State v. Balch

Summary

The New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed Kevin Balch’s convictions and sentencing under the armed career criminal statute, RSA 159:3-a. The court held that each firearm possessed constituted a separate unit of prosecution and that the statute required the resulting sentences to run consecutively without suspension or deferral. The court declined to overrule its prior precedent and invited the legislature to reconsider the severity of the statutory penalties.

Holdings

1. RSA 159:3-a defines each individual firearm possessed by a qualifying felon as a separate unit of prosecution; therefore, multiple convictions and sentences may be imposed for multiple firearms possessed during a single occasion.
2. RSA 159:3-a, III requires each sentence imposed under RSA 159:3-a to be served consecutively to the other sentences imposed under that statute and to other terms of imprisonment.
3. RSA 159:3-a, III prohibits the suspension or deferral of any sentence imposed under RSA 159:3-a.

Questions Presented

1. Whether RSA 159:3-a defines the unit of prosecution as each individual firearm possessed or each instance of possession.
2. Whether RSA 159:3-a requires sentences for multiple convictions under the statute to run consecutively.
3. Whether RSA 159:3-a permits a trial court to suspend or defer any sentence imposed under the statute.
4. Whether the trial court's unpreserved statutory-interpretation errors constituted plain error.

Disposition

affirmed