State v. Chavarria-Cruz
Annotate this CaseDefendant was charged with first-degree premeditated murder for the benefit of a gang. Defendant was acquitted of the first-degree murder offense but convicted of the lesser-included offense of second-degree intentional murder for the benefit of a gang. The Supreme Court vacated the second-degree murder conviction on appeal. On remand, a second grand jury indicted Defendant with first-degree felony murder for the benefit of a gang and second-degree intentional murder for the benefit of a gang. After Defendant unsuccessfully filed a motion to dismiss the felony murder charge on the grounds that the charge violated constitutional and statutory prohibitions against double jeopardy, Defendant was found guilty of the first-degree felony murder and second-degree intentional murder charges. The trial court convicted Defendant on the second-degree murder offense. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the conviction of second-degree intentional murder for the benefit of a gang, holding that the State presented sufficient evidence to support the conviction; and (2) reversed the district court's denial of Defendant's pretrial motion to dismiss, holding that the court failed properly to analyze the double jeopardy issue.
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