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State v. Dominguez1/27/2005
jeopardy purposes_punishment cannot be had for both." Id. at 14, 810 P.2d at 1234. "Conversely, if the elements of the statutes are not subsumed one within the other, then the Blockburger test raises only a presumption that the statutes punish distinct offenses. That presumption, however, is not conclusive and it may be overcome by other indicia of legislative intent." Id. These other indicia include "the social evils sought to be addressed by each offense" and "the language, structure, and legislative history" of the two provisions. Id. at 9, 810 P.2d at 1229.
We have previously applied this double jeopardy analysis in a context closely resembling the present case. In State v. Gonzales, 113 N.M. 221, 223-25, 824 P.2d 1023, 1025-27 (1992), the defendant was convicted of first degree murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle based on the same conduct and argued that these convictions violated double jeopardy. We noted that " he question of whether convictions under several statutes constitute the same offense for double jeopardy purposes is a matter of determining the legislative intent." Id. at 224, 824 P.2d at 1026. Applying Blockburger, we concluded that each crime contained an element that the other did not, thereby raising a presumption that the Legislature intended to create separately punishable offenses. Id. at 225, 824 P.2d at 1027.
Clearly, each statute in question in this appeal requires proof of an element that the other statute does not require. The murder statute requires proof of the unlawful killing of a human being which need not be accomplished by shooting at an occupied motor vehicle. The shooting at an occupied motor vehicle statute requires proof of discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle but does not require the killing of a human being. Thus, the greater offense_murder_does not subsume the lesser offense_shooting into an occupied vehicle_because each requires proof of an element absent in the other. Id. at 224-25, 824 P.2d at 1026-27 (citations omitted). We further concluded that "the statutes protect different social interests," with the murder statute directed at preventing unlawful killings and the shooting at a vehicle statute directed at protecting the public from the reckless shooting into a vehicle and possible resulting property damage and bodily injury. Id. at 225, 824 P.2d at 1027. "In addition, while the statutes in question here may be violated together, they are not necessarily violated together." Id. "Therefore, we find that the egislature intended for separate punishment for unitary conduct that violated both statutes," and thus, there was no double jeopardy violation. Id.
Gonzales is controlling precedent and is directly on point. As in Gonzales, voluntary manslaughter does not require the element of discharging a firearm at or from a motor vehicle, but this is a required element for the crime of shooting at or from a motor vehicle. In addition, voluntary manslaughter contains the same element as the first degree murder conviction at issue in Gonzales that distinguishes these crimes from the crime of shooting at or from a vehicle: the element of "the unlawful killing of a human being." Section 30-2-3. Defendant argues that this element is not truly distinct for voluntary manslaughter because the element of great bodily harm for shooting at a motor vehicle may include death. See State v. Varela, 1999-NMSC-045, 10-14, 128 N.M. 454, 993 P.2d 1280 (concluding that the element of great bodily harm for the crime of shooting at a dwelling or occupied building under Section 30-3-8(A) may include death). We reject this argument for two reasons.
First, our analysis in Gonzales implicitly holds that the element of great bodily
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