State v. Goins

231 W.Va. 617

748 S.E.2d 813

STATE of West Virginia, Respondent

v.Ronald GOINS, Petitioner.

No. 12–0256.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted Sept. 4, 2013.

Decided Sept. 12, 2013.

Syllabus by the Court

1. “The function of an appellate court when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction is to examine the evidence admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, is sufficient to convince a reasonable person of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, the relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Syllabus point 1, State v. Guthrie, 194 W.Va. 657, 461 S.E.2d 163 (1995).

2. “The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution consists of three separate constitutional protections. It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal. It protects against a second prosecutionfor the same offense after conviction. And it protects against multiple punishments for the same offense.” Syllabus point 1, State v. Gill, 187 W.Va. 136, 416 S.E.2d 253 (1992).

3. “The Double Jeopardy Clause in Article III, Section 5 of the West Virginia Constitution, provides immunity from further prosecution where a court having jurisdiction has acquitted the accused. It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction. It also prohibits multiple punishments for the same offense.” Syllabus point 1, Conner v. Griffith, 160 W.Va. 680, 238 S.E.2d 529 (1977).

4. The analysis of whether a criminal defendant may be separately convicted and punished for multiple violations of a single statutory provision turns upon the legislatively-intended unit of prosecution.

5. The focus of the unit of prosecution under the brandishing statute, W. Va.Code § 61–7–11 (1994) (Repl.Vol.2010), is not dependent upon the number of victims present when a deadly weapon is used to breach the peace. Therefore, a single incident of brandishing may not be punished as multiple offenses merely because there are two or more victims present or affected thereby.

David C. Smith, Public Defender Corporation, Princeton, WV, for Petitioner.

Patrick Morrisey, Attorney General, Benjamin F. Yancey, III, Assistant Attorney General, Charleston, WV, for Respondent.

DAVIS, Justice:

This is a criminal appeal filed by Ronald Goins (hereinafter “Mr. Goins”) from an order of the Circuit Court of Mercer County convicting him of five counts of misdemeanor brandishing. The circuit court sentenced Mr. Goins to five consecutive one year terms of incarceration.¹ In this appeal, Mr. Goins contends that his sentences for five counts of brandishing violate the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the state and federal constitutions. He also asserts that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the convictions. After a careful review of the briefs, the record submitted on appeal and listening to the arguments of the parties, we affirm, in part, reverse, in part and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 2010, Mr. Goins lived with his wife, Cynthia Goins, in their home on twenty-two acres of rural land in Rock, West Virginia.² On July 28, 2010, Mr. Goins began drinking while at home and got into an argument with his wife. The argument caused Mrs. Goins to take the family van and drive to her mother's home. However, the vehicle broke down before she could reach her mother's residence. Mrs. Goins called her husband to come and get her. Mr. Goins agreed and left the home with his father.³ Mrs. Goins was able to get the van started before her husband arrived. While Mrs. Goins was driving the van back toward her home, she saw Mr. Goins and his father. Both vehicles stopped at an intersection, and Mr. Goins got into the van with Mrs. Goins. After Mrs. Goins started driving the van, the couple began arguing. Mrs. Goins stopped the vehicle. Mr. Goins' father pulled up behind the van and told Mr. Goins to get into his car. Mr. Goins remained in his father's car until they arrived at a local store. After Mr. Goins made a purchase from the store, he got back into the van with his wife, and the couple drove home.

