Handy v. State

VEASEY, Chief Justice.

In this appeal from the Superior Court we consider whether the State may charge a defendant with multiple counts of first degree arson on the basis that the defendant set a single fire intending to harm multiple victims. We hold that a charge of multiple counts of first degree arson for multiple intended victims based on a single fire constitutes an unconstitutional multiplicity prohibited by the Double Jeopardy Clause.

Consonant with the protection against double jeopardy afforded by the United States Constitution, the touchstone for multiplicity is legislative intent.…