State v. Cassius

515 P.2d 903, 21 Ariz. App. 78
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJanuary 22, 1974
Docket2 CA-CR 331
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 515 P.2d 903 (State v. Cassius) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Cassius, 515 P.2d 903, 21 Ariz. App. 78 (Ark. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

KRUCKER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction and sentences on one count of burglary, first degree, A.R.S. § 13-302, and one count of committing a felony while released on bail or on own recognizance on a separate felony charge, A.R.S. § 13-1580.

The peculiar facts of this case are: On October 17, 1972, appellant, Michael Jerome Cassius, was arrested and charged with burglary, Cause No. A-22479. The following day, he was released on his own recognizance.

On November 4, 1972, while released on his own recognizance on the first burglary charge, appellant was again arrested for burglary and was charged in Cause No. A-22303 on two counts: Count I, violation of A.R.S. § 13-302 (burglary, first degree) and Count II, violation of A.R.S. § 13-1580 (committing a felony while released on bail or on own recognizance on a separate felony charge).

Proceedings were held on both burglary charges on January 4, 1973. At that time, Cause No. A-22479 was dismissed upon motion of the County Attorney. In Cause No. A — 22303, appellant plead guilty to Count I, burglary, and Count II was submitted to the court on the basis of the Grand Jury transcript and stipulation of counsel that at the time of the second burglary appellant was released on his own recognizance in Cause No. A-22479. The court accepted appellant’s guilty plea on Count I and found him guilty on Count II.

On January 22, 1973, appellant was sentenced to imprisonment for one and not more than two years on Count I and a consecutive term of not less than one nor more than three years was imposed for the Count II conviction. This appeal followed.

Appellant submits two questions for review:

1. Whether appellant’s conviction for violation of A.R.S. § 13-1580 (committing a felony while released on bail or on own recognizance) constituted double jeopardy under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Art. 2 § 10 A.R.S. of the Arizona Constitution?
2. Whether the sentence imposed pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-1580 violated the statutory proscription of A.R.S. § 13-1641 against double punishment for the same offense?

Before we dispose of the issues raised by appellant, we first consider the State’s contention that the issues of double jeopardy and double punishment were not raised below, therefore, are not preserved for appeal. In response to this contention, appellant asserts that the issues are preserved by stipulation of counsel. He also argues that double jeopardy and double punishment affect substantial rights requiring this court on its own initiative to notice the defects. We agree with appellee that the double jeopardy issue is not preserved for .appeal. However, we find the issue of double punishment properly submitted for review.

Generally, in Arizona the issue of double jeopardy may not be raised for the first time on appeal. State v. Veres, 7 Ariz.App. 117, 436 P.2d 629 (1968), cert. den., 393 U.S. 1014, 89 S.Ct. 613, 21 L.Ed.2d 559. The purported stipulation relied on by appellant is the following statement of the prosecutor:

“MR. HOWARD: The charge in count 2 is committing a felony while re *81 leased on his own recognizance on another felony charge, Your Honor, and the public defender would like to reserve their right to examine that Statute on appeal, so are reluctant to enter a plea at this point, and would prefer to submit it to the Court on the stipulated facts in the Grand Jury transcript, and there are certain matters which I will ask the Court to take judicial notice of from the Court file.”

We find this insufficient to preserve the double jeopardy issue for review.

Appellant also asserts that he had no opportunity to raise this issue at the trial court level.' We find no merit in this argument. Appellant, after having been found guilty on Count I, made no attempt to utilize Rule 177, Rules of Criminal Procedure, 17 A.R.S. 1 as to Count II on the grounds of prior conviction or double jeopardy. Appellant’s failure to raise the issue of double jeopardy below precludes appellate consideration of such issue.

As to the issue of double punishment, however, it may be raised for the first time on appeal. State v. Mills, 96 Ariz. 377, 396 P.2d 5 (1964). We therefore turn our attention to appellant’s contention that the sentences imposed on Count I and Count II constituted double punishment in violation of A.R.S. § 13-1641, which provides:

“An act or omission which is made punishable in different ways by different sections of the laws may be punished under either, but in no event under more than one. An acquittal or conviction and sentence under either one bars a prosecution for the same act or omission under any other.”

Prior to the Supreme Court decisions in State v. Mitchell, 106 Ariz. 492, 478 P.2d 517 (1970), and State v. Tinghitella, 108 Ariz. 1, 491 P.2d 834 (1971), there appeared to be some confusion in applying A.R.S. § 13-1641. However, as formulated in Mitchell, supra, and adopted in Tinghi-tella, supra, an “identical elements” test is the standard, requiring elimination of the elements in one charge and a determination of whether the facts left support the other charge. See also, State v. Horton, 108 Ariz. 16, 492 P.2d 395 (1972); State v. George, 108 Ariz. 5, 491 P.2d 838 (1971), and State v. Bartky, 16 Ariz.App. 421, 493 P.2d 1226 (1972).

In spite of the seeming simplicity of this statute and the test, judicial interpretation and application to a given set of facts has proven to be a complex task. This case is no exception.

Our review of the myriad of cases dealing with the application of A.R.S. § 13-1641 sheds no light on the problem sub judice. We find no case with a factual posture remotely similar to this case. However, there is one common denominator — the purpose of the subject statute is to protect an offender against double punishment for a single act which violates more than one statute. See, Mitchell, supra; State v. Andrews, 106 Ariz.

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Related

State v. Wagner
976 P.2d 250 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1999)
State v. Nettz
560 P.2d 814 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1977)
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548 P.2d 437 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1976)
State v. Cassius
520 P.2d 1109 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
515 P.2d 903, 21 Ariz. App. 78, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cassius-arizctapp-1974.