State v. Carlberg

375 N.W.2d 275, 1985 Iowa App. LEXIS 1507
CourtCourt of Appeals of Iowa
DecidedAugust 29, 1985
Docket84-1667
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 375 N.W.2d 275 (State v. Carlberg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Carlberg, 375 N.W.2d 275, 1985 Iowa App. LEXIS 1507 (iowactapp 1985).

Opinion

SNELL, Judge.

On April 6, 1984, a police officer stopped the car defendant Michael Q. Carlberg was driving. He discovered that defendant’s license had been revoked. Defendant was charged with driving without having a valid license in his immediate possession, a simple misdemeanor under Iowa Code section 321.174. Section 321.174 provides:

*276 A person, except those hereinafter expressly exempted shall not drive any motor vehicle upon a highway in this state unless such person has a valid motor vehicle license issued by the department. ...
Every licensee shall have his or her operator’s or chauffeur’s or motorized bicycle license or instruction permit in immediate possession at all times when operating a motor vehicle and shall display the same, upon demand of a judicial magistrate or district associate judge, a peace officer, or a field deputy or examiner of the department. However, no person charged with violating this section shall be convicted if he or she produces in court, within a reasonable time, an operator’s or chauffeur’s or motorized bicycle license, or instruction permit issued to him or her and valid at the time of the person’s arrest.

On April 10, 1984, defendant pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined $19.00. On April 24, defendant was then charged with driving while his license was revoked under Iowa Code section 321B.38, which provides in part:

Any person whose license or driving privilege has been denied or revoked as provided in this chapter [chapter 321B — intoxicated drivers] and who drives any motor vehicle upon the highways of this state while the license or privilege is denied or revoked is guilty of a serious misdemeanor.

Defendant filed a motion to dismiss on the ground of double jeopardy. Defendant claims that the charge on April 6 and the charge on April 24 both arose out of the same incident, the original revocation of his license. The district court denied the motion to dismiss. Defendant then entered a guilty plea. He was sentenced to pay a fine of $230.00 or serve a jail term of 20 days. Defendant has appealed, claiming that the second charge violated his rights under the double jeopardy clause of the federal constitution.

The fifth amendment double jeopardy clause provides 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 constitutional guarantee is applicable to the states through the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969). The constitutional prohibition of double jeopardy protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, after conviction, and against multiple punishments for the same offense. We are here concerned with the second prohibition, prosecution after conviction. The sole question is whether the offense of driving without a valid license in the driver’s immediate possession, section 321.174, is the “same offense” for double jeopardy purposes as the offense of driving while a license is denied or revoked, section 321D.38. The test for determining whether two offenses are sufficiently distinguishable to permit successive prosecutions is the same as established to permit cumulative punishment. See In re Nielsen, 131 U.S. 176, 187-88, 9 S.Ct. 672, 33 L.Ed. 118 (1889); Cf. Gavieres v. U.S., 220 U.S. 338, 31 S.Ct. 421, 55 L.Ed. 489 (1911). That test as stated in Blockburger v. U.S., 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), is:

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.

284 U.S. at 304, 52 S.Ct. at 182. Unless “each statute requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not,” the double jeopardy clause prohibits successive prosecutions. Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977). The Iowa court has followed the Blockbur-ger analysis in several cases which determined whether the elements of two offenses were separate and distinct. See State v. Parker, 342 N.W.2d 459 (Iowa 1983); State v. Goff, 342 N.W.2d 830 (Iowa 1983). In cases involving a greater and a lesser included offense, the lesser offense requires no proof beyond that which is *277 required for conviction of the greater offense. The greater offense is therefore by definition the “same” for purposes of double jeopardy as any lesser offense included in it. As stated in State v. Goff, “if the greater offense cannot be committed without committing the lesser offense, the lesser offense is legally an included offense. On the contrary, if the greater offense can be committed without committing the lesser offense, the lesser offense is not legally an included offense.” 342 N.W.2d at 835.

Applying the Blockburger test, the Supreme Court in Brown v. Ohio held that the offense of joy riding was a lesser included offense of auto theft. It was the “same offense” so that successive prosecutions were barred by the double jeopardy clause. It is also clear that the sequence of prosecution is immaterial. Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. at 168, 97 S.Ct. at 2226, 53 L.Ed. at 196.

In Illinois v. Vitale, 447 U.S. 410, 100 S.Ct. 2260, 65 L.Ed.2d 228 (1980), the Court considered whether failing to reduce speed is the “same offense” for double jeopardy purposes as involuntary manslaughter. The Court held that if failure to slow is always a necessary element of manslaughter by automobile, the two offenses are the same under Blockburger and a later charge would constitute double jeopardy. However, the Court concluded that if the manslaughter offense was provable without the need to prove failure to slow, double jeopardy would not occur. The case was remanded for further proceedings by the Illinois Supreme Court to determine what elements of the greater offense were asserted in charging defendant with commission of the crime.

In the case at bar, the elements of the greater offense, section 321B.38, driving while license is denied or revoked, are:

1. Driving a motor vehicle on a state highway.
2. Committing this act while license or driving privilege is denied or revoked.

The elements of the lesser offense, section 321.174, driving without a valid license in possession, are:

1.

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480 N.W.2d 52 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
375 N.W.2d 275, 1985 Iowa App. LEXIS 1507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carlberg-iowactapp-1985.