People v. Allen
| Decision Date | 03 August 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88CA1313,88CA1313 |
| Citation | 787 P.2d 174 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Ralph S. ALLEN, Defendant-Appellee. . II |
| Court | Colorado Court of Appeals |
Donald E. Mielke, Dist. Atty., and Donna Skinner Reed, Sr. Deputy Dist. Atty., Golden, for plaintiff-appellant.
Duran & Duran, John T. Hyland and T. Mark Kulish, Denver, for defendant-appellee.
Sandra J. Pfaff and Diana M. Poole, Denver, for amicus curiae The Colorado Women's Bar Ass'n.
Ruth A. Buechler, Sandra Schwayder and Maureen S. Farrell, Denver, for amicus curiae Nat. Lawyers Guild.
Bonham, Peake & Hutchinson, Nancy Hutchinson, Denver, for amicus curiae Colorado Domestic Violence Coalition.
Opinion by Judge SMITH.
The People appeal the trial court's judgment dismissing criminal charges against the defendant, Ralph S. Allen. We reverse and remand with directions to reinstate the charges.
After having suffered repeated abuse, defendant's wife obtained from the county court a permanent restraining order against the defendant pursuant to § 14-4-101, et seq., C.R.S. (1987 Repl.Vol. 6B). The court order prohibited the defendant from going to his wife's residence and from contacting his wife in any manner without first obtaining permission from the court.
Following issuance of the order, the defendant went to wife's residence, broke into the house, and threatened to kill her. Wife thereafter filed a motion for contempt and following an evidentiary hearing, the county court found the defendant in contempt and sentenced him to six months in jail.
Subsequent to that adjudication, and based on the same incident, defendant was charged with second degree burglary, criminal mischief, first degree criminal trespass, and menacing. Arguing that, by virtue of the contempt proceeding, he had been punished for the conduct underlying the criminal charges, the defendant moved for their dismissal on the basis of double jeopardy. The trial court agreed and dismissed the charges.
On appeal, the People contend that the trial court erred in dismissing the criminal charges because: (1) The protections of double jeopardy are not invoked when the prior conviction is for contempt of court; (2) and, even if invoked, double jeopardy does not bar the subsequent criminal prosecution here because different conduct and different purposes distinguish contempt from the other criminal offenses.
This court held in People v. Matheson, 671 P.2d 968 (Colo.App.1983) that double jeopardy principles may apply when imprisonment for a definite term is imposed for contempt of court. We reaffirm that holding here. However, as we did there, we conclude that the criminal prosecution of defendant here is not barred by the doctrine of double jeopardy as a result of the contempt adjudication.
Except for the rule concerning lesser included offenses, when a defendant is prosecuted for violation of a different provision of law than that on which the former prosecution was based, double jeopardy does not bar the second prosecution if each offense requires proof of a fact that the other does not. This is true notwithstanding a substantial overlap in the proof required to establish the separate crimes. Boulies v. People, 770 P.2d 1274 (Colo.1989); see also Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932).
A criminal contempt adjudication requires only proof that the defendant knew of the court's order and deliberately disobeyed it, in violation of the authority and dignity of the court. Lobb v. Hodges, 641 P.2d 310 (Colo.App.1982). In contrast to punishment imposed as a result of a criminal offense, punishment for contempt concerns conduct which is directed against, or is in derogation of the authority of, the judicial system. It is therefore not so much the manner in which the defendant acts but rather is the effect of his actions relative to the court's order, and thus the court's exercise of its authority, which is critical to a finding of contempt. Consequently,...
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Ex parte Jackson
...prosecution is the application of Blockburger. Ex parte Williams, 799 S.W.2d 304, 306 (Tex.Crim.App.1990) (citing People v. Allen, 787 P.2d 174 (Colo.App.1989); People v. Lucas, 170 Ill.App.3d 164, 120 Ill.Dec. 481, 524 N.E.2d 246 (1988); People v. Totten, 118 Ill.2d 124, 113 Ill.Dec. 47, 5......
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