State v. Wilson

429 S.E.2d 453, 311 S.C. 382, 1993 S.C. LEXIS 64
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedMarch 22, 1993
Docket23824
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 429 S.E.2d 453 (State v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Wilson, 429 S.E.2d 453, 311 S.C. 382, 1993 S.C. LEXIS 64 (S.C. 1993).

Opinions

Moore, Justice:

Appellants1 were convicted of trafficking in excess of 100 pounds of marijuana. We affirm.

I. FACTS

This case involves several members of the Wilson family. Appellant Steve Wilson is appellant Walter Wilson’s son. Other family members, including Walter’s son and daughter-in-law, Ronnie and Teresa Wilson, were also participants in the crimes alleged.

In December 1989, family members were indicted by the Statewide grand jury for various drug crimes. Steve and Walter were indicted in count #1 along with Ronnie and Teresa for trafficking in more than 400 grams of cocaine since 1982. Count #2 of the indictment charged Ronnie and Teresa with trafficking in more than 100 pounds of marijuana with the Martinez brothers (Roberto and Ramon) since 1979. A trial was held in April 1990. Steve and Walter were acquitted of trafficking in cocaine.2

[384]*384In May 1990, both Steve and Walter were indicted for trafficking in more than 100 pounds of marijuana from 1985 to 1989 with Ronnie, Teresa, and the Martinez brothers. The trial judge denied motions by Steve and Walter to quash the 1990 indictment on double jeopardy grounds. Both were convicted and now appeal.

II. ISSUE

Does the Double Jeopardy Clause bar the 1990 indictment for trafficking in marijuana?

III. DISCUSSION

A. Grady v. Corbin Analysis

Appellants first argue that under Grady v. Corbin, 495 U.S. 508, 110 S.Ct. 2084, 109 L.Ed. (2d) 548 (1990), their subsequent prosecution for trafficking in marijuana is barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause because the prosecution sought to prove conduct that constituted an offense for which they had already been tried and acquitted.

In Grady v. Corbin, the United States Supreme Court set forth the analysis used in determining whether a subsequent prosecution is barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause. A court must first apply the traditional Blockburger3 test. If application of that test reveals the offenses have identical statutory elements or that one is a lesser included offense of the other, then the inquiry must cease and the subsequent prosecution is barred. 495 S.C. at 516, 110 S.Ct. at 2090. If, however, a subsequent prosecution survives this technical comparison of the elements of the two offenses, the court must then determine whether the State will prove the entirety of the conduct previously prosecuted to establish an essential element of the offense in the subsequent prosecution. 495 U.S. at 523, 110 S.Ct. at 2094. If so, the subsequent prosecution is barred.4 As more simply put in the recent case of United States v. Felix, — U.S. —, 112 S.Ct. 1377, 188 L.Ed. (2d) 25 (1992), the Grady v. Corbin analysis relies on a deter[385]*385mination whether one offense is “a species of lesser-included offense” of the other.

Applying this analysis to the case at hand, we find no double jeopardy violation. First, application of the Blockburger test results in no bar to appellants’ subsequent prosecution for trafficking in marijuana since neither of the statutory offenses charged (trafficking in cocaine and trafficking in marijuana) is a lesser included offense of the other. Compare S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-370(e)(l)(b) (trafficking in marijuana) with § 44-53-370(e)(2)(3) (trafficking in cocaine).

Further, neither offense is a “species of lesser-included offense” whose prosecution would be barred under Grady v. Corbin. Appellants were first prosecuted for trafficking in more than 400 grams of cocaine by conspiring with others to accomplish its sale and delivery or by possessing that amount, either of which is a violation of § 44-53-370(e)(2)(e). After their acquittal on these charges, appellants were subsequently indicted for trafficking in more than 100 pounds of marijuana by conspiring with others to sell and deliver it or by aiding and abetting the sale and delivery, either of which is a violation of § 44-53-370(e)(l)(b). The entirety of the conduct sought to be proved in the first case, i.e., trafficking in cocaine, does not establish any single element of the offense prosecuted in the subsequent case, trafficking in marijuana. There is no species of lesser-included offense involved here.

Nor did the prosecution seek to prove the same conduct in both cases since a different controlled substance was the subject of the prosecution in each case. Even the element of “conspiracy” common to both prosecutions was proved by different conduct.

The marijuana conspiracy was proved by evidence of a long-term arrangement with the Martinez brothers to supply the Wilsons with approximately 100 pounds of marijuana twice a month. At the start of the relationship between the Wilsons and the Martinezes, Ronnie and Steve traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to purchase marijuana from Roberto and Ramon Martinez. Walter Wilson was the driver on at least two of these trips. Eventually, the Martinez brothers began delivering the marijuana to the Wilsons in South Carolina for an increased price per pound. Walter sometimes paid for the deliveries when they arrived. Only the conduct regarding the on[386]*386going marijuana deals with the Martinez brothers was proved to establish a conspiracy to traffic in marijuana.

The State sought to prove different conduct to establish the cocaine conspiracy. Steve once purchased an ounce of cocaine worth $2,000 from a man named Dickie Hunt in McCormick, South Carolina. Steve sold cocaine to different buyers in amounts ranging from Vs ounce to one ounce. Walter delivered cocaine to at least one buyer from his residence in Saluda, South Carolina, and also accepted payment for cocaine. The only evidence of a cocaine sale in relation to the Martinez connection is one occasion during a marijuana deal when Roberto asked Steve if he “had any extra” and Steve sold him $150 worth of cocaine. This exchange was clearly not an integral part of the arrangement for biweekly marijuana shipments which continued for years from the Martinezes to the Wilsons.

Appellants make much of the prosecutor’s remark at the first trial that there was “a main conspiracy” to distribute both cocaine and marijuana. This comment is taken out of context. It was made during the argument to the trial judge to admit the marijuana-related evidence in appellants’ trial for cocaine trafficking only to show motive or intent as permitted under State v. Lyle, 125 S.C. 406, 118 S.E. 803 (1923). It is clear from the State’s case that it sought to prove a distinct course of conduct involving the Martinez brothers to establish the marijuana conspiracy. In fact, the record indicates the trial judge explicitly charged the jury at appellants’ trial for cocaine trafficking that the cocaine conspiracy was “a single conspiracy” as opposed to the marijuana conspiracy involving the Martinez brothers.

In conclusion, we find no double jeopardy violation under Grady v. Corbin.

B. State v. Dasher Analysis

Appellants contend the indictment for trafficking in marijuana should have been quashed under State v. Dasher, 278 S.C. 454, 298 S.E. (2d) 215 (1982).

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State v. Wilson
429 S.E.2d 453 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
429 S.E.2d 453, 311 S.C. 382, 1993 S.C. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wilson-sc-1993.