Lankford v. State
| Decision Date | 22 May 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 21499,21499 |
| Citation | 127 Idaho 100,897 P.2d 991 |
| Parties | Mark LANKFORD, Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Respondent. Boise, February 1995 Term |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Nicholas Chenoweth, of Orofino, and Andrew Parnes, Ketchum, for appellant. Andrew Parnes argued.
Alan G. Lance, Atty. Gen., Lynn E. Thomas, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, for respondent. Lynn E. Thomas argued.
Mark Henry Lankford (Lankford) was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the 1983 killing of Robert and Cheryl Bravence, and sentenced to death. Lankford thereafter moved for a new trial under I.C. § 19-2406(7) and I.C.R. 34. The district court denied Lankford's motion. On appeal, this Court affirmed Lankford's conviction and sentence, and upheld the trial court's denial of Lankford's motion for a new trial. State v. (Mark) Lankford, 116 Idaho 860, 781 P.2d 197 (1989), cert. denied, 497 U.S. 1032, 110 S.Ct. 3295, 111 L.Ed.2d 803 (1990).
On April 3, 1992, Lankford filed another petition for post-conviction relief under I.C. § 19-2719, seeking a new trial or resentencing. In his petition, Lankford argued that (1) Lankford was denied effective assistance of counsel; (2) the felony murder rule is unconstitutional; (3) Lankford was denied a fair trial because of prosecutorial misconduct; (4) the State's failure to treat Lankford's hypoglycemia impaired Lankford's ability to communicate with counsel at trial; (5) the aggravating circumstances found by the trial court are unconstitutional; (6) the trial court relied upon improper evidence in finding the aggravating circumstances; (7) the trial court's finding of specific intent in connection with an aggravating circumstance was unconstitutional; and (8) the lack of jury participation in the capital sentencing process is The State filed a motion to dismiss the post-conviction petition, arguing that the issues raised in Lankford's petition for post-conviction relief were barred because they did not satisfy the requirements of I.C. § 19-2719. Lankford then filed an amended petition for post-conviction relief, dated March 4, 1994, and an accompanying motion to disqualify the district court "from further hearing on this case because said judge is a witness to allegations raised in the Amended Petition now filed in this action." The State filed a amended motion to dismiss Lankford's amended petition, claiming that I.C. § 19-2719 divests the trial court of jurisdiction to consider Lankford's claims.
[127 Idaho 101] unconstitutional. Lankford also petitioned the court for leave to hire an expert witness and the funds to hire such a witness.
Oral argument was heard on Lankford's motions on June 2, 1994. The district court dismissed Lankford's petition, concluding that Lankford's petition was based on claims that were known or reasonably could have been known within the time limit for bringing such motions set out in I.C. § 19-2719. Lankford appealed to this Court and the State filed a motion with this Court to dismiss Lankford's appeal on the grounds that I.C. § 19-2719 bars consideration of Lankford's petition.
I.C. § 19-2719 requires that a capital defendant seeking post-conviction relief "file any legal or factual challenge to the sentence or conviction that is known or reasonably should be known[ ]" within forty-two days of the filing of the judgment imposing the death sentence. I.C. § 19-2719(3). This Court has held that, when a petition is filed more than forty-two days after entry of judgment, this section "places a heightened burden on a petitioner which requires a prima facie showing by petitioner that the issues raised were not known and could not reasonably have been known within 42 days of judgment." Paz v. State, 123 Idaho 758, 760, 852 P.2d 1355, 1357 (1993).
Neither the allegations in Lankford's petition nor the documents filed in support of that petition satisfy the burden established by I.C. § 19-2719. There has been no showing that the claims asserted in Lankford's petition should not have been reasonably known within forty-two days of the judgment against him. Lankford has therefore failed to meet the prima facie requirements for maintaining an action for post-conviction relief under I.C. § 19-2719, and the trial court did not err by dismissing Lankford's appeal.
Lankford asserts that the trial court erred in denying Lankford's motion to disqualify the district judge on the basis that the judge was a potential witness to the claims raised in Lankford's amended petition for post-conviction relief. Lankford's motion to disqualify was supported by a declaration by Lankford's attorney that the district judge was a potential witness to the claims asserted in Lankford's amended petition. However, Lankford presents no evidence that the possibility that the district judge may be a potential witness in a post-conviction proceeding interfered with the district judge's ability to determine whether the jurisdictional bar of I.C. § 19-2719 precluded Lankford's petition. As this Court noted in a related case:
The record demonstrates that the district court judge was not subpoenaed as a witness and did not testify in the proceedings. A criminal defendant cannot turn the district court judge into a material witness by introducing a stipulation of facts which the parties believe that the judge might testify to if he was in fact called as a witness. Thus, we reject Lankford's claim that the district court judge had become a material witness in the post conviction relief proceeding.
State v. (Bryan) Lankford, 113 Idaho 688, 701, 747 P.2d 710, 723 (1987), vacated sub nom. on other grounds, Lankford v. Idaho, 486 U.S. 1051, 108 S.Ct. 2815, 100 L.Ed.2d
[127 Idaho 102] 917 (1988). The district judge did not err by not disqualifying himself from determining whether Lankford satisfied the prima facie burden under I.C. § 19-2719.
Finally, Lankford asserts that I.C. § 19-2719, as applied by this Court, is unconstitutional. Lankford claims that, because the current statutory scheme establishes no timeliness bar to claims for ineffective assistance of cou...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Stuart v. State Of Idaho
...burden to present a petition alleging facts that would show that he fits within the exception to I.C. § 19-2719. Lankford v. State, 127 Idaho 100, 101, 897 P.2d 991, 992 (1995). Stuart's petition simply did not attempt to meet this burden. In light of Stuart's petition's silence as to its t......
-
State v. Lankford
...denied his appeal after determining that "Lankford . . . failed to assert any claim not barred by I.C. § 19-2719." Mark Lankford II, 127 Idaho at 102, 897 P.2d at 993. post-conviction proceedings continued through the federal courts. "Mark [Lankford] pursued his state appeals, post-convicti......
-
Row v. Miller
...known or reasonably could have been known when the petitioner's first post-conviction petition was filed. Lankford v. State , 127 Idaho 100, 100-01, 897 P.2d 991, 991-92 (1995). Additionally, this Court has repeatedly upheld the constitutionality of Idaho Code § 19-2719. Id. ; State v. Rhoa......
-
Creech v. State
...known or reasonably could have been known when the petitioner's first post-conviction petition was filed. Lankford v. State, 127 Idaho 100, 100-01, 897 P.2d 991, 991-92 (1995). Additionally, this Court has repeatedly upheld the constitutionality of Idaho Code § 19-2719. Id.; State v. Rhoade......