Michael A. Dunn v. Hon Beth Maze Judge, Montgomery Circuit Court ( 2016 )

RENDERED: MARCH 17, 2016
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MICHAEL A. DUNN APPELLANT
ON APPEAL FROM COURT OF APPEALS
V. 2014-CA-001966-OA
MONTGOMERY CIRCUIT COURT NO. 08-CR-00226
HONORABLE BETH LEWIS MAZE
(JUDGE, MONTGOMERY CIRCUIT
COURT) APPELLEE
AND
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY REAL PARTY IN INTEREST
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE NOBLE
REVERSING AND REMANDING
The Appellant, Michael A. Dunn, was previously prosecuted for seven
identically worded counts of first-degree sodomy. He was acquitted on two of
those counts, and convicted of the other five. His convictions were later
vacated, and a new trial was ordered. On remand to the trial court, Dunn
claimed his re-prosecution was barred by double jeopardy. The trial court
denied his claim. The Court of Appeals declined to grant a writ of prohibition
barring the impending retrial. A new trial on the vacated counts, however,
raises a substantial risk that Dunn will be tried for crimes for which he has
already been acquitted, thereby violating his double-jeopardy rights. For that
reason, the order of the Court of Appeals denying Dunn's petition for a writ of
prohibition is reversed.
I. Background
In 2008, Dunn was charged with seven counts of first-degree sodomy
with a minor. All seven counts of the indictment read identically. At trial, the
minor described five instances of anal sodomy in detail, including the
approximate time and circumstances surrounding the events. The minor also
testified that Dunn forced him to perform oral sex twice, though there appears
to have been less detail about those events. Though there was ample testimony
that would have allowed the jury to distinguish between the various incidents,
at least as to the anal sodomies, the jury instructions on all seven counts were
worded identically. The jury found Dunn guilty of five counts (counts 1 to 4,
and count 7) and not guilty of two counts (counts 5 and 6). He was sentenced
to fifty years in prison.
Dunn appealed to this Court. See Dunn v. Commonwealth, 360 S.W.3d
751 (Ky. 2012). He raised several issues but did not complain that the jury
instructions failed to factually differentiate between the counts, despite clear
law holding such failure to be reversible error. See Miller v. Commonwealth, 283
S.W.3d 690, 695 (Ky. 2009) ("Mt is now settled that a trial court errs in a case
involving multiple charges if its instructions to the jury fail to factually
differentiate between the separate offenses according to the evidence."). The
closest he came to this issue was in complaining that the trial court erred in
failing to order a bill of particulars, and that he was misled about which
2
incidents were included in the indictment and was thereby deprived of proper
notice of the charges. Dunn, 360 S.W.3d at 760. This Court affirmed his
convictions.
Nine months after this Court affirmed, Dunn filed a pro se motion under
Criminal Rule 11.42 collaterally attacking his conviction. He raised numerous
issues, including that his trial counsel had been ineffective by failing to object
to the identically worded jury instructions. The trial court denied the motion.
The Court of Appeals vacated Dunn's convictions and remanded for a
new trial. The court's opinion in that case was very short, as the
Commonwealth conceded both that Dunn's counsel had been ineffective, given
that instructions like those used in his case are palpable error under Miller,
and that Dunn was entitled to a new trial. See Dunn v. Commonwealth, 2013-
CA-000222-MR, 2014 WL 1155474, at *1 (Ky. App. Mar. 21, 2014)
(unpublished opinion).
On remand, Dunn moved to dismiss the indictment, claiming that his
right to a speedy trial was being violated and that retrial would violate the bar
on double jeopardy. The circuit court denied his motions. As to the double-
jeopardy claim, the court concluded that retrial was not barred because his
convictions had been vacated for instructional errors and remanded for a new
trial, with no appellate finding of insufficiency of the evidence. Interestingly, the
court ordered retrial on all seven counts, even the two of which Dunn had been
acquitted by the jury. Dunn moved the court to reconsider its order, but the
motion was denied.
3
Dunn then filed a petition for a writ' of prohibition in the Court of Appeals
seeking to bar his retrial. He again claimed that his right to a speedy trial and
the prohibition on double jeopardy would be violated by retrial. The Court of
Appeals granted the writ as to the two counts for which Dunn had been
acquitted, but denied the writ otherwise. As to the other five counts,
convictions for which had been vacated, the court concluded Dunn had not
shown that he lacked an adequate remedy by appeal, as required for the
remedy of a writ to even be available. (The court followed this conclusion by
stating: "Nothing prevents Dunn from taking an appeal from the circuit court's
order denying any motions to suppress evidence should he be convicted of any
offenses on retrial." This statement is curious because Dunn has not raised, at
this time, any complaint that evidence should have been suppressed.) The
court did not specifically address how Dunn had an adequate remedy by
appeal for his speedy-trial and double-jeopardy claims.
