Palmer v. Haviland

OPINION

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge.

Can a defendant commit aggravated robbery but not robbery in Ohio? In essence, this is the question that Petitioner Toby Palmer asks us to resolve. He argues that a person cannot commit aggravated robbery without also committing robbery and, therefore, he should have been punished for only one of the crimes, but not both, under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

We cannot, however, reach that substantive question. The Ohio courts have interpreted the relevant Ohio statutes as permitting punishment for both robbery and…