Pair v. State

The compelled merger of convictions to avoid multiple punishments for the same offense, or perhaps for the same criminal behavior, is by no means as simple a subject as it *622might at first appear to be. The hydra has no less than three heads: 1) constitutional double jeopardy; 2) the rule of lenity as an aid to statutory construction; and 3) the essentially tetherless notion of fundamental fairness. These are no mere variations on a common theme. They are the subjects for widely differing inquiries. Fundamental fairness, especially, remains very much an enigma. All three are now before us.

The…