State v. Rummer
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
432 S.E.2d 39 (1993)
A woman alleged that Ronald Dean Rummer (defendant) accosted her and, in one brief episode, fondled her breasts with one hand while simultaneously rubbing her genitals with the other. The State of West Virginia (plaintiff) obtained two convictions for sexual abuse—one for the breast contact and one for the genital contact—under a statute defining sexual abuse as unwanted sexual contact with a victim's anus, breasts, or genitals. Rummer appealed, arguing that because both touches occurred in a single brief episode, charging him twice placed him in double jeopardy.
Whether a single criminal act may subject the defendant to multiple criminal charges without placing him in double jeopardy.