Parra v. State
| Decision Date | 04 April 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 23000,23000 |
| Citation | 935 P.2d 213,129 Idaho 950 |
| Parties | Jaime Gonzales PARRA, Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Respondent. |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Alan E. Trimming, Ada County Public Defender; Michael R. De Angelo, Deputy Public Defender (argued), Boise, for appellant.
Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; L. LaMont Anderson, Deputy Attorney General (argued), Boise, for respondent.
Jaime Gonzales Parra appeals from an order by the district court denying relief upon his post-conviction application. The order was entered following an evidentiary hearing. After reviewing Parra's claims and the record he has provided, we affirm the district court's order.
After pleading guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a child, Parra was sentenced to a unified term of ten years with a three-year minimum period of incarceration. The district court retained jurisdiction under I.C. § 19-2601(4) while Parra was committed to the North Idaho Correctional Institution (NICI) to obtain more information on whether Parra would be a potential candidate for probation. Later, upon the recommendation of the Jurisdictional Review Committee, the district relinquished jurisdiction and ordered execution of Parra's previously imposed sentence. Parra did not appeal.
On December 9, 1994, Parra filed a pro se application for post-conviction relief from his judgment of conviction and sentence, and a request for appointed counsel. The district court granted his motion for counsel. Shortly thereafter, the district court issued a notice of intent to dismiss Parra's application pursuant to I.C. § 19-4906(c). Parra The district court heard testimony at the hearing, which was conducted on three separate dates, and requested that counsel submit briefs in support of their arguments. On April 25, 1995, the district court entered a memorandum decision and order denying relief on Parra's claims that his due process rights had been violated. From this order, Parra has appealed.
through his counsel, responded to the district court's notice, which resulted in the district court granting a hearing limited to Parra's allegations of due process violations at NICI. The remainder of Parra's claims were dismissed.
The heart of Parra's request for post-conviction relief was that he suffered a denial of his due process rights at NICI, which ultimately led the district court to reject him as a candidate for probation and to relinquish jurisdiction. Parra's main contention on appeal is that he was not provided with the psychological evaluation which had been prepared to assess his amenability to sex-offender treatment and his rehabilitative potential. Citing the opinion of the United States District Court in Browning v. Vernon, 874 F.Supp. 1112 (D.Idaho 1994), Parra contends that withholding the evaluation was a per se violation of his federal due process rights, for which post-conviction relief must be granted.
The Browning court did not decide that any individual inmate had suffered an actual due process deprivation as a result of certain procedures used in the retained jurisdiction program. Id. at 1124. The federal court did enjoin certain procedures at NICI, including the failure to provide sex offenders with copies of their psychological reports, which the court determined to be unconstitutional based on established precedent. Id. at 1122, citing Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 346, 96 S.Ct. 893, 908, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976), and State v. Wolfe, 99 Idaho 382, 389, 582 P.2d 728, 735 (1978).
Even though under Browning an inmate is entitled to a copy of the psychological evaluation that is reviewed by the Jurisdictional Review Committee, the inmate must nevertheless show prejudice to be entitled to post-conviction relief under I.C. § 19-4901. See Free v. State, 125 Idaho 760, 874 P.2d 571 (Ct.App.1993); Bradford v. State, 124 Idaho 788, 864 P.2d 626 (Ct.App.1993); McDonald v. State, 124 Idaho 103, 856 P.2d 893 (Ct.App.1992). Parra, therefore, misreads Browning to establish a per se right to post-conviction relief once a constitutional violation has been proven.
As an alternative to his per se postulate, Parra argues that the due process standards were nevertheless violated when he was denied access to a complete copy of his psychological evaluation. He complains that without the information in the psychological evaluation, he was precluded from knowing the basis of the psychologist's findings and recommendations, calling witnesses to rebut the evaluation, and adequately preparing for his rebuttal hearing.
Where the district court enters findings of fact and conclusions of law in denying postconviction relief, the appellate court will not disturb the lower court's factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous, I.R.C.P. 52; Russell v. State, 118 Idaho 65, 794 P.2d 654 (Ct.App.1990), or unsupported by substantial evidence. Holmes v. State, 104 Idaho 312, 658 P.2d 983 (Ct.App.1983). However, we freely review the conclusions of law drawn by the district court from those facts. Gee v. State, 117 Idaho 107, 110, 785 P.2d 671, 674 (Ct.App.1990); Reeves v. State, 105 Idaho 844, 845, 673 P.2d 444, 445 (Ct.App.1983).
A post-conviction applicant bears the burden not only to prove a constitutional violation, but also to demonstrate that he suffered some resulting prejudice that would entitle him to relief. Free v. State, 125 Idaho at 765, 874 P.2d at 576; Bradford v. State, 124 Idaho at 794, 864 P.2d at 632; McDonald v. State, 124 Idaho at 105, 856 P.2d at 895. To demonstrate prejudice from being denied access to the psychological evaluation, the applicant must indicate what he would or could have done to rebut the report. Free, 125 Idaho at 765, 874 P.2d at 576.
At the hearing on Parra's claims of due process violations, Terry Turner, a member According to Parra's direct testimony, he had received neither the notice nor the summary referred to by Turner prior to his review hearing. During his cross-examination, however, Parra admitted receipt of the two-page summary of the psychological evaluation. Parra also disputed that Holloway had informed him of the contents of his report. Nevertheless, Parra obtained written statements from twenty-one character witnesses commenting on his probation plan, his motivation for treatment, and his risk to reoffend; and he submitted these statements at the rebuttal hearing.
of the Jurisdictional Review Committee, testified he had given Parra notice that the committee intended not to recommend probation. Turner testified that he had further provided Parra with a summary of his psychological evaluation supporting the committee's recommendation. Turner also testified that it was NICI's policy at the time to make available to the inmate only a summary of such psychological reports rather than the entire report. 1 David Holloway, who prepared the psychological evaluation, testified that he had met with Parra at the end of the group sessions to communicate his opinion about Parra's amenability to...To continue reading
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Nelson v. State
...violation, but also to demonstrate that he suffered some resulting prejudice that would entitle him to relief. Parra v. State, 129 Idaho 950, 952, 935 P.2d 213, 215 (Ct.App.1997). Nelson does not, and cannot, make such a showing here. Two of the possible "claims" that Nelson lists above req......
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Nelson v. State
...but also to demonstrate that he suffered some resulting prejudice that would entitle him to relief. Parra v. State, 129 Idaho 950, 952, 935 P.2d 213, 215 (Ct. App. 1997). Nelson does not, and cannot, make such a showing here. Two of the possible "claims" that Nelson lists above require a sh......
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Curtis v. State, Docket No. 33130 (Idaho App. 4/3/2009)
...but also to demonstrate that he suffered some resulting prejudice that would entitle him to relief. Parra v. State, 129 Idaho 950, 952, 935 P.2d 213, 215 (Ct. App. 1997). In Curtis' affidavit accompanying his petition for post-conviction relief, he states: "That affiant asked for legal repr......
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