State v. Meister

• Decision Date: 07 July 2009
• Docket Number: No. 35048.,35048.
• Citation: 220 P.3d 1055
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. David Joseph MEISTER, Defendants-Appellants.

220 P.3d 1055

STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. David Joseph MEISTER, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 35048.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Moscow, April 2009 Term.

July 7, 2009.

Rehearing Denied October 5, 2009.

Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Erik Lehtinen argued.

Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Rebekah Cudé argued.

W. JONES, J.

This case arises from the 2001 shooting death of Tonya Hart in Moscow, Idaho. David Meister was charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder; it was alleged that Meister shot Tonya in exchange for $1000. A jury convicted Meister on both counts, and Meister appealed. The court of appeals remanded the case for further proceedings and re-sentencing. The state petitioned this Court for review. This Court accepted review on the following issues: (1) whether this Court's decision in State v. Larsen, 91 Idaho 42, 415 P.2d 685 (1966) or I.R.E. 403 is the controlling authority for the admissibility of alternate perpetrator evidence, (2) whether I.R.E. 804(b)(3) contains a corroboration requirement for the admission of confessions of an alternate perpetrator, and (3) whether the district court violated Meister's right to due process, right of appeal, and Fifth Amendment rights by threatening a harsher sentence if Meister refused to admit guilt.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On December 11, 2001 Tonya Hart was shot twice in her home in Moscow, Idaho, which she shared with her boyfriend Jesse Linderman. The shooter approached the front entrance of Tonya's trailer and then proceeded to the back entrance.¹ When Tonya opened the back entrance of the trailer she was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the face. The shooter then retreated behind the trailer, running through a snow covered field and eventually exiting the field on a nearby road. A neighbor heard the gun shots and went to Tonya and Jesse's trailer. He then called 911 and proceeded unsuccessfully with resuscitation efforts. Tonya was pronounced dead at the scene.

In August of 2002 the police interrogated David Meister in connection with Tonya's death and Meister confessed that he shot Tonya in exchange for a $1000 payment from Jesse Linderman.² Meister was charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Charges were initially filed against Linderman for conspiracy to commit murder but those charges were later dismissed because the only evidence tying Linderman to the crime was Meister's confession.

At trial Meister attempted to admit evidence that another individual, Lane Thomas, was responsible for Tonya's shooting. The district court refused any evidence which showed Thomas was an alternate perpetrator of the crime, including several confessions. A jury convicted Meister on both counts and the district court sentenced him to a fixed term of life for the murder conviction and a unified sentence of life with 40 years fixed for the conspiracy conviction.

ISSUES ON APPEAL

1. Whether this Court's decision in Larsen, 91 Idaho 42, 415 P.2d 685 or I.R.E. 403 is the controlling authority for the admissibility of alternate perpetrator evidence.

2. Whether I.R.E. 804(b)(3) contains a corroboration requirement for the admission of Lane Thomas' confessions.

3. Whether the district court violated Meister's right to due process, right of appeal, and Fifth Amendment rights by threatening a harsher sentence if Meister refused to admit guilt.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

"In cases that come before this Court on a petition for review of a Court of Appeals decision, this Court gives serious consideration to the views of the Court of Appeals, but directly reviews the decision of the lower court." State v. Oliver, 144 Idaho 722, 724, 170 P.3d 387, 389 (2007). This Court freely reviews questions of law. Questions of relevancy are reviewed de novo. State v. Zichko, 129 Idaho 259, 264, 923 P.2d 966, 971 (1996). "Whether evidence is relevant is an issue of law." State v. Atkinson, 124 Idaho 816, 819, 864 P.2d 654, 657 (Ct. App.1993). "The trial court has broad discretion in the admission of evidence, and its judgment will only be reversed when there has been an abuse of that discretion." Zichko, 129 Idaho at 264, 923 P.2d at 971. Thus, the inquiry is two-fold; we must first freely review and determine whether the proffered evidence is relevant, and secondly we evaluate whether the district court abused its discretion in determining whether the probative value was outweighed by unfair prejudice. Atkinson, 124 Idaho at 819, 864 P.2d at 657.

