Concurrent Sentence Doctrine. An appellate court may decline to consider the validity of a conviction if the defendant received a concurrent sentence on another valid or unchallenged count. This doctrine is inapplicable if a challenged conviction carries an additional penalty, such as a separate fine, or if it may potentially result in adverse collateral consequences. A court may also refuse to apply the doctrine if the validity of an unchallenged conviction is questioned or if conviction on multiple counts is barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause.

Some courts have vacated the unreviewed conviction to avoid the possibility that a defendant may suffer future adverse consequences. If the conviction is vacated and circumstances change, however, the government may seek reinstatement of the conviction. Because of the speculative nature of predicting the future adverse consequences of an unreviewed conviction, the Ninth Circuit has rejected the use of the concurrent sentence doctrine.