Cite as: 503 U. S. 378 (1992)
Syllabus
(a) None of the substantive offenses for which Felix was prosecuted in Oklahoma is in any sense the same offense for which he was prosecuted in Missouri. The actual crimes charged in each case were different in both time and place, and no common conduct links them. In addition, mere overlap in proof between two prosecutions does not establish a double jeopardy violation. Dowling v. United States, 493 U. S. 342. Thus, the Court of Appeals erred to the extent that it assumed that if the Government offers in evidence in one prosecution acts of misconduct that might ultimately be charged as criminal offenses in a second prosecution, the latter prosecution is barred. And it gave an extravagant reading to Grady, supra, which disclaimed any intention of adopting a " 'same evidence' " test, id., at 521, and n. 12. Pp. 384-387. (b) A substantive crime and a conspiracy to commit that crime are not the "same offense" for double jeopardy purposes, see, e. g., United States v. Bayer, 331 U. S. 532; Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U. S. 640, 643, even if they are based on the same underlying incidents, because the "essence" of a conspiracy offense "is in the agreement or confederation to commit a crime," Bayer, supra, at 542. This established doctrine predates, and was not questioned in, Grady, supra. In addition, while Grady—which involved a State's reliance on a defendant's two traffic offense convictions to sustain later-filed homicide and assault charges arising from the same accident—may be useful in cases arising from a "single course of conduct," it is much less helpful in analyzing prosecutions involving multilayered conduct, such as the conspiracy prosecution here. Thus, the Court of Appeals erred in essentially reading Grady as substituting for the "same offence" language of the Double Jeopardy Clause a test based on whether the two prosecutions involve the same conduct. Pp. 387-391.
926 F. 2d 1522, reversed.
Rehnquist, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which White, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, and Thomas, JJ., joined, and in Parts I and II of which Blackmun and Stevens, JJ., joined. Stevens, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Blackmun, J., joined, post, p. 392.
Deputy Solicitor General Bryson argued the cause for the United States. With him on the briefs were Solicitor General Starr, Assistant Attorney General Mueller, and James A. Feldman.
379
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