Dunn now appeals to this Court as a matter of right. See CR 76.36(7)(a)
("An appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court as a matter of right from a
judgment or final order in any proceeding originating in the Court of Appeals.");
Ky. Const. § 115 ("In all cases, civil and criminal, there shall be allowed as a
matter of right at least one appeal to another court ...."). He has not asked this
Court for intermediate relief under Civil Rule 76.36(4), though it appears that
the circuit court has continued the underlying case while this appeal is
pending. The Commonwealth did not cross-appeal that portion of the Court of
Appeals' order barring retrial of the two counts of which Dunn was acquitted,
and has indicated its assent to that part of the opinion.
4
II. Analysis
Although Dunn has raised two issues, that his right to a speedy trial has
been violated and that his right against double jeopardy will be violated by
retrial, we address only the latter because it is dispositive of his case. Dunn's
double jeopardy argument is that because he was acquitted on two of the seven
identically worded counts, he may not be retried on the remaining five counts.
His claim is, in essence, that because the counts were identically worded, we
cannot know whether the counts to be retried are ones that have already
resulted in an acquittal. Kentucky has not addressed this issue, though it has
hinted that identically worded "carbon copy" jury instructions contain a
double-jeopardy problem. See Miller v. Commonwealth, 283 S.W.3d 690, 695
(Ky. 2009) (noting that the issue with such instructions may be "viewed as one
of ... double jeopardy," among others (quoting Miller v. Commonwealth, 77
S.W.3d 566, 576 (Ky. 2002))). Other jurisdictions, however, have consistently
concluded that under such circumstances, "nothing would preclude a new jury
from convicting [the defendant] for alleged incidents for which he already has
been acquitted," and that would "constitute double jeopardy." State v. Heaven,
110 P.3d 835, 838 (Wash. 2005).
But this is not a typical appeal where we can jump immediately to the
merits of an appellant's claims. It is, instead, the appeal of a denial of a petition
for a writ of prohibition.. Generally speaking, cases in which a writ of
prohibition or mandamus is sought proceed in two steps. Collins v. Braden,
384 S.W.3d 154, 158 (Ky. 2012). First, the court must look at whether such an
extraordinary remedy is even available, before deciding the merits of the
5
claimed legal error. Id. Second, if the court finds that the remedy is available, it
may then look at the merits of the claimed error. Id. And if the trial court has
erred or is about to err, the court may issue the writ. Id. Thus, we must first
examine whether the remedy is even available.
A. Remedy by way of a writ is available to vindicate a claimed violation
of the Double Jeopardy Clause's bar on successive prosecutions.
In deciding whether the remedy is available, this Court has divided writ
cases into "two classes ..., one addressing claims that the lower court is
proceeding without subject matter jurisdiction and one addressing claims of
mere legal error." Id. at 158. Dunn has not made a claim under the first class,
and thus we address only the second.
Under the second class, a writ may be granted—that is, the remedy is
available—if "there exists no adequate remedy by appeal or otherwise and great
injustice and irreparable injury will result if the petition is not granted."
Hoskins v. Maricle, 150 S.W.3d 1, 10 (Ky. 2004). Of the two prerequisites for
this class of writ, the first is mandatory, and thus Dunn is required to prove
that he has no adequate remedy by appeal. Marcum v. Scorsone, 457 S.W.3d
710, 716 (Ky. 2015).
The Court of Appeals held that Dunn had an adequate remedy by appeal,
concluding that any double-jeopardy claim could be addressed by an appeal if
he were again convicted. In so concluding, the Court of Appeals acted in
accordance with our cases stating that double-jeopardy questions generally
may be remedied by appeal, and thus whether to examine a double jeopardy
issue in a writ action is wholly discretionary. See, e.g., St. Clair v. Castlen, 381
S.W.3d 306, 309 (Ky. 2012); St. Clair v. Roark, 10 S.W.3d 482, 485 (Ky. 1999).
This blanket approach to double jeopardy, however, ignores that double-
jeopardy questions arise in two distinct categories: those where a defendant is
prosecuted for multiple crimes arising from the same conduct, and those where
the defendant is prosecuted a second time (after either a conviction or an
acquittal). These categories reflect the fact that the Double Jeopardy Clause
both protects "against ... the actual imposition of two punishments for the
same offense" and "protects a criminal defendant from being twice put in
jeopardy for such punishment." Witte v. United States, 515 U.S. 389, 396
(1995); see also United States v. Central Liquor Co., 628 F.2d 1264, 1266 (10th
Cir. 1980) ("The right not to be tried more than once and the right not to
receive multiple convictions and punishments for the same offense are both
protected by the double jeopardy clause, but they are conceptually distinct
rights."). This latter protection is perhaps best described as protection against
successive prosecutions.
Our adequate-remedy cases apply in the context of a case in which a
defendant is being prosecuted in a single proceeding for multiple crimes arising
from one course of conduct and is thus subject to multiple punishments. The
double-jeopardy question in such a case is resolved under Blockburger v.
United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304 (1932). An appellate court should not
intercede while such a case is ongoing because the doubling of jeopardy does
not occur until the defendant is doubly punished. And any error in that context
can be corrected on appeal. See Abney v. United States, 431 U.S. 651, 660
7
(1977) (noting that the protection against double punishment "can be fully
vindicated on an appeal following final judgment").
