2d at 882. We find that the misdemeanor offense of possession of marijuana for personal use and the felony offense of possession of cocaine are separate crimes and, thus, may be separately punished.

The Vogel holding was based upon the constitutional principles of double jeopardy found in U.S. Const. Amend. V and Ala. Const. Art I, § 9, and the explicit language of § 20-2-70(a), prohibiting the possession of controlled substances and making such possession "`a felony' with only one scheme of punishment." Vogel, 426 So.2d at 882 (emphasis in original). "This is merely a crystallization of the familiar principle that, where an `indictment contains... counts charging offenses calling for the same punishment, and relates to a single criminal transaction, only one penalty can be imposed,' Jackson v. State, 249 Ala. 348, 31 So.2d 519 (1947), and cases therein cited." Vogel, 426 So.2d at 879. The Vogel court concluded that "If the legislature had intended to allow ... multiple prosecutions it would have certainly framed this *104 section in language clearly manifesting such intent." Id. at 882. (Emphasis in original.)

In Sears v. State, 479 So.2d 1308 (Ala.Cr. App.1985), this court found that Vogel's prohibition against multiple punishments for the same offense did not apply to the accused, who had been convicted and sentenced for both felony possession of controlled substances under § 20-2-70(a) (diazepam and marijuana) and trafficking in cocaine under § 20-2-80(2), all arising out of the same incident. The Sears court held that because felony possession and trafficking were governed by separate statutes for which the legislature had established different schemes of punishment, they were, for purposes of double jeopardy analysis, separate offenses.

Applying the test of Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), the Sears court concluded that although the violations of § 20-2-70(a) and § 20-2-80(2) may have occurred at the same time and in the same place, the acts constituted separate crimes because "each offense has at least one statutory element that the other does not." Sears, 479 So.2d at 1311. See also Darby v. State, [Ms. 8 Div. 181, October 22, 1985] (Ala.Cr.App.1985), opinion extended on rehearing, [May 27, 1986] (Ala.Cr.App.1986); Story v. State, 435 So.2d 1360 (Ala. Cr.App.1982), reversed on other grounds, 435 So.2d 1365 (Ala.1985).

Applying the Blockburger test to felony possession of cocaine and to misdemeanor possession of marijuana, as outlined in § 20-2-70(a), it is apparent that each offense here does not require proof of an element that the other offense does not. Misdemeanor possession of marijuana is established by proof of three elements not required by the felony offense of possession of cocaine: (1) the controlled substance was marijuana; (2) the marijuana was possessed for personal use only; and (3) the possession represented a first-time marijuana offense. See McIntosh v. State, 443 So.2d 1275 (Ala.Cr.App.), reversed on other grounds, Ex parte McIntosh, 443 So.2d 1283 (Ala.1983).

On the other hand, every statutory element of the offense of felony possession of a controlled substance is required in order to prove misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The felony offense requires merely "possess[ion] [of].... controlled substances." Ala.Code § 20-2-70(a) (1975). The same, plus more, is required for proof of possession of marijuana for personal use. It is therefore evident that while the misdemeanor offense requires proof of facts that the felony offense does not, the converse is not true. The Blockburger test is thus not satisfied.

"The test is symmetrical. It is satisfied only if each offense requires proof of elements not required by the other offense(s). Occasionally courts ignore this requirement and misapply the test. See United States v. Herbert, 698 F.2d 981, 985 (9th Cir.) (conspiracy and aiding and abetting separate offenses because only conspiracy requires proof of prior agreement to commit offense; court does not identify any element of aiding and abetting not required by conspiracy), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 821 [104 S.Ct. 87, 78 L.Ed.2d 95] (1983); United States v. Peacock, 654 F.2d 339, 349 (5th Cir.1981) (mail fraud and RICO violations separate offenses because RICO requires proof of additional facts; court does not identify any element of mail fraud not required by RICO), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 965 [104 S.Ct. 404, 78 L.Ed.2d 344] (1983)."

Fifteenth Annual Review of Criminal Procedure: United States Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals 1984-85, 74 Geo. L.J. 499, 739 n. 801 (1986).

In Sears, the Blockburger test was not symmetrically applied. On reflection, it appears that while the offense of trafficking in cocaine requires one element which is not required for felony possession of a controlled substance, that being the possession of 28 grams or more of cocaine, the offense of felony possession does not

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513 So. 2d 102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcclendon-v-state-alacrimapp-1987.