State v. Braithwaite

We have before us two questions. The first is: Where the State has appealed a superior court finding that the defendant did not have the status of a habitual criminal under RCW 9.92.090, and that finding has been reversed by a court of appeals, is a remand forbidden under the double jeopardy provisions of the state and federal constitutions (Const, art. 1, § 9; U.S. Const, amend. 5)?

Those constitutional provisions protect an individual against repeated trials for the same "offense." A determination that one is a habitual criminal does not involve a finding that he is guilty of an offense but…