Those cases, however, do not apply where the defendant complains of a
second (or third or fourth) prosecution. Such cases implicate the Double
Jeopardy Clause's second protection, namely, protection against "the risk that
an accused for a second time will be convicted of the 'same offense' for which
he was initially tried." Id. at 661 (quoting Price v. Georgia, 398 U.S. 323, 326
(1970)). This protection is "a guarantee against being twice put to trial for the
same offense." Id.; see also Blackledge v. Perry, 417 U.S. 21, 31 (1974) (noting
that "the Double Jeopardy Clause is distinctive ... [because] 'its practical result
is to prevent a trial from taking place at all"' (quoting Robinson v. Neil, 409 U.S.
505, 509 (1973)). In other words, it is the second trial that is forbidden,
assuming that the second trial would, in fact, result in double jeopardy.
Indeed, it is for this reason that the federal courts allow an immediate appeal of
a district court's order rejecting a successive-prosecution double-jeopardy
claim and ordering a defendant to be tried a second time. Abney, 431 U.S. at
661. This is necessary because "these aspects of the guarantee's protections
would be lost if the accused were forced to 'run the gauntlet' a second time
before an appeal could be taken." Id. Thus, a post-trial appeal is inherently
inadequate to protect this aspect of the double-jeopardy protection because
"even if the accused is acquitted, or, if convicted, has his conviction ultimately
reversed on double jeopardy grounds, he has still been forced to endure a trial
that the Double Jeopardy Clause was designed to prohibit." Id.
8
Some of our cases have acknowledged this limit and have suggested that
a successive-prosecution double jeopardy claim satisfies the inadequate-
remedy requirement. For example, the seminal writ case Hoskins v. Maricle
notes: "we have found the right of appeal inadequate when the petition of a
criminal defendant seeks to prohibit a proceeding allegedly barred by the
constitutional proscription against double jeopardy." 150 S.W.3d at 19; see
also Radford v. Lovelace, 212 S.W.3d 72, 78 (Ky. 2006), overruled on other
grounds by Cardine v. Commonwealth, 283 S.W.3d 641 (Ky. 2009) (finding no
adequate remedy by appeal where defendant claimed second trial was barred
by double jeopardy). 1
At the very least, then, our cases have treated this question
inconsistently, often without even acknowledging the other line of cases. Today
we resolve this conflict. Although the remedy of a writ remains discretionary
with the reviewing court, there is not an adequate remedy by appeal where a
defendant contends that double jeopardy would bar a second trial following
either an acquittal or conviction. This, however, is not to say that all such
claims will be meritorious; rather, it is to say only that the requirement of no
adequate remedy by appeal is shown. The point is that a reviewing court must
exercise its discretion not willfully, but soundly, when there is no adequate
remedy by appeal.
1Ironically, Hoskins cites St. Clair v. Roark for this point, despite the fact that
that case specifically concluded that a court could decline to review a writ petition "on
grounds that there is an adequate remedy by appeal." St. Clair v. Roark, 10 S.W.3d
482, 485 (Ky. 1999).
9
The second writ prerequisite, of great injustice and irreparable injury, is
more readily disposed of. A meritorious claim that double jeopardy bars retrial
satisfies the requirement of great injustice and irreparable injury. See Radford,
212 S.W.3d at 79 (noting that irreparable injury turned on merits of the
double-jeopardy claim). This seems obvious given that the constitutional
protection against double jeopardy is one of our most basic freedoms against
governmental overreach and is a fundamental aspect of our justice system.
And the unique nature of the protection—against the trial itself—proves that
any violation of the right—by having a second trial—is irreparable.
That said, even if the purported violation would not result in irreparable
harm, a writ would still be available. The irreparable-harm requirement "may
be put aside in 'certain special cases.'" Grange Mut. Ins. Co. v. Trude, 151
S.W.3d 803, 808 (Ky. 2004) (quoting Bender v. Eaton, 343 S.W.2d 799, 801
(Ky. 1961)). That limited sub-class of cases consists of those in which "a
substantial miscarriage of justice will result if the lower court is proceeding
erroneously, and correction of the error is necessary and appropriate in the
interest of orderly judicial administration." Id. (quoting Bender, 343 S.W.3d at
801). A second trial in violation of the bar on double jeopardy "would constitute
a miscarriage of justice and would disrupt the orderly administration of
justice." Hoskins, 150 S.W.3d at 20. And thus, successive-prosecution claims
also meet the special-cases exception.
10
B. Dunn did not waive his double jeopardy claim by failing to raise it in
state collateral attack under Criminal Rule 11.42, nor by seeking to
have his convictions vacated.
Having concluded that the remedy of a writ is available, we would
normally turn next to the merits of the claim. But the Commonwealth has also
raised the claim that Dunn is barred from pursuing his double jeopardy claim
because he failed to raise it in his 11.42 action, or, barring that, because he
successfully attacked his convictions.
The Commonwealth's claim is based on the holding in Johnson v.
