State v. Adel

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court held that Hussain Adel's two convictions for simple possession of marijuana — one based on 0.1 gram found in his car and one on less than 0.2 gram found in his store — violated double jeopardy because they punished a single unit of prosecution twice. The same evidence test and Blockburger's same elements test apply only to multiple convictions under several statutory provisions; for repeated convictions under one statute, the proper inquiry is the unit of prosecution the Legislature intended, with ambiguity resolved by the rule of lenity. Because RCW 69.50.401(e) does not indicate whether possession of a drug stashed in multiple places may be punished multiple times, the unit of prosecution is possessing 40 grams or less regardless of location; the court reversed one conviction and remanded for resentencing, disapproving McFadden and Lopez insofar as they applied the same evidence test to unit of prosecution questions. Justice Talmadge concurred specially to emphasize that unit of prosecution analysis must develop on a case-by-case basis.