Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 15, 1995 TAG: 9507110104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Such prosecutions do not violate the Constitution's protection against double jeopardy, the court ruled 8-1 in a Texas drug case.
The ruling means Steven Kurt Witte will be prosecuted on a cocaine conspiracy charge even though that allegation was used to increase his sentence on a separate drug charge.
Sentencing judges traditionally have been allowed to consider a defendant's past criminal behavior, whether or not it resulted in a conviction, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the court.
Similarly, she said, the court has upheld state laws requiring tougher sentences for repeat offenders.
``Consideration of information about the defendant's character and conduct at sentencing does not result in punishment for any offense other than the one of which the defendant was convicted,'' O'Connor said.
In other decisions Wednesday, the court:
Ruled 6-3 that people must pay income taxes on back pay and monetary damages they are awarded as victims of on-the-job age discrimination.
Unanimously ruled that Oklahoma law bars the state from taxing gasoline sold by Indian tribes to non-Indians. The justices also voted 5-4 to let Oklahoma tax the income of Chickasaw tribe members who work for the tribe but do not live in Indian country.
Allowed, by a 5-4 vote, federal courts to second-guess the attorney general's decision to shield some federal workers from lawsuits alleging they caused injuries.
Said maritime employees can be considered ``seamen'' eligible for more generous disability benefits even if they didn't do most of their work aboard ship when injured.
The ruling in the Texas drug case was a victory for the Clinton administration, which had argued that the cocaine prosecution should be allowed.
Witte was arrested in Houston in February 1991 in a sting operation by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. He and another man were arrested after an undercover DEA agent delivered 375 pounds of marijuana as part of a 1,000-pound shipment.
Witte pleaded guilty to aiding an attempt to possess marijuana and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. In exchange, prosecutors dropped a conspiracy charge.
by CNB