Commonwealth, 450 S.W.3d 707 (Ky. 2014). In that case, we held that a trial
court is bound by an appellate court's mandate on remand and has no power
to act in a manner inconsistent with it. Id. at 710-11. We also held that the
process for reviewing a criminal judgment, both on direct appeal and in
collateral attacks, is a complete system, and that "[a]t each stage in this
structure, the defendant is required to raise all issues then amenable to
review." Id. at 712. "Any issue that could have been raised but was not is
treated as waived." Id.
The Commonwealth now suggests that the trial court and Dunn were
bound by the Court of Appeals' remand for a new trial. It argues explicitly that
the double-jeopardy question is one that should have been raised previously
and is therefore waived.
After substantial research, however, it appears to this Court that the
Commonwealth's argument is built on a pair of incorrect premises.
First, the trial court in this case would not be violating the appellate
mandate by considering (and granting) Dunn's motion to dismiss if, in fact, he
11
has shown a double-jeopardy violation. Although the Court of Appeals
remanded to the circuit court for a new trial, that does not literally require that
Dunn be retried. Obviously, the defendant might enter a plea. Or the
Commonwealth could choose to dismiss because evidence had been lost. In
fact, any number of legitimate things might prevent a retrial. All a remand for
a new trial does is reset the process, giving the Commonwealth the right to
proceed or the defendant the right to plead—or not. This reset is subject to any
directions from the appellate court: "upon return of a case from this court for a
new trial the situation of the parties and the condition of the case is the same
as if the trial court in place of this court had granted a new trial, subject,
however, to the directions given by this court concerning the manner in which
the case shall be retried." Halteman v. Russell, 185 S.W.2d 399, 402 (Ky. 1945).
For the Commonwealth to prevail on this issue, this Court would have to
impose a rule of such rigidity as to defeat the purpose of a retrial in the first
instance: to allow for a fundamentally fair trial. Such an extreme reading of
Johnson borders on the ridiculous, and cannot justify the trial court requiring
retrial on all seven charges, even though Appellant had been acquitted on two
of the seven in the first trial.
It is also important to note that the follow-the-mandate rule laid out in
Johnson applied to an affirmed judgment. 450 S.W.3d at 710; see also
Williamson v. Commonwealth, 767 S.W.2d 323, 325 (Ky. 1989) (applying rule to
portion of judgment affirmed on appeal). The rule is driven by the interest in
finality of judgments, and thus it is addressed to situations "when an issue is
finally determined by an appellate court." Johnson, 450 S.W.3d at 711 (quoting
12
Williamson, 767 S.W.2d at 325) (emphasis added). Simple logic dictates that an
appellate court order constrains a trial court from "redoing" that which has
already been affirmed and is the law of the case.
In vacating Dunn's conviction and remanding for a new trial, the Court of
Appeals was, in fact, not deciding anything finally, at least not with respect to
his guilt or, if necessary, appropriate sentence. If anything, the Court of
Appeals delayed finality by undoing the existing judgment and allowing further
proceedings.
But the Commonwealth also claims that the double-jeopardy issue could
have been raised in the previous appeal and cannot be raised now under the
rule that issues that could have been raised but were not treated as waived.
This waiver rule is an extension of the law-of-the-case doctrine, and it works
"to bar the trial court from considering issues on remand that could have been
but were not raised in the appeal." Johnson, 450 S.W.3d at 712. But this rule
is also concerned "with society's and the court's interest in the ultimate finality
of judgments." Id. (quoting Hollon v. Commonwealth, 334 S.W.3d 431, 437 (Ky.
2010)). Again, there was no final judgment being affirmed that could be
affected by raising new issues on remand. The finality interest served by the
Johnson waiver rule simply was not in play because the Court of Appeals
reversed and remanded this case for a new trial.
Indeed, what was important in Johnson was that this Court's prior
opinion "required no further proceedings (such as a retrial, a hearing, or a
resentencing at which probation was to be considered) that might have allowed
a new issue to be injected into this case." Id. at 714 (emphasis added). Here,
13
the trial court was told to hold a new trial. That is precisely the type of further
proceeding that Johnson contemplated would allow the injection of additional
issues. And there were no limits in the Court of Appeals' remand, other than
the implicit requirement that any retrial use appropriate jury instructions, and
the double-jeopardy question had not previously been decided.
This brings us to the Commonwealth's second incorrect premise: the
assumption that the double-jeopardy issue could have been raised and decided
in the Criminal Rule 11.42 action, and thus was waived. The simple fact is that
Dunn could not have asked either the trial court or the Court of Appeals to
dismiss the charges against him because any double jeopardy claim based on
the threat of a second trial was not yet ripe.
Although a defendant does not have to wait until a second conviction
before he may raise this type of double-jeopardy challenge, since it is the
second attempt to convict that is forbidden, see Witte v. United States, 515 U.S.
389, 397 (1995) (holding that double-jeopardy claim was ripe when government
undertakes second prosecution), 2 his claim is not ripe until the government
actually initiates the second prosecution. 3
2 Indeed, this is why, as explained above, the federal courts allow an
interlocutory appeal of an adverse double-jeopardy decision of this type.
