Witte v. U.S

In Witte v. U.S. (1995) 515 U.S. 389, the defendant suffered a prior conviction and was subjected to an enhanced sentence in that first proceeding based on certain facts. The defendant was subsequently indicted for crimes based on those same facts, and the defendant moved to dismiss, arguing he had already been punished for the newly charged offenses because the drugs involved in those transactions had been considered as relevant conduct at sentencing for the prior offense. (Id. at pp. 393-395.) The Witte court, noting its prior decisions had "specifically . . . rejected the claim that double jeopardy principles bar a later prosecution or punishment for criminal activity where that activity has been considered at sentencing for a separate crime" (Witte, at p. 398.) adhered to its approach and ruled that "because consideration of relevant conduct in determining a defendant's sentence within the legislatively authorized punishment range does not constitute punishment for that conduct, the instant prosecution does not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause's prohibition against the imposition of multiple punishments for the same offense." (Id. at p. 406.)