People v. Feazel

558 N.W.2d 219, 219 Mich. App. 618
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 1, 1996
DocketDocket No. 181072
StatusPublished

This text of 558 N.W.2d 219 (People v. Feazel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Feazel, 558 N.W.2d 219, 219 Mich. App. 618 (Mich. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinions

Per Curiam.

Defendant pleaded guilty of conspiracy to deliver less than fifty grams of cocaine, MCL 750.157a; MSA 28.354(1), MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(iv); MSA 14.15(7401)(2)(a)(iv), and aiding and abetting the delivery of less than fifty grams of cocaine, MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(iv); MSA 14.15(7401)(2)(a)(iv). He was sentenced to the respective terms of two to twenty years’ and three to twenty years’ imprisonment. Defendant’s second sentence was ordered to run consecutively to the first sentence, and the first sentence was ordered to run consecutively to sentences that defendant was already serving for convictions in Isabella County. Defendant appeals as of right. We vacate defendant’s sentence in part and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

The offenses in this case occurred on September 15, 1993, in Delta Township, Eaton County. At the plea hearing, defendant admitted that he had supplied cocaine to a man named Schafer while the two men [621]*621were at defendant’s house in Isabella County. Defendant gave Schafer approximately thirteen grams of cocaine and received $800 in return. Schafer then took the cocaine to a party in Eaton County with the intention of giving it to someone else. At the time defendant sold Schafer the cocaine, he knew that Schafer intended to take the cocaine to share with or deliver to the third-person in Eaton County. The court found that defendant’s admissions were sufficient to accept defendant’s pleas regarding the charges of conspiracy to deliver cocaine and aiding and abetting the delivery of less than fifty grams of cocaine.

Defendant first argues on the basis of principles of double jeopardy that it was error for the trial court to accept his guilty pleas in this case. Defendant argues that he was subjected to successive prosecutions arising out of a single transaction because he had already been convicted in Isabella County as a result of the same incident that supported his convictions in Eaton County in the instant case. Because it is not clear if there were facts sufficient to support separate charges in both Isabella County and Eaton County, we remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

Defendant’s guilty pleas did not waive his right to raise this issue on appeal. People v Spicer, 216 Mich App 270, 272; 548 NW2d 245 (1996). Although the trial court discussed the double jeopardy issue at sentencing, defendant decided to plead guilty before the court ruled on his motion to dismiss, in which he alleged a double jeopardy violation. In spite of the fact that this issue was not properly argued before the trial court, we will address it for the first time on appeal because a significant constitutional issue is [622]*622presented. People v Lugo, 214 Mich App 699, 705; 542 NW2d 921 (1995).

The double jeopardy provisions of the federal and state constitutions protect a defendant from twice being placed in jeopardy for a single offense. US Const, Am V; Const 1963, art 1, § 15; People v Sturgis, 427 Mich 392, 398-399; 397 NW2d 783 (1986). In this case, defendant’s argument focuses on the protection against successive prosecutions for the “same offense” under Michigan’s Constitution.1 One of the primary purposes of the protection against successive prosecutions is to protect defendants from overreaching by the prosecution. Id.

Michigan applies the “same transaction” test where there are successive prosecutions. People v McMiller, 202 Mich App 82, 85; 507 NW2d 812 (1993). Under the “same transaction” test, the prosecutor is required to join at one trial all charges that grow out of a “continuous time sequence” and that demonstrate “a single intent and goal” when the crimes at issue involve specific criminal intent as an element. Crompton v 54-A Dist Judge, 397 Mich 489, 501-502; 245 NW2d 28 (1976); Spicer, supra at 272. Where one or more of the offenses do not involve a specific criminal intent as an element, the test focuses on whether the offenses were part of the same criminal episode and whether the offenses involve laws intended to prevent the same or a similar harm or evil, rather than substantially different harms or evils. Crompton, supra at 502; People v Ainsworth, 197 Mich App 321, 323; 495 NW2d 177 (1992).

[623]*623The crimes charged in both counties all involved specific intent requirements. People v Jackson, 153 Mich App 38, 46; 394 NW2d 480 (1986). Therefore, defendant was required to show that the crimes in Isabella and Eaton Counties grew out of a continuous time sequence and demonstrated a single intent and goal. People v Hunt (After Remand), 214 Mich App 313; 542 NW2d 609 (1995). There must be a direct, factual connection between the crimes, not merely temporal happenstance. Jackson, supra at 46.

In the area of controlled substance offenses, there have been several opinions of this Court that have addressed whether multiple drug transactions supported separate charges against a defendant in successive prosecutions. In People v Martinez, 58 Mich App 693, 694-695; 228 NW2d 523 (1975), this Court held that two deliveries of heroin to the same undercover police officer during the same investigation were not part of a single transaction when the deliveries occurred nine days apart and the amounts of drugs involved were substantially different. There also was no evidence that the deliveries were otherwise related.

In People v Cuellar, 76 Mich App 20, 21-23; 255 NW2d 755 (1977), this Court again found that the evidence supported finding that there were separate drug transactions. The evidence showed that the defendant intended to make several small sales of heroin, not one large sale. Further, the defendant intended to deliver different quantities of heroin in each transaction. Because the two deliveries were independent transactions and complete in themselves, the double jeopardy prohibition did not bar the subsequent prosecution in that case. Id. at 23.

[624]*624In People v Edmonds, 93 Mich App 129, 133; 285 NW2d 802 (1979), the defendant was involved in two sales of heroin to the same informant on the same day. One sale occurred in the morning and the other occurred in the afternoon. This Court found that there was no double jeopardy violation when the record did not show any connection between the sales, such as an agreement after the first sale to return for another sale. Id. at 134.

This Court’s analysis of the double jeopardy issue in Jackson, supra at 49-51, is especially instructive. The defendant was charged with both delivery of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. Id. at 46. This Court rejected the defendant’s argument that the two charged offenses were actually only one single transaction, although the offenses occurred on the same day. The defendant delivered one quantity of marijuana to an informant while the defendant kept an additional quantity for himself to distribute to other customers. There was no evidence linking the marijuana found in the defendant’s home with the drugs he had provided to the informant. The Court believed that, while the transactions were committed concurrently, the facts did not involve a continuous time sequence of criminal activity.

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Related

People v. Milbourn
461 N.W.2d 1 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1990)
People v. Hunt
542 N.W.2d 609 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1995)
People v. Lugo
542 N.W.2d 921 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1995)
People v. Morris
450 Mich. 316 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1995)
People v. Hermiz
551 N.W.2d 389 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1996)
People v. Martinez
228 N.W.2d 523 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1975)
People v. Marshall Warner
476 N.W.2d 660 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1991)
People v. Jackson
394 N.W.2d 480 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1986)
People v. Hughes
550 N.W.2d 871 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1996)
People v. Jones
550 N.W.2d 844 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1996)
People v. Denio
543 N.W.2d 66 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1995)
People v. Spicer
548 N.W.2d 245 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1996)
Crampton v. 54-A District Judge
245 N.W.2d 28 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1976)
People v. Sturgis
397 N.W.2d 783 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1986)
People v. Briseno
535 N.W.2d 559 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1995)
People v. Cuellar
255 N.W.2d 755 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1977)
People v. Edmonds
285 N.W.2d 802 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1979)
People v. Ainsworth
495 N.W.2d 177 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1992)
People v. Jahner
446 N.W.2d 151 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1989)
People v. McMiller
507 N.W.2d 812 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1993)

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558 N.W.2d 219, 219 Mich. App. 618, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-feazel-michctapp-1996.