3 Some courts have held that a double jeopardy claim is not ripe until the
defendant receives a second punishment. See, e.g., United States v. McKinley, 38 F.3d
428, 430 (9th Cir. 1994) (concluding "that because the double jeopardy claim focuses
on double punishment it is not ripe for review" where defendant had not yet been
subjected to a second punishment); United States v. Koonce, 885 F.2d 720, 722 (10th
Cir. 1989) (double-jeopardy motion not ripe for review "[u]nless and until defendant
receives some punishment ... that is arguably multiple"). Those cases, however, are
based on the Double Jeopardy Clause's protection against multiple punishments, not
its protection against subsequent prosecution. Again, the "right not to be tried more
than once and the right not to receive multiple convictions and punishments for the
same offense are both protected by the double jeopardy clause, but they are
14
Until the government indicates its intent to try a defendant a second
time, any "Double Jeopardy claim is pure speculation about what might occur
in the future." United States v. Suarez, 617 Fed. Appx. 537, 545 (6th Cir. 2015).
This appears to be the almost universal rule across the United States. 4 For
conceptually distinct rights." United States v. Central Liquor Co., 628 F.2d 1264, 1266
(10th Cir. 1980). When the double-jeopardy claim becomes ripe depends on the nature
of the protection claimed. Thus, a defendant may pursue—by interlocutory appeal, no
less—a claim that he is being subjected to a second trial improperly, see Abney v.
United States, 431 U.S. 651, 661 (1977), but would have to wait until convicted of two
crimes that allegedly arise from the same act, whether in a single trial or successive
trials, before he can invoke the protection against multiple punishment.
4 The examples are too numerous to include in the text above. They include:
United States v. Qasim, 294 Fed. Appx. 509, 514 n.6 (11th Cir. 2008) ("Whether the
government would commence a second prosecution of Qasim for murder is
speculation, and Qasim's double jeopardy claim is not ripe."); United States v. Corona,
34 F.3d 876, 882 n.5 (9th Cir. 1994) ("We do not address the question of whether the
Double Jeopardy Clause now bars the government from trying Corona in California on
the substantive counts. This issue would only become ripe if the government did
attempt a second prosecution."); Nelson v. State, 72 So. 3d 1038, 1044-45 (Miss. 2011)
(concluding that double-jeopardy claim based on fact that defendant "may be
prosecuted in the future ... is not ripe for determination"); Morris v. State, 795 A.2d
653, 661 (Del. 2002) ("[A] properly presented claim that retrial is barred by double
jeopardy cannot be raised unless and until the State elects to reprosecute.
Accordingly, the issue is not ripe and we decline to pass upon the question. Whether
or not the State will seek a retrial and, if so, how the double jeopardy issue will be
presented to the Superior Court and how it will rule are all, of course, unknown future
events. As interesting as this issue is, we may never have to decide it. If we were to
speak to the issue in this Opinion we would be expressing an advisory opinion, and
that is not our proper function." (footnotes omitted)); State v. McKenna, 512 A.2d 113,
115 (R.I. 1986) ("Unless or until a second prosecution is commenced, defendant's
double jeopardy challenge is speculative and not ripe for consideration by this court.");
Bailey v. State, 688 P.2d 320, 322 (Nev. 1984) ("We conclude, however, that unless
and until the state refiles the attempted murder charge, the double jeopardy claim is
premature; accordingly, we decline to address it at this time. On remand, if the state
refiles the murder charge, appellant may raise his double jeopardy claim in district
court by the appropriate motion."); State v. Bazemore, 107 Conn. App. 441, 945 A.2d
987 (App. Ct. Conn. 2008) (concluding "that because a second prosecution has not
been commenced ..., the issue is not yet ripe for adjudication"); York v. State, 751 So.
2d 1194, 1199-200 (Miss. Ct. App. 1999) (concluding that double jeopardy "is not ripe
for review" and that "the risk of double jeopardy is speculative" until government tries
to prosecute); State v. Rasch, 935 P.2d 887, 890-91 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1996)
("Furthermore, we observe in passing that a double jeopardy issue is not 'ripe' until
the defendant is prosecuted following a mistrial. The issue is normally presented when
defendant moves to dismiss the second prosecution on double jeopardy grounds,
claiming that judicial or prosecutorial overreaching intentionally forced a mistrial of
15
example, the Eleventh Circuit has held that where the district court directed a
verdict of acquittal while an appeal of a suppression question was pending, a
double-jeopardy claim was not yet ripe in the appeal. United States v. Tovar-
Rico, 61 F.3d 1529, 1532 (11th Cir. 1995). The court held instead: "If the
government decides to proceed with another trial of [the defendant], she may
raise the double jeopardy issue which would then be ripe for decision. We
cannot speculate what further proceedings, if any, will take place." Id.
Despite this authority, the Commonwealth cites Commonwealth v.