When the couple arrived home, Mr. Goins began drinking again. Mrs. Goins became upset and told her husband that she was going to tell her mother to come over and pick her up. Mr. Goins became angry and pulled the phone cord out of the wall. Mr. Goins eventually went to bed. After Mr. Goins went to sleep, Mrs. Goins took the couple's two infant children and left the house. Mrs. Goins walked with the children to the home of a neighbor about a mile away. While at the neighbor's home, Mrs. Goins called her brother, Joseph Tiller, and told him to come and get her.⁴

Mr. Tiller got into his vehicle, with his wife and their three children, and drove to the area where Mrs. Goins said she would be waiting. After Mr. Tiller reached the area where Mrs. Goins told him she would be, he could not find her. Mr. Tiller decided to drive toward Mrs. Goins' home in hopes of finding her along the way. Mr. Tiller stopped his vehicle about 150 yards from Mrs. Goins' home. Mr. Goins, who had awakened, was outside the home and sitting inside his van. Mr. Tiller stared at Mr. Goins for several minutes before Mr. Goins got out of the van. When Mr. Goins left the van, he aimed a pistol in the direction of the Tillers' vehicle and fired numerous times—the bullets landed within several feet of the vehicle. Mr. Tiller fled the scene and called the police.

In February 2011, a grand jury indicted Mr. Goins on one count of domestic battery, one count of domestic assault, and five counts of wanton endangerment. ⁵ A jury trial was held in December 2011. The jury acquitted Mr. Goins of the wanton endangerment charges ⁶ but found him guilty of five counts of the lesser included offense of brandishing.⁷

On January 18, 2012, the circuit court sentenced Mr. Goins to five consecutive terms of one year in jail but ordered the sentences be suspended and placed Mr. Goins on probation for five years. On April 17, 2012, the court revoked Mr. Goins' probation after determining that he had used a controlled substance while on probation. The court ordered Mr. Goins be confined in jail for one year, and that after serving the one year jail sentence, the remaining sentences would be suspended, and Mr. Goins would be placed on probation for four years. Thereafter, this appeal was timely filed.

II.STANDARD OF REVIEW

Mr. Goins contends that double jeopardy principles prevented him from being sentenced for five counts of brandishing, and that the evidence was insufficient to convict him. This Court has held that a “double jeopardy claim [is] reviewed de novo.” Syl. pt. 1, in part, State v. Sears, 196 W.Va. 71, 468 S.E.2d 324 (1996). See Syl. pt. 1, Chrystal R.M. v. Charlie A.L., 194 W.Va. 138, 459 S.E.2d 415 (1995) (“Where the issue on an appeal from the circuit court is clearly a question of law or involving an interpretation of a statute, we apply a de novo standard of review.”). With respect to a claim of insufficiency of evidence, we have held the following:

The function of an appellate court when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction is to examine the evidence admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, is sufficient to convince a reasonable person of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, the relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Syl. pt. 1, State v. Guthrie, 194 W.Va. 657, 461 S.E.2d 163 (1995). With these standards in place we will address the issues presented.

III.DISCUSSION

On appeal to this Court, Mr. Goins raises two assignments of error: (1) his multiple sentences for a single incident of brandishing violates double jeopardy principles and (2) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction. We will address each issue individually.

A. Double Jeopardy Claim

Mr. Goins argues that merely because five people were present when he fired his pistol did not mean that five separate incidents of brandishing occurred.⁸ In other words, assuming the evidence was sufficient to support a conviction for brandishing, Mr. Goins argues that he could be sentenced for only one incident of brandishing, not five instances of brandishing. Mr. Goins contends that double jeopardy principles preclude multiple punishments for a single offense.

We begin our analysis by observing that in Syllabus point 1 of State v. Gill, 187 W.Va. 136, 416 S.E.2d 253 (1992), this Court held the following regarding double jeopardy under the federal constitution:

The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution consists of three separate constitutional protections. It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal. It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction. And it protects against multiple punishments for the same offense.

Similarly, in Syllabus point 1 of Conner v. Griffith, 160 W.Va. 680, 238 S.E.2d 529 (1977), we held the following regarding double jeopardy under the state constitution:

The Double Jeopardy Clause in Article III, Section 5 of the West Virginia Constitution, provides immunity from further prosecution where a court having jurisdiction has acquitted the accused. It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction. It also prohibits multiple punishments for the same offense.⁹

(Footnote added).

In this proceeding, Mr. Goins invokes the third double jeopardy prohibition, i.e., multiple punishments for the...