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Dutton v. State1/8/1999
icted of felony possession because she had already been convicted of a lesser included offense arising out of the same transaction. The Virginia court rejected this argument:
" everal federal and state courts [have addressed the analogous question of] whether retrying a defendant who has successfully appealed his plea-based conviction [on a lesser charge] violates double jeopardy. Those courts ... have consistently answered this inquiry in the negative. [Citations omitted] These courts reason that retrial on the original charges after a guilty plea [on a lesser included charge] has been reversed and vacated on appeal does not constitute double jeopardy; rather, jeopardy of the first trial continues through the appeal and into the subsequent retrial." Peterson, 363 S.E.2d at 446.
Similarly, in Village of Chagrin Falls v. Katelanos , the defendant was initially charged with driving while intoxicated but, at his arraignment, he agreed to plead no contest to a reduced charge ("driving with an excessive alcohol content") in exchange for the government's dismissal of the DWI charge. The defendant was convicted on his plea and sentenced, but he later filed an appeal challenging the validity of his plea. The Ohio Court of Appeals concluded that Katelanos's plea should be vacated because the arraigning Judge had failed to adequately explain the consequences of the plea. Having reached this Conclusion, the court then held that the government was free to reinstate the original charge against Katelanos - even though the plea agreement made no mention of what should happen if Katelanos later challenged his plea: Since the improper conviction resulted from a defective plea, the defendant has not performed his part of the ... plea bargain. Hence, we must vacate the [trial] court's action and reinstate all the original charges. Katelanos, 561 N.E.2d at 994.
Applying the foregoing double jeopardy holdings to Dutton's case, we conclude that the double jeopardy clause did not bar reinstatement of the original third-degree assault charge after Dutton withdrew his plea to the federal charge. Judge Weeks found that Dutton's plea agreement with the State hinged on the fact that Dutton would be convicted and sentenced on at least one federal felony - that this fact was crucial to the State's willingness to dismiss the third-degree assault charge and allow Dutton to plead to the reduced charge of fourth-degree assault. When, following his sentencing in state court, Dutton withdrew his federal plea, he put himself in a legal position analogous to the defendants in District Court, Siebert, Peterson, and Katelanos. That is, Dutton received the anticipated benefit of his bargain with the State, and then he voluntarily took action that defeated the State's expected benefit. Even though Dutton's plea agreement with the State did not contain an explicit provision outlining the State's remedies if Dutton withdrew his federal plea, we nevertheless conclude that the State was entitled to rescission of the plea agreement - return of the parties to the status quo ante, and reinstatement of the original charge.
Dutton's attack on one of the trial court's evidentiary rulings.
Aside from his arguments concerning his plea agreement and the double jeopardy clause, Dutton also argues that his conviction should be reversed because the superior court allowed the State to introduce certain evidence at his trial - photographs of firearms, 24,000 rounds of live ammunition, and thirty-eight knives that the authorities seized from Dutton's campsite at Glacier Bay. Dutton claims that this evidence was unfairly prejudicial and should have been excluded under Alaska Evidence Rules 403 and 404(b).
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