State v. Florida

While nothing in the constitutional right against double jeopardy prevents a defendant from being charged and convicted of multiple separate crimes arising from a single act, double jeopardy does prevent a defendant from being convicted twice of the same core offense. Yet the majority decision today permits dual convictions on degree variants of the same core offense, battery, for firing one shot that struck a police officer.

The illogic of this result is demonstrated by what would have happened if the defendant had been convicted of the crimes actually charged in counts VI and VII. In that…