Gibbs v. State
| Decision Date | 03 November 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 13910,13910 |
| Citation | 653 P.2d 813,103 Idaho 758 |
| Parties | Melton Waters GIBBS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Defendant-Respondent. |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Stephen J. Blaser, Blackfoot, for plaintiff-appellant.
David H. Leroy, Atty. Gen., Lynn E. Thomas, Sol. Gen., Timothy M. Walton, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, for defendant-respondent.
Melton Gibbs is serving a lengthy sentence in the state of Texas following his conviction there of the crime of rape. He contends that this sentence was enhanced under Texas law because he had a previous conviction of rape in Bingham County, Idaho, more than thirty years ago. Hoping to get his Texas sentence reduced, Gibbs has filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus in Bingham County. He seeks to set aside his former conviction on the ground that it was based upon a guilty plea entered without a knowing and intelligent waiver of rights.
In the district court Gibbs' application was treated as one for post-conviction relief under the Idaho Uniform Post-Conviction Procedure Act. The state moved to dismiss the application on the sole ground that it was not timely filed under I.C. § 19-4902. 1 The district court granted the motion to dismiss. However, the court based its decision not on the question of timeliness, but on the merits of Gibbs' application.
In this appeal Gibbs contends that the court erred by not giving him "an opportunity to reply within 20 days of the proposed dismissal" as required by I.C. § 19-4906. 2 We agree.
In several recent cases, the Idaho Supreme Court has discussed the notice requirement of I.C. § 19-4906(b). In Balla v. State, 98 Idaho 344, 563 P.2d 402 (1977), the district court summarily dismissed an application for post-conviction relief. The sole issue on appeal was whether the court erred in failing to give notice of its intention to dismiss as required by I.C. § 19-4906(b). Reasoning that the notice requirement is couched in the permissive term "may," the Supreme Court approved the summary dismissal. The Supreme Court also noted that I.C. § 19-4906(c) provided additional authority for the summary dismissal.
In Cherniwchan v. State, 99 Idaho 128, 578 P.2d 244 (1978), the Supreme Court, without mentioning Balla by name, apparently overruled it. As in Balla, the district court had determined the application to be meritless and summarily dismissed it. On appeal the Supreme Court observed that although the district court could not be faulted for finding the application meritless, the district court erred in failing to notify petitioner of its intention to dismiss and thus allow him an opportunity to reply within twenty days.
Finally, in Christensen v. State, 102 Idaho 487, 632 P.2d 676 (1981), the Supreme Court again upheld a district court's summary dismissal of a post-conviction relief application, even though it had not given twenty days notice pursuant to I.C. § 19-4906(b). The Supreme Court stated:
I.C. § 19-4906(b) ... governs only those situations where the trial court on its own initiative determines to dismiss the petition, as in Cherniwchan. I.C. § 19-4906(c) covers those situations where either party moves for summary dismissal. [Emphasis added.]
102 Idaho at 488, 632 P.2d at 677. The Supreme Court concluded that because the state had moved for summary disposition, the district court was not required to give twenty days notice of its intent to dismiss. The court reasoned that the purpose of the twenty days notice requirement is to give a petitioner a chance to present evidence and legal authority to the district court to support his position. The court noted, however, that when the state files a motion for summary dismissal, the petitioner is put on notice of the possibility of dismissal and thus is given an opportunity to respond.
Under Christensen, it is proper for a district court summarily to dismiss an application for post-conviction relief without giving notice, if the district court does so upon motion of the state. Although at first glance Gibbs' case appears to have been dismissed properly under Christensen, it is distinguishable. In this case, although the state moved to dismiss, the district court dismissed the case not on the grounds presented by the state, but on different grounds. The district court, upon its own initiative, decided to dismiss the case upon its merits. Unlike the petitioner in Christensen, Gibbs had no opportunity to convince the district court that he should prevail upon the merits. In this case, unlike Christensen, it would not have been redundant for the district court to have given the petitioner twenty days notice of its intent to dismiss as required by I.C. § 19-4906(b). For Gibbs to have had a chance...
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Workman v. State
...him 20-days' notice of summary dismissal because the court relied on grounds not raised or argued by the State. In Gibbs v. State, 103 Idaho 758, 653 P.2d 813 (1982), the Court of Appeals found that a district court improperly dismissed an application for post-conviction relief without 20-d......
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Saykhamchone v. State
...asserted in the state's motion, it does so on its own initiative and the court must provide twenty days notice. Gibbs v. State, 103 Idaho 758, 653 P.2d 813 (Ct.App.1982). Furthermore, when the state files an answer, as it did here, the petitioner can rightly expect the matter will go to an ......
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Anderson v. State, Docket No. 37147
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