State v. Chalpin

Summary

The court upheld the defendant’s enhanced first degree assault and second degree assault convictions, concluding that the jury received a legally sustainable definition of “cruelty” and that the evidence supported the enhancement and extreme-indifference elements. It also held that the applicable unit of prosecution is each distinct act causing an injury, and that the evidence supported four separate assaults without violating double jeopardy. The court therefore affirmed in part, reversed the trial court’s unit-of-prosecution ruling, and remanded for entry of four convictions and reinstatement of the original sentences.