Shawn Blaisdell Period 1 1/19/09

Presented: April 17 th 1995 Decided Upon: June 14 th 1995  Witte pleaded guilty to a federal marijuana charge  Witte was indicted for conspiring and attempting to import cocaine  Witte moved to dismiss the charges  He argued that he had already been punished for the offenses Cocaine was considered as "relevant conduct" at his marijuana sentencing 375 pounds of marijuana seized 591 kilograms

 The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution  The Double Jeopardy Clause provides: "[N]or shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb  This prohibits successive prosecution or multiple punishment for "the same offence”  Does a court violate that clause by convicting and sentencing a defendant for a crime when the conduct underlying that offense has been considered in determining the defendant's sentence for a previous conviction?

Court Ruling

Opinions DissentingConcurring  Justice Stevens  Justice Stevens disagreed because, he claims, "under the Guidelines, an offense that is included as `relevant conduct' does not relate to the character of the offender (which is reflected instead by criminal history), but rather measures only the character of the offense."  Justice O’Connor  A defendant has not been "punished" any more for double jeopardy purposes when relevant conduct is included in the calculation of his offense level.

Ramifications  the use of relevant conduct to increase the punishment for a charged offense does not punish the offender for the relevant conduct

A Case Related to this… Williams v. Oklahoma  the uncharged criminal conduct was used to enhance the original sentence  Williams robbed, kidnapped, and murdered someone.  kidnapping and murder are separate and distinct offenses  The convicted criminal made no claim of double jeopardy

Personal Response  I personally believe that Witte was punished for the amount of drugs in both charges and that his sentencing was correct and that it did not violate the double jeopardy clause.