Opinion announcing the result of the Court per Nix, J., joined by Larsen, J., stating "In this area [i.e., multiple punishments] there has been absolutely no suggestion that the Pennsylvania Constitution provides a more comprehensive protection than that afforded by the federal constitution."
How later courts described this case
- Opinion announcing the result of the Court per Nix, J., joined by Larsen, J., stating "In this area [i.e., multiple punishments] there has been absolutely no suggestion that the Pennsylvania Constitution provides a more comprehensive protection than that afforded by the federal constitution."
- double jeopardy attack on sentence raised in petition for allowance of appeal did not preserve due process challenge which petitioner raised in argument
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
MANDERINO, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. The double jeopardy clause protects, among other things, multiple punishment for the same offense. The principles that prompted the United States Supreme Court to conclude that the double jeopardy protection does not prohibit imposition of a more severe sentence after retrial and conviction where the original conviction had been set aside at the request of the defendant, have no application to this case. Here there has been no retrial. Here, simply stated, appellant was given a more severe sentence following the Superior Court’s remand for sentencing than she originally received. The reason behind the court’s imposition of a more severe sentence is irrelevant: The fact remains that appellant was sentenced twice for an offense for which she was tried and convicted only once. Such multiple sentencing is prohibited by the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Furthermore, the majority’s conclusion that Pennsylvania’s double jeopardy clause is applicable only in capital cases is based on previous decisions of this court which were wrong when decided and which are still wrong. Surely, Pennsylvania’s constitution does not permit a citizen to be *377 convicted of robbery after that citizen has been tried and acquitted of the same charges.