State v. Melick

129 P.3d 816
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMarch 6, 2006
Docket54925-1-I
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 129 P.3d 816 (State v. Melick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Melick, 129 P.3d 816 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

129 P.3d 816 (2006)
131 Wash.App. 835

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Matthew M. MELICK, Appellant.

No. 54925-1-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

March 6, 2006.

*817 Dana M Lind, Nielsen Broman & Koch PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Erik Pedersen, Attorney at Law, Skagit Co. Prosecuting Atty Office, Mount Vernon, WA, for Respondent.

APPELWICK, A.C.J.

¶ 1 Matthew Melick contends that his convictions for taking of a motor vehicle (TMV) and possession of stolen property (PSP) for possessing that same vehicle violate double jeopardy. The State concedes that both convictions should not stand, but urges the court to vacate the TMV conviction, as it has a lower standard range. We remand for vacation of the PSP conviction, as such a result is required by case law. We also reject Melick's challenge to the police reports, as Melick stipulated to the use of those reports when he agreed to enter drug court.

FACTS

¶ 2 In July 2003 Matthew Melick was charged with one count of second degree taking a motor vehicle without permission (TMV) and one count of first degree possession of stolen property (PSP). The information alleged that on June 25 and 26, Melick drove away Gail Lluellyn's truck and withheld the truck from Lluellyn, knowing it was stolen. The police reports established that the truck had disappeared overnight and that Melick had been stopped the next day while driving the truck.

¶ 3 Melick agreed to enter drug court and successfully complete a treatment program in exchange for dismissal of charges.[1] The agreement provided that if either Melick or the court terminated the treatment program, Melick would proceed to bench trial solely on the facts in the police and laboratory reports. Melick stipulated to the information in the police and laboratory reports and gave up his right to call witnesses and to cross-examine the State's witnesses, among other rights.

¶ 4 Melick was terminated from drug court in June 2004. At a bench trial, the court reviewed the stipulated-to documents and found Melick guilty of both the TMV and the PSP charge. The court adopted many of the statements in the police reports in making its findings. The court imposed standard-range sentences of 25 months for the TMV charge, and 50 months for the PSP charge. The sentences were to run concurrently. Melick timely appeals.

DISCUSSION

I. Double Jeopardy

¶ 5 The State concedes that Melick should not have had convictions entered on *818 both offenses, but contends that double jeopardy/merger case law requires that the lesser offense be vacated. Because in this circumstance TMV is the lesser offense, the State argues that the PSP conviction must stand. We agree that if this were a double jeopardy case, the State would be correct as to the remedy, as Melick's judgment and sentence indicates that TMV has a lower standard range (22-29 months) than first degree PSP (43-57 months). See also State v. Weber, 127 Wash.App. 879, 888, 112 P.3d 1287 (2005), petition for review granted, 156 Wash.2d 1010, 132 P.3d 147, No. 77395-5 (Wash. Jan. 31, 2006), (remedy for convictions that violate double jeopardy is to vacate the crime carrying the lesser sentence). But this case does not involve double jeopardy principles.

¶ 6 Courts may not enter multiple convictions for the same offense without offending double jeopardy. State v. Vladovic, 99 Wash.2d 413, 423, 662 P.2d 853 (1983). In determining whether multiple convictions violate double jeopardy, the court must first consider any express or implied legislative intent. State v. Freeman, 153 Wash.2d 765, 771-72, 108 P.3d 753 (2005). Here, nothing in the TMV or PSP statutes explicitly addresses separate punishments. Although legislative silence in the face of court rulings has sometimes been interpreted as implicit approval of those holdings, there is no case law on this issue to which the legislature could have reacted.

¶ 7 If legislative intent is not clear, the court must next turn to the Blockburger test. Freeman, 153 Wash.2d at 772, 108 P.3d 753. Washington has adopted the "same evidence" rule of construction, which states that the defendant's double jeopardy rights are violated if he or she is convicted of offenses that are identical in both fact and law. State v. Calle, 125 Wash.2d 769, 777, 888 P.2d 155 (1995). If there is an element in each offense which is not included in the other offense, and if proof of one offense would not necessarily also prove the other, the offenses are not constitutionally the same and the double jeopardy clause does not prevent convictions for both offenses. Vladovic, 99 Wash.2d at 423, 662 P.2d 853. Here, TMV requires that the offender have driven away a motor vehicle, which first degree PSP does not require. First degree PSP, on the other hand, requires that the property be over $1,500 in value, which TMV does not require. The offenses are not the same under this test.[2]

¶ 8 If applicable, the merger doctrine can also help determine legislative intent. Freeman, 153 Wash.2d at 772, 108 P.3d 753. But "[t]he merger doctrine is relevant only when a crime is elevated to a higher degree by proof of another crime proscribed elsewhere in the criminal code." State v. Parmelee, 108 Wash.App. 702, 710, 32 P.3d 1029 (2001). That is not the case here.

¶ 9 Because there is no express or implied legislative intent, because the Blockburger test does not show that the offenses are the same, and because merger does not apply, this case does not require a double jeopardy analysis.[3]

II. Remedy

¶ 10 While the dual convictions are not barred by double jeopardy, another doctrine nevertheless prevents both convictions from standing. Under this doctrine, "one cannot be both the principal thief and the receiver of stolen goods." State v. Hancock, 44 Wash.App. 297, 301, 721 P.2d 1006 (1986). *819 If the State charges both theft (or in this case, TMV) and possession arising out of the same act, the fact finder must be instructed that if it finds that the defendant committed the taking crime, it must stop and not reach the possession charge. Only if the fact finder does not find sufficient evidence of the taking can it go on to consider the possession charge.

¶ 11 Milanovich v. United States, 365 U.S. 551, 81 S.Ct. 728, 5 L.Ed.2d 773 (1961), and its progeny illustrate the principles behind this approach. In Milanovich, one petitioner was convicted of stealing several thousands of dollars in currency from a naval base, and convicted of receiving and concealing the same property, subsections of the same statute. Milanovich, 365 U.S. at 552, 81 S.Ct. 728.

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129 P.3d 816, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-melick-washctapp-2006.