Zubiate v. People

2017 CO 17, 390 P.3d 394, 2017 WL 745733
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedFebruary 27, 2017
DocketSupreme Court Case 13SC480
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 2017 CO 17 (Zubiate v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zubiate v. People, 2017 CO 17, 390 P.3d 394, 2017 WL 745733 (Colo. 2017).

Opinions

JUSTICE GABRIEL

delivered the Opinion of the Court,

HI In this case, we address (1) whether a defendant may raise his or her unpreserved double jeopardy claim for the first time on appeal and, if so, what standard of review applies and (2) whether driving under revocation (“DUR”) is a lesser included offense of aggravated driving after revocation prohibited (“aggravated DARP”).1

¶2 In Reyna-Abarca v. People, 2017 CO 15, ¶¶ 2-3, 390 P.3d 816, also decided today, we (1) concluded that unpreserved double jeopardy claims can be raised for the first time on appeal and that appellate courts should ordinarily review such claims for plain error and (2) clarified the applicable test to be employed in determining whether one offense is a lesser included offense of another. Applying those rulings here, we conclude that the division in Zubiate v. People, 2013 COA 69, — P.3d —, correctly (1) conducted plain error review of Vanessa Ann Zubiate’s unpreserved double jeopardy claim and (2) determined that DUR is not a lesser included offense of aggravated DARP, although our analysis differs somewhat from that of the division. Accordingly, we affirm.

I. Facts and Procedural History

¶3 The People charged Zubiate with, among other things, aggravated DARP and DUR after a police officer pulled her over for [396]*396making a turn without signaling. Zubiate did not object to these charges pursuant to Crim, P. 12(b)(2), which provides, as pertinent here, that objections based on defects in the charging document may be raised only by motion and that the failure to present such an objection constitutes a waiver thereof.

¶4 Zubiate pleaded guilty to the DUR offense, and the case proceeded to trial on the remaining charges. The jury deadlocked on two counts, including the aggravated DARP charge, and the court declared a mistrial on those counts. The People re-tried Zubiate on those charges, and a jury ultimately found her guilty of both. At no point prior to or during the subsequent sentencing proceedings did Zubiate contend that her multiplici-tous convictions for aggravated DARP and DUR violated her double jeopardy rights under the United States and Colorado Constitutions.

¶5 Zubiate appealed her convictions and argued for the first time that because DUR is a lesser included offense of aggravated DARP, double jeopardy principles required that the DUR conviction merge into the aggravated DARP conviction. The People re'sponded that because Zubiate had not preserved this claim at trial, she could not raise it on appeal. Alternatively, the People contended that because DUR requires proof of an additional element that aggravated DARP does not (namely, a previous alcohol-related offense that triggered the revocation), DUR is not a lesser included offense of aggravated DARP.

¶6 In a unanimous, published decision, the court of appeals division rejected the People’s contention that Zubiate’s failure to raise her double jeopardy claim at trial precluded appellate .review. Zubiate, ¶ 38. Instead, the division reviewed for plain error. Id. In evaluating whether DUR is a lesser included offense of aggravated DARP, the division then applied the version of the strict elements test that provided that an offense is included in another offense if establishing the greater offense’s statutory elements necessarily. establishes all of the lesser offense’s elements. Id. at ¶¶ 37, 49-62. In doing so, the division concluded that DUR is not a lesser includéd offense of aggravated DARP, albeit on grounds different from those advanced by the People. Id. at ¶¶ 46-60. Specifically, the division rejected the People’s argument that because DUR required proof that the existing revocation be for a previous alcohol-related offense, while aggravated DARP did not require such proof, Zubiate’s convictions did not merge. Id. at ¶¶ 46-47. The division opined that this distinction was inapposite because the provision enhancing - Zubiate’s DUR sentence for having had her license revoked for an alcohol-related offense was a sentence enhancer and thus was not a substantive element of DUR for purposes of the lesser included offense determination. Id. The division nonetheless concluded that DUR is not a lesser included offense of aggravated DARP because, among other things, “DUR requires proof of an additional fact that DARP does not—namely that a motor vehicle was driven on a highway.” Id. at ¶ 60, Accordingly, the division concluded that the two convictions do not merge and affirmed the judgment. Id, at ¶¶ 62-53.

¶7 Zubiate petitioned this court for a writ of certiorari on the issue of whether DUR is a lesser included offense of aggravated DARP. We granted that petition and added as an additional issue the question of whether appellate courts can review unpreserved double jeopardy claims raised for the first time on appeal.

II. Analysis

¶8 We first discuss whether defendants may raise unpreserved double jeopardy claims for the first time on appeal.' After concluding that they can, we proceed to discuss the merits of'Zubiate’s claim that DUR is a lesser included offense of aggravated DARP.

A. Appellate Review of Unpreserved Double Jeopardy Claims

¶9 The People contend that the court of appeals division erred in reviewing Zubiate’s unpreserved double jeopardy claim for plain error. They assert that Zubiate waived that claim when she did not object to any alleged defects in her charging document, as required by Crim. P. 12(b)(2). As we discussed at length in Reyna-Abarca, ¶¶ 38-45, however, Crim. P. 12(b)(2) is inapplicable because (1) prosecutors are permitted to charge in an information multiple claims aris-[397]*397mg from the same set of facts; (2) a double jeopardy claim does not arise until the defendant is convicted of multiplicitous counts; (3) Crim. P. 12(b)(2) does not require a defendant to file a motion regarding any error that might later flow from the charging document; and (4) no authority supports the People’s position that a defendant must “bookmark” a future double jeopardy claim at the pleadings stage. The same reasoning applies here.

¶10 The People further contend that because Zubiate pleaded guilty to DUR, she waived any claims, constitutional or otherwise, related to that plea, We are not persuaded.

Till As the People assert, a defendant who has pleaded guilty “may not thereafter raise independent claims relating to the deprivation of constitutional rights that occurred prior to the entry of the guilty plea.” Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258, 267, 93 S.Ct. 1602, 36 L.Ed.2d 235 (1973) (emphasis added); see also Neuhaus v. People, 2012 CO 65, ¶ 8, 289 P.3d 19, 21 (“Generally, a guilty plea precludes review of issues that arose prior to the plea.”). This principle is inapplicable here, however, because the alleged double jeopardy violation did not occur until after Zubiate’s DUR plea, when she was convicted of aggravated DARP. See People v. Greer, 262 P.3d 920, 929 (Colo. App. 2011) (“[T]he double jeopardy claim ripens only upon conviction of multiple offenses.”). We perceive no basis for concluding that in pleading guilty to a purported lesser included offense, Zubiate waived a double jeopardy claim that arose thereafter.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2017 CO 17, 390 P.3d 394, 2017 WL 745733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zubiate-v-people-colo-2017.