ANALYSIS

The alternate perpetrator evidence that Meister attempted to admit at trial consists of Lane Thomas' confessions and evidence which tends to suggest that Lane Thomas was the actual perpetrator of the crime.³ Thomas' confessions and evidence which tends to implicate him in the shooting of Tonya are governed by two standards under Idaho law. This Court must first determine the standard for admission of alternate perpetrator evidence. Although Thomas' confessions are included under the umbrella of alternate perpetrator evidence, the confessions also constitute hearsay. Therefore, the confessions must then be analyzed for admission pursuant to the hearsay rules. The State argues that all of the evidence in Meister's offer of proof is inadmissible pursuant to various evidentiary rules. The State's motion in limine seeking exclusion of all alternate perpetrator evidence was granted; therefore, Meister's counsel was never afforded the opportunity to lay the foundation properly for any of the evidence. This Court will refrain from acting as a fact-finder and makes no determination as to whether the evidence is admissible.

The right to present a defense is protected by the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and made applicable to the states through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14, 19, 87 S.Ct. 1920, 1923, 18 L.Ed.2d 1019, 1023 (1967). "This right is a fundamental element of due process of law." Id. The right to present a defense includes the right to offer testimony of witnesses, compel their attendance, and to present the defendant's version of the facts "to the jury so it may decide where the truth lies." Id. However, this right must be balanced against any interest the state has in the criminal trial process; "the Sixth Amendment `does not confer the right to present testimony free from the legitimate demands of the adversarial system.'" State v. Albert, 138 Idaho 284, 287, 62 P.3d 208, 211 (Ct.App.2002) (quoting Taylor v. Illinois, 484 U.S. 400, 412-13, 108 S.Ct. 646, 655, 98 L.Ed.2d 798, 812-13 (1988)).

In the present case, Meister was not afforded the opportunity to provide a full and complete defense for the crimes of which he was accused. The district court applied the wrong standard for the admission of the alternate perpetrator evidence; therefore, this Court vacates Meister's conviction and remands this case for a new trial.

I.R.E. 403 is the controlling authority for the admissibility of alternate perpetrator evidence.

This Court addressed the issue of whether a defendant is entitled to present evidence of an alternate perpetrator in Larsen, 91 Idaho 42, 415 P.2d 685. The Court held that a defendant must produce a "train of facts or circumstances, as tend clearly to point out some one besides the [defendant] as the guilty party." Id. at 47-48, 415 P.2d at 690-91. It requires more than just "conjectural inferences" that a party other than the defendant committed the crime. Id. at 48, 415 P.2d at 691. In 1985, the Idaho Rules of Evidence were adopted which established that all relevant evidence is admissible, unless otherwise provided by the Idaho Rules of Evidence or other rules for the courts of Idaho.⁴ I.R.E. 402. "These rules govern all actions, cases and proceedings in the courts of the State of Idaho." I.R.E. 101(b). This Court is presented with the inquiry of whether alternate perpetrator evidence is subjected to a different standard for admission than all other evidence; that is, whether Larsen or I.R.E. 403 governs the admission of alternate perpetrator evidence. This Court finds that Larsen was implicitly overruled when the Idaho Rules of Evidence were adopted in 1985.

The court of appeals addressed a similar issue in State v. Kerchusky, 138 Idaho 671, 67 P.3d 1283 (Ct.App.2003). There the court stated that a review of excluded evidence requires an inquiry as to whether the trial court abused its discretion in excluding the evidence pursuant to I.R.E. 403. Kerchusky, 138 Idaho at 675, 67 P.3d at 1287. However, the court ultimately concluded that the evidence offered by the defendant was properly excluded because it "was of negligible probative value, and ... the district court did not abuse its discretion by excluding the evidence pursuant to the `direct connection doctrine' and I.R.E. 403." Id. at 676, 67 P.3d at 1288. The Ninth Circuit has interpreted Kerchusky as standing for the proposition that "[I.R.E.] 403 thus embodies a concern, reflected in the cases from other states ... and articulated by the Idaho Supreme Court in [Larsen], that evidence of third party guilt should not be admitted unless there is some evidence directly connecting the third party to the crime in question." Gray v. Klauser, 86 Fed.Appx. 279, 283 (9th Cir.2004) (unpublished opinion) (emphasis added). But, the Ninth Circuit also stated that "Idaho courts do not apply a specialized rule in [the admission of alternate perpetrator evidence], but deem third party evidence inadmissible" if it does not meet the requirements of I.R.E. 403. Id. (emphasis added).⁵ Therefore, it remains unclear whether the court of appeals of this state applies Larsen, I.R.E. 403, or a combination thereof when reviewing the admissibility of alternate perpetrator evidence.

As previously stated, this Court adopts an approach which holds that the Rules of Evidence...