Jeffers v. United States

In Jeffers v. United States, 432 U.S. 137, 97 S. Ct. 2207, 2218-20, 53 L. Ed. 2d 168 (1977), the Court concluded that the appellant could not complain on appeal that he was subject to multiple prosecutions in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause after he successfully challenged the Government's motion to consolidate the offenses of conspiracy and continuing-criminal-enterprise into a single trial. Although the Court found that Jeffers had implicitly waived his multiple prosecutions claim, it suggested that he had done nothing to waive his cumulative punishment claim. The Court recognized that the issue of cumulative punishments was not raised during either trial. See Id., 432 U.S. at 154-55, 97 S. Ct. at 2218 (indicating that both parties, throughout the proceedings in the trial court, appeared to have assumed that no cumulative punishment problem was present in the case). Nevertheless, the Court addressed the merits of Jeffers' multiple punishment argument and ultimately concluded that Congress did not intend to impose cumulative penalties under the two statutes. Id., 432 U.S. at 157, 97 S. Ct. at 2219-20. The Court's willingness to address the multiple punishment claim absent an appropriate objection in the trial court indicates that some sort of affirmative action was necessary to waive that particular portion of the Double Jeopardy Clause's protection.