Goetzel v. State

Res judicata barred Appellant from bringing this claim challenging the district court’s denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence.Appellant pled guilty to burglary, felony larceny, and other crimes. Appellant later filed a motion for sentence reduction. The motion was denied. Appellant then filed a motion for sentence modification, which was also denied. Thereafter, Appellant filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence, arguing that the sentences he received for two crimes should have merged under double jeopardy principles because “the exact same conduct perpetrated against the same officer” was used to prove both crimes. The district court denied the motion. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant failed to present any facts or circumstances demonstrating good cause for not raising his double jeopardy claim in earlier proceedings and, therefore, Appellant’s claim was barred by res judicata. View "Goetzel v. State" on Justia Law