State v. Alexander

290 N.W.2d 745, 1980 Minn. LEXIS 1253
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJanuary 11, 1980
Docket49058
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 290 N.W.2d 745 (State v. Alexander) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Alexander, 290 N.W.2d 745, 1980 Minn. LEXIS 1253 (Mich. 1980).

Opinions

TODD, Justice.

Dean Alexander was accused of participating in an armed robbery of a home. The occupants were held at gunpoint while various articles and money were taken. Alexander was charged with aggravated robbery. The trial was commenced, but Alexander’s motion for mistrial was granted. Before a second trial commenced, the prosecution, without objection, added counts of burglary, two aggravated assaults, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle to the original charge. Alexander was found guilty on all five counts and given consecutive sentences of 1-20 years on the aggravated robbery charge and the burglary charge. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

The evidence conclusively establishes that Alexander, along with two companions, participated in the armed robbery of a home. During the course of the robbery, the husband and wife occupants were held at gunpoint while various articles and money were obtained. While in the home, the robbers also took the keys to the family car. After leaving the home, the car was taken and subsequently abandoned.

Alexander was subsequently arrested and brought to trial on a charge of aggravated robbery. On January 23, 1978, a jury of 12 was impaneled without alternates. On January 24, 1978, one of the jurors failed to appear, and it was discovered that he had been arrested for driving while intoxicated. Alexander, was offered but declined the option of proceeding with 11 jurors. Instead, Alexander, with the acquiescence of the prosecution, moved for a mistrial. The trial court granted the motion.

Thereafter, prior to commencement of the second trial, the state amended the original complaint as set forth above. Alexander was found guilty on all five counts. Alexander did not at any time prior to his conviction object to the amended charges.

The issues raised are:

(1) Did the amendment of the complaint following mistrial violate defendant’s protection against double jeopardy?

(2) Did the amendment of the complaint following mistrial deny defendant due process of law?

(3) Under the facts of this case, was aggravated assault a lesser included offense of aggravated robbery?

(4) Did defendant’s conviction on five counts violate Minn.Stat. § 609.035, the single behavioral incident statute?

1. Alexander concedes that the double jeopardy clause does not preclude the state from retrying him on the originally charged offense of aggravated robbery because the mistrial was declared at his request. However, he claims that he was subjected to double jeopardy because the amended complaint allowed for the imposition of multiple sentences whereas, under the original com[748]*748plaint, he could only receive one sentence for aggravated robbery.

The arguments of Alexander misconstrue the double jeopardy clause of the constitution. The prohibition of double jeopardy is not against all multiple punishments. It only applies to multiple punishments, for the same offense. Clearly, the originally charged offense of aggravated robbery is not the same offense as the additionally charged offense of burglary for which he was sentenced.

The applicable rule is that where 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.

Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). A burglary and the crime committed after entering the building are not the same offense for purposes of double jeopardy. State v. Biehoffer, 269 Minn. 35, 129 N.W.2d 918 (1964); State v. Minton, 276 Minn. 213, 149 N.W.2d 384 (1967). Therefore, the state is not precluded from prosecuting a burglary and other crimes in separate complaints, Steele v. United States, 440 F.Supp. 266 (D.Neb.), aff’d 565 F.2d 1058 (8th Cir. 1977), cert. denied 434 U.S. 1050, 98 S.Ct. 901, 54 L.Ed.2d 803 (1978); and a court may impose consecutive sentences when a defendant is convicted of a burglary and a crime committed after entering the bdilding. Morgan v. Devine, 237 U.S. 632, 35 S.Ct. 712, 59 L.Ed. 1153 (1915). Consequently, it was not improper for the state to add the count of burglary to the second prosecution, nor was it improper for the court to impose two consecutive 20-year sentences for the aggravated robbery and burglary convictions.

2. At defendant’s first trial, a mistrial was declared at the request of defendant because one of the jurors was disqualified and there were no alternate jurors. Defendant argues that the amendment to the complaint adding new counts placed an impermissible burden on the right to have 12 jurors and, consequently, to have a mistrial. He contends that to permit such an amendment may cause a person to waive his right to a trial by a full jury.

Rule 17.05, Rules of Criminal Procedure, prohibits the amending of complaints to charge additional offenses after a trial has commenced. State v. Doeden, 309 Minn. 544, 245 N.W.2d 233 (1976). Defendant argues that, since the state could not have amended the complaint to add new counts during the first trial, it should not be allowed to so amend the complaint after mistrial. As the state suggests, the policies behind Rule 17.05 appear to be to protect against confusing the jury, violating due process notions of timely notice, and adversely affecting the trial tactics of the defense. In this case, there was no possibility of so disrupting a trial because the amendment occurred after mistrial. We find, therefore, that Rule 17.05 does not apply here. Instead, the instant situation is controlled by Rule 3.04, subd. 2, Rules of Criminal Procedure, which provides for the free amendment of a complaint prior to trial.

Defendant’s reliance on the case of Blackledge v. Perry, 417 U.S. 21, 94 S.Ct. 2098, 40 L.Ed.2d 628 (1974), to support his due process argument is misplaced. In Blackledge, the defendant was convicted of a misdemeanor assault in one court. He then exercised his statutory right to a trial de novo in another court. Before the second trial, the prosecutor substituted a more serious felony charge for the original misdemeanor charge. The felony and misdemeanor charges were both based on the same criminal act. The Supreme Court held that the substitution of the more serious offense was improper because it involved an impermissible appearance of prosecutorial vindictiveness or retaliation. Blackledge was distinguished from the fact situation in Hardwick v. Doolittle, 558 F.2d 292 (5th Cir. 1977), cert. denied 434 U.S. 1049, 98 S.Ct. 897, 54 L.Ed.2d 801 (1978). In that case, the defendant successfully appealed his conviction.

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Bluebook (online)
290 N.W.2d 745, 1980 Minn. LEXIS 1253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-alexander-minn-1980.