Double Jeopardy – Motion to Dismiss

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Criminal

7^th Circuit court of Appeals.

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, ROVNER, Circuit Judge, and SPRINGMANN, District Judge

Double Jeopardy – Motion to Dismiss

14-3332 United States of America v. Joseph Faulkner

Appellant double jeopardy argument fails for lack of showing that charges to which he pled and was found guilty of were identical.

“Faulkner overstates the overlap between the two cases. Counts II and III of the 2013 indictment relate to a specific incident of violent conduct that took place on January 15, 2010, but the judge made no reference to this particular episode at the sentencing hearing. Nevertheless, even if the conduct were identical, Faulkner’s claim suffers from a more fundamental problem. The Supreme Court has held that the “use of evidence of related criminal conduct to enhance a defendant’s sentence for a separate crime within the authorized statutory limits does not constitute punishment for that conduct within the meaning of the Double Jeopardy Clause.” Witte, 515 U.S. at 399. Thus, for purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause, any use the judge made of evidence of Faulkner’s involvement with controlled substances, gangs, and violence did not constitute “punishment” for that conduct, and thus a later conviction on the basis of that conduct does not violate the Clause”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing attorney at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.