Court upholds prosecution in both state and federal courts

Tuesday, April 19, 2005 | 8:30 a.m.

CARSON CITY --In a ruling on a Las Vegas case, a federal appeals court held that a person can be prosecuted by both the state and federal government for the same offense without violating the double jeopardy protection.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected the claim of Cortrayer Zone, who was arrested in December 2001 on a state charge of carrying a concealed handgun. He pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor and was fined $500.

Several months after his state conviction, the federal government indicted Zone on a charge of a felon possessing a firearm, an allegation that grew out of the state arrest. If convicted he faces a 10-year federal prison term.

Zone claimed that the state prosecution was a "sham or a cover for the federal prosecution" and violated his double jeopardy protection.

The appeals court said Zone "speculated that federal officials might have cajoled or prodded state prosecutors into concluding a plea bargain with Zone in order to facilitate a conviction in his subsequent federal trial."

Quoting from its 1994 decision, the appeals court said, "The Double Jeopardy Clause does not prevent federal prosecutors from encouraging their state counterparts to pursue plea bargains, nor does it prevent them from taking advantage of the evidentiary record developed in connection with a defendant's previous state conviction."

The court said, "Since Zone's double jeopardy claim rests on nothing more than speculation and conjecture, we conclude that the District Court did not commit an error when it denied his motion to dismiss."