People v. Jackson - 2020 CO 75, 472 P.3d 553

Rule:

In a mistaken-identity case, the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the federal and state constitutions dictate that a defendant may not stand convicted of both first degree murder and attempted first degree murder because the latter is a lesser included offense of the former—the elements of attempted first degree murder are a subset of the elements of first degree murder, and this particular attempted first degree murder is not factually distinct from this particular first degree murder.

Facts:

Defendant was charged with and convicted, as a complicitor, of both first-degree murder and attempted first degree murder after his codefendant aimed at, shot, and killed Y.M. under the mistaken belief that Y.M. was E.O. On appeal, defendant argued that his separate convictions and consecutive sentences for first degree murder and attempted first degree murder violated his state and federal constitutional rights against double jeopardy. The court of appeals vacated the defendant’s conviction and sentence for attempted first-degree murder and remanded the case to the trial court for correction of the mittimus. The People appealed. 

Issue:

Did the trial court err in entering convictions and imposing sentences for both of the offenses in question? 

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

The Court held that the trial court committed plain error when it violated defendant’s double jeopardy rights by convicting him as a complicitor of both first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder because they both related to the same criminal conduct and the same victim. The mistaken-identity case involved only one victim because the shooter attempted to kill the same person he actually killed; that the shooter wanted to kill a different victim was inconsequential and transferred intent did not apply. Therefore, the particular attempted first-degree murder was a lesser included offense of the particular first-degree murder under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-3-102(1)(a) and the conviction for the former had to merge into the conviction for the latter pursuant to Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1-408(1) (2019).