Davidson, 277 S.W.3d 232, 235 (Ky. 2009), in which we affirmed the Court of
Appeals' decision to bar retrial on double-jeopardy grounds, before there was
ever a threat of retrial, where it found the evidence insufficient to support the
conviction. But this case is at best factual precedent for the practice because
the ripeness of the double-jeopardy question does not appear to have been
raised in the case, either before the Court of Appeals on rehearing or before
this Court on discretionary review, which was sought by the Commonwealth.
the original prosecution." (citations omitted)); Burks v. State, 876 S.W.2d 877, 889
(Tex. Crim. App. 1994) ("In regards to any potential claim of jeopardy which appellant
might have to assert in a future prosecution, the proper time to argue this issue is
after he has been charged or indicted for that unnamed future offense. As of now, that
issue is far from ripe."); Coles v. Smith, 1:10 CV 525, 2013 WL 474706, at *8 (N.D.
Ohio Feb. 7, 2013), affd, 577 Fed. Appx. 502 (6th Cir. 2014) ("[D]ouble jeopardy
issues arise only after the state files a second indictment."); Willing v. Warren, CIV. 06-
11650, 2006 WL 1107070, at *1 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 26, 2006) ("Double Jeopardy became
ripe at the first notice of the State's intent to retry Mr. Willing in a published notice,
June 30, 2005, and was furthered by its second notice of intent through an ex parte
Motion for Writ of Habeas Corpus, filed July 22, 2005."); Johnston v. Porter, CV-05-
O78-CI, 2005 WL 2708421, at *4 (E.D. Wash. Sept. 29, 2005) ("To be colorable, a
double jeopardy claim must have some possible validity. This issue would become ripe
only if and when the government attempts a second prosecution" (citation and
quotation marks omitted)).
16
Davidson simply has nothing to say about the ripeness of a double-jeopardy
claim.
And this Court has declined elsewhere to address a double-jeopardy
question as not yet ripe where a second prosecution has not yet been
commenced. See Applegate v. Commonwealth, 299 S.W.3d 266, 271 (Ky. 2009)
(holding that a double-jeopardy claim related to lack of specificity in jury
instructions "is not yet ripe" because defendant had "not been again arrested or
indicted for any crimes for which he has already been convicted"). Until the
Commonwealth decides to proceed with the subsequent prosecution, any
"concerns about double jeopardy are speculative and not justiciable." Id.
Of course, Dunn did request a new trial in his Criminal Rule 11.42
motion. It thus could be argued that he should have raised his double-jeopardy
claim then because a second trial was inevitable if he prevailed (which he did).
This is precisely the claim that was presented to the Pennsylvania Superior
Court in Commonwealth v. Moose, 623 A.2d 831 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1993), as part
of an argument that the defendant waived any double-jeopardy claim by asking
for a new trial without raising the double jeopardy question in the same
appeal.
There, the government suggested, as does the Commonwealth here, that
the defendant "received what he requested on appeal, i.e., a new trial, and
should not now be permitted to seek additional relief in the form of dismissal of
the charges." Id. at 835 n.2. But as we pointed out above, that assumes
entirely too much. And, as the Pennsylvania court noted, lilt is not axiomatic
from that juncture ... that the Commonwealth will undertake re-prosecution."
17
Id. Instead, it is only "[o]nce that decision has been made by the
Commonwealth ... [that] the question of being placed twice in jeopardy is ripe
for review." Id.
Indeed, it is axiomatic that a defendant is not at risk a second time—that
is, subject to double jeopardy—until he in fact is put at risk. That can only
occur when and if a second prosecution occurs.
And this case is a good example of where, at least at the time of Dunn's
request for a new trial, the Commonwealth might have chosen not to proceed to
trial a second time if Dunn's claim was successful. Dunn was acquitted of two
of the charges against him, which suggests the Commonwealth's proof was not
compelling across the board. It was entirely possible that the Commonwealth
may not have wanted a second trial, whether because of concerns about its
own resources being wasted or about further trauma to the complaining
witness. Or, more likely, the Commonwealth might have anticipated seeking a
plea agreement. Either way, a second trial might not have occurred.
We agree with the vast majority of courts to have addressed this
question. Where a defendant's conviction has been vacated and the matter is
remanded for a new trial, any claim of a violation of the double-jeopardy right
against successive prosecution is not ripe until the Commonwealth indicates
its intent to re-prosecute. Obviously that decision was eventually made in this
case, but it did not (and could not) occur until the remand took place. We agree
with Pennsylvania that there is no guarantee that a second prosecution will
occur, and that any claim of a double-jeopardy violation before the
Commonwealth indicates its intent would be speculative.
18
Finally, the Commonwealth suggests that Dunn is barred from raising
his double-jeopardy claim simply because he procured the vacation of his
convictions by pursuing his 11.42 remedies. If this were a case about an
evidentiary error or other trial error, a reversal would not bar reprosecution on
double-jeopardy grounds because lilt is elementary that one may not complain
of former jeopardy when he procured the setting aside of the earlier judgment."
