Steven Kurt Witte v. United States

Decided June 14, 1995. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-6187 · 515 U.S. 389 (1995) · Cited 870 times

Holding

Because consideration of relevant conduct in determining a defendant’s sentence within the legislatively authorized punishment range does not constitute punishment for that conduct within the meaning of the Double Jeopardy Clause, Witte’s prosecution on cocaine charges does not violate the prohibition against multiple punishments.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• McMillan v. Pennsylvania · 477 U.S. 79 (1986)
• Nichols v. United States · 511 U.S. 738 (1994)
• Williams v. Oklahoma · 358 U.S. 576 (1959)
• Williams v. New York · 337 U.S. 241 (1949)
• Benton v. Maryland · 395 U.S. 784 (1969)
• United States v. Halper · 490 U.S. 435 (1989)
• Blockburger v. United States · 284 U.S. 299 (1931)
• United States v. Dixon · 509 U.S. 688 (1993)
• Ex Parte Lange · 85 U.S. 163 (1874)
• Helvering v. Mitchell · 303 U.S. 391 (1938)
• Ball v. United States · 470 U.S. 856 (1985)
• Department of Revenue of Mont. v. Kurth Ranch · 511 U.S. 767 (1994)
• Gryger v. Burke · 334 U.S. 728 (1948)
• Wisconsin v. Mitchell · 508 U.S. 476 (1993)
• Moore v. Missouri · 159 U.S. 673 (1895)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
• Brown v. Ohio · 432 U.S. 161 (1977)
• Mullaney v. Wilbur · 421 U.S. 684 (1975)
• Patterson v. New York · 432 U.S. 197 (1977)
• United States v. Tucker · 404 U.S. 443 (1972)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Mistretta v. United States · 488 U.S. 361 (1989)
• Oyler v. Boles · 368 U.S. 448 (1962)
• Walton v. Arizona · 497 U.S. 639 (1990)
• Spencer v. Texas · 385 U.S. 554 (1967)
• Burns v. United States · 501 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Price v. Georgia · 398 U.S. 323 (1970)
• Schiro v. Farley · 510 U.S. 222 (1994)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• United States v. Watts · 519 U.S. 148 (1997)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Philip Morris USA v. Williams · 549 U.S. 346 (2007)
• Blakely v. Washington · 542 U.S. 296 (2004)
• Ewing v. California · 538 U.S. 11 (2003)
• United States v. Gonzales · 520 U.S. 1 (1997)
• Lockyer v. Andrade · 538 U.S. 63 (2003)
• BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore · 517 U.S. 559 (1996)
• Kansas v. Hendricks · 521 U.S. 346 (1997)
• United States v. Ursery · 518 U.S. 267 (1996)
• Monge v. California · 524 U.S. 721 (1998)
• Edwards v. United States · 523 U.S. 511 (1998)
• Vartelas v. Holder · 566 U.S. 257 (2012)
• United States v. Rodriquez · 553 U.S. 377 (2008)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1995). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).