Blockburger v. United States case brief

Blockburger v. United States case brief summary
284 U.S. 299 (1932)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendant sought certiorari review of a judgment from the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence under § 1 and § 2 of the Harrison Narcotic Act, 26 U.S.C.S. §§ 692, 696.

CASE FACTS
Defendant was charged and convicted of selling drugs without their original packaging and without a written order, which were violations of 26 U.S.C.S. §§ 692 and 696. Defendant contended that he had committed only one offense and that only one penalty could be imposed. Both of defendant's convictions and his consecutive sentencing were upheld on appeal. Defendant sought further judicial review from the United States Supreme Court, which granted his petition for certiorari.

DISCUSSION

• The Court reviewed the record and affirmed the consecutive sentences that were imposed, concluding that defendant had committed two separate offenses because each provision of the Harrison Narcotic Act required proof of an additional fact that the other did not. 
• Selling the proscribed drugs without their original packaging was not the same crime as selling them without a written order. 
• Where two provisions of a statute contained different elements, prosecution and punishment under both of them did not result in double jeopardy.

CONCLUSION

The Court affirmed the imposition of consecutive sentences because defendant had committed two violations by selling the drugs without a written order and not in the original stamped package.

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