Ferguson v. Commonwealth, 401 S.W.2d 225, 228 (Ky. 1965); see also Lockhart
v. Nelson, 488 U.S. 33, 38 (1.988). That limit, however, does not apply where
the defendant has previously been acquitted of the charges that he now
challenges. A jury acquittal results in the greatest protection against
subsequent prosecution. See, e.g., Ball v. United States, 163 U.S. 662, 671
(1896) ("The verdict of acquittal was final, and could not be reviewed, on error
or otherwise, without putting him twice in jeopardy, and thereby violating the
constitution. However it may be in England, in this country a verdict of
acquittal, although not followed by any judgment, is a bar to a subsequent
prosecution for the same offense."). Indeed, "we necessarily afford absolute
finality to a jury's verdict of acquittal—no matter how erroneous its decision."
Burks, 437 U.S. at 1.
And, as the clincher, it should be noted that although Dunn obtained the
vacation of his convictions on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel, he
has not waived any claim of double jeopardy with respect to the remaining
counts given the unusual circumstances of his case. He claims, quite correctly,
that he was acquitted of two counts at his previous trial and may never be re-
tried for the offenses to which those counts correspond.
19
He also claims that because he (and, indeed, no one) can know what
offenses those acquittals relate to, he cannot be retried on any of the counts.
He is, in essence, pleading that his former acquittals bar a subsequent
prosecution. If he is correct on that claim, then his present double-jeopardy
claim cannot have been waived by his success in obtaining the vacation of his
other convictions. He is not claiming that his re-prosecution is barred by the
fact that he was previously prosecuted for those offenses; he is, instead,
claiming that re-prosecution is barred because he was functionally acquitted of
the previous offenses.
He is correct, then, that he did not waive his present double-jeopardy
claim by successfully pursuing the vacation of his convictions. His double-
jeopardy claim is not based on the fact of the previous convictions. It is instead
based on the prior acquittals. A jury's verdict of acquittal, if indeed there is
one, is absolute. If Dunn is correct that those acquittals apply to the other
identically worded counts for which he was prosecuted, then he is correct that
he has not waived any successive-prosecution claim as to those counts.
C. Double jeopardy bars re prosecution of Dunn.
-
Having concluded both that the remedy of a writ is available and that
Dunn has not waived his successive-prosecution double-jeopardy claim, we
turn now to the merits of that claim. As noted above, we have not previously
addressed this issue, though we have hinted that the problem with identically
worded "carbon copy" jury instructions may be "viewed as one of ... double
jeopardy," among other concerns. Miller, 283 S.W.3d at 695 (quoting Miller, 77
S.W.3d at 576). Those cases have actually turned on the other concerns, such
20
as the effect of such instructions on the defendant's rights to a unanimous
verdict and to due process. See id. 694-95 (discussing unanimous verdict and
due-process problems).
The core problem when identical, generic counts are used is that "we
cannot be sure what factual incidents were presented and decided by this
jury." Valentine v. Konteh, 395 F.3d 626, 635 (6th Cir. 2005). The indictment in
such a case is considered flawed for this reason. If the error in the indictment
is carried on in the instructions and resulting jury verdict, a due-process
violation occurs. The due-process problem is two-fold: the generic indictment
failed to give adequate notice of the charges, id. at 631-32, and the indictment,
along with the instructions and verdict, fails to provide adequate protection
against double jeopardy in the future, id. at 634-35. This second aspect is not a
double-jeopardy error per se; it is still a due-process violation.
At the time of the first trial, any double-jeopardy problem is only a
potential one. As discussed above, such double-jeopardy issues are not ripe
until a second prosecution is pursued. And that problem, while obviously
related to due-process concerns, is distinct from any due-process problem. The
due-process error is a present problem; any double-jeopardy problem is a
future one. Thus, the instructions and jury verdicts have an existing defect
affecting the defendant's rights to due process, but they also have the latent
defect related to the defendant's double-jeopardy rights that can manifest only
if there is a reversal of the convictions and a retrial in the future.
But in this case, we have arrived at that future. The Commonwealth
previously employed a generic, identically worded multiple-count indictment.
21
The trial court then used generic, identically worded jury instructions on those
counts. The jury returned a mixed verdict on those counts. And the Court of
Appeals reversed the convictions on error conceded by the Commonwealth. The
Commonwealth now seeks to prosecute Dunn a second time.
Dunn claims that his prior acquittals bar his retrial. This Court agrees.
The latent defect has now become manifest; what had been a potential double-
jeopardy problem has now become an existing double-jeopardy problem.
As Justice Cunningham has noted of identically worded jury
instructions, "We do not know exactly which criminal acts the jury
unanimously found the defendant guilty of." Miller, 283 S.W.3d at 705
(Cunningham, J., concurring). But that also means that we do not know
exactly which criminal acts the jury unanimously acquitted the defendant of.
Unlike the convictions, which have been set aside, the acquittals
continue to have full effect and are not undone by any appeal. Indeed, this is
why the Court of Appeals granted the writ of prohibition to bar the circuit court
from retrying Dunn on the two counts of which he was acquitted. But what
crimes were covered by those counts?
Almost every other jurisdiction to have considered this question has
concluded that upon retrial, "nothing would preclude a new jury from
convicting [the defendant] for alleged incidents for which he already has been
acquitted," and that such an outcome would "constitute double jeopardy."
State v. Heaven, 110 P.3d 835, 838 (Wash. 2005); accord State v. Salter, 42
A.3d 196, 207 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2012) ("[W]e could not say with any
confidence that defendant would not endure a second prosecution for the same
22
offense after acquittal, something categorically prohibited by our double
jeopardy jurisprudence." (internal quotation marks omitted)); Goforth v. State,
70 So. 3d 174, 190 (Miss. 2011) (holding that defendant who was acquitted on
three of five identically worded counts "cannot be prosecuted again on these
charges or for any same crimes that occurred during the time period set forth
in her indictment" when the convictions were reversed for other grounds);
Brown v. Superior Court, 114 Cal. Rptr. 3d 804, 820 (Cal. Ct. App 2010)
(concluding that "the prosecutor has not shown, and cannot show, that none of
the acquittals pertained to the ... incident [being prosecuted]" and that
"[d]ouble jeopardy precludes the retrial of [the] count"); Commonwealth v.
Hrycenko, 630 N.E.2d 258, 263 (Mass. 1994) ("The defendant could not have
been retried on the two indictments on whiCh the convictions were reversed on
appeal without being subjected to the risk of conviction on a rape charge on
which he had been previously acquitted."); State v. Ogle, 2007-Ohio-5066, 2007
WL 2793355, ¶ 23 (Oh. Ct. App. Sept. 27, 2007) (unpublished opinion) (finding
double jeopardy barred retrial upon reversal where defendant was acquitted on
some counts and convicted of others); Madsen v. McFaul, 643 F. Supp. 2d 962,
968 (N.D. Ohio 2009) ("This Court realizes the jury acquitted Petitioner on two
of the eight rape counts, but the carbon-copy nature of the Indictment and Bill
of Particulars result in an effective acquittal on all eight counts for the purpose
of evaluating this Petition."); cf. Isaac v. Grider, No. 98-6376, 2000 WL 571959
(6th Cir. 2000) (unpublished table decision) (noting that "the identical charges
introduced the risk of double jeopardy and, indeed, may have already resulted
in double jeopardy in this prosecution given the unique facts of this case,"
23
namely, where trial court acquitted defendant on four charges and then
submitted six charges to jury, which convicted); Dorsey v. Banks, 749 F. Supp.
2d 715, 743-46 (S.D. Ohio 2010) (finding double-jeopardy violation where trial
court acquitted defendant on two charges but allowed a third charge to go to
the jury, and there was evidence of multiple offenses).
Where the earlier not-guilty verdicts are based on generic, identically
worded counts both in the indictment and jury instructions, they must be
given effect. Because those acquittals cannot be tied to any particular alleged
crimes, they must necessarily act as acquittals on all the counts brought at
that time, just as they would if Dunn had been indicted for additional identical
counts after the first trial had resulted in only acquittals. If the Commonwealth
retries Dunn for any of the counts originally at issue in his trial, he faces a risk
of being tried for a count for which he has already been acquitted. There is
simply no way, in this after-the-fact review, to definitively say on which counts
the jury acquitted Dunn. The Commonwealth cannot hide behind jury
instructions—found to be flawed by the Court of Appeals in the 11.42 appeal,
and admitted to be erroneous by the Commonwealth itself—to avoid the risk
that Dunn is being placed in double-jeopardy by his retrial.
As noted above, this Court has previously condemned the use of
identically worded jury instructions on multiple counts that do not require the
jury to factually distinguish one instance of a crime from another. Such
instructions implicate multiple constitutional rights, including the right to due
process. But this case illustrates the greater problem with the use of such
instructions. Not only are the jury verdicts based on such instructions flawed,
24
but retrial cannot be had if the jury returned a mixed verdict. As the Ohio
federal district court noted in Madsen, being convicted on "two out of [seven]
counts ... result[s] in an effective acquittal on all [seven] counts." Madsen, 643
F. Supp. 2d at 968.
III. Conclusion
A new trial in this case raises a substantial risk that Dunn will be tried
for crimes for which he has already been acquitted, thereby violating his
double-jeopardy right against successive prosecution. For that reason, the
order of the Court of Appeals denying Dunn's petition for a writ of prohibition
is reversed, and this case is remanded to the Court of Appeals to issue a writ in
conformity with this opinion.
Minton, C.J.; Hughes, Venters and Wright, JJ., concur. Keller, J.,
concurs in result only. Cunningham, J., not sitting.
25
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT:
Matthew McGavock Robinson
Robinson 86 Brandt, P.S.C.
629 Main Street, Suite B
Covington, Kentucky 41011
APPELLEE:
Honorable Beth Lewis Maze
Judge, Montgomery Circuit Court
21st Judicial Circuit
PO Box 1267
Mt. Sterling, Kentucky 40353
COUNSEL FOR REAL PARTY IN INTEREST:
Andy Beshear
Attorney General
Jeffrey Allan Cross
Assistant Attorney General
Office of Criminal Appeals
Attorney General's Office
1024 Capital Center Drive
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Ronnie Lee Goldy, Jr.
Commonwealth's Attorney
44 West Main Street, Suite A
Mt. Sterling, Kentucky 40353
26