Row v. Beauclair
| Decision Date | 29 August 2011 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 1:98-cv-000240-BLW |
| Parties | ROBIN LEE ROW Petitioner, v. THOMAS J. BEAUCLAIR, Director of the Department of Correction, and BRIAN T. UNDERWOOD, Warden of the Idaho Pocatello Women's Correctional Center, State of Idaho, Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Idaho |
The merits of the non-dismissed claims in Idaho state prisoner Robin Lee Row's Second Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus are currently before the Court. After considering the parties' written and oral arguments, and the record herein, the Court concludes that Row is not entitled to habeas relief, and this case will be dismissed.
On February 10, 1992, Robin Row's husband, Randy, and her two children, Joshua and Tabitha, died from carbon monoxide poisoning while they slept in their upstairs bedrooms during an early morning fire at their duplex on Seneca Street in Boise. Investigators would later conclude that the fire had been intentionally set downstairs witha flammable substance that likely burned slowly before igniting a much hotter burning petroleum product. (State's Lodging A-4, pp. 2285-87.) The circuit breaker for the smoke detector was shut off and the furnace fan was set to run continuously, feeding the flames and circulating smoke quickly through the home. (Id. at 2274-75.)
At the time, Row was staying at the home of her close friend, Joan McHugh, and she was not harmed. (State's Lodging A-4, pp. 1297-98, 1317-18.) For the previous several weeks, Row had been telling McHugh and others that Randy was physically abusing her, which she claimed involved serious beatings, kidnapping, and rape. (Id. at 1267-1307.) Row also told her friends that she intended to divorce Randy, and she had recently moved her possessions out of the family home and into a storage unit. (Id. at 1568-69.)
On the night of the fire, Row awakened McHugh around 3:00 a.m. to tell her that she had "a terrible feeling that there was something wrong at her house." (State's Lodging A-4, p. 1318.) McHugh agreed to check on the house with Row. As they approached Seneca Street in Row's car and saw the flashing lights of emergency vehicles, Row told McHugh that there must have been a fire, even though they could not yet see smoke. (Id. at 1322.) Once they arrived and saw that the house was burning, paramedics informed Row that her children and husband had been found dead. (Id. at 1331-32.)
Within days, law enforcement officers learned that Row had lost two otherchildren under suspicious circumstances, and the arson investigation began to focus on her. (State's Lodging C-17, p. 2.) Officers obtained a search warrant for the burned Seneca Street residence, Row's car, her storage unit, and McHugh's home. Inside the storage unit, they uncovered evidence that Row had been embezzling money from the YWCA, where she had recently worked as the manager of a bingo game. (Id. at 2-3.) Officers also found insurance policies on the lives of Randy, Joshua, and Tabitha that totaled over $275,000; Robin Row was the beneficiary of these policies, the last of which had been purchased by her only a few weeks before the fire. (Id.)
It soon became apparent that Row's claims of abuse were either largely or entirely fabricated. For instance, there were no official reports of arrests or charges against Randy, and state welfare agents had never been to the home to give Randy tranquilizing shots after domestic disturbances, as Row had claimed. Investigators later discovered that Row had started a new sexual relationship with Joan McHugh's adult son, John Blackwell, in the weeks before the fire. (State's Lodging A-5, p. 2592.)
On February 13, 1992, Row was arrested and charged with grand theft for stealing from the YWCA. (State's Lodging C-17, p. 3.) She was not yet charged with any crimes associated with the suspected arson, but she remained incarcerated because she could not post a bond on the theft charge. (Id.) An attorney represented her on that charge.
Row soon began to call Joan McHugh from the county jail. During this time, McHugh was in contact with Ada County Sheriff's Detective Gary Raney, and Raneysuggested that she should secretly tape her telephone conversations with Row. (State's Lodging C-17, p. 3.) She agreed, and the Sheriff's Office provided the equipment for her to do so. (Id.)
On March 18, Detective Raney suggested to McHugh that she should lie and tell Row that she woke up early on the morning of the fire and came downstairs to where Row was supposedly sleeping, but that she did not see Row. (State's Lodging C-17, p. 2.) When confronted with this scenario, Row said that she could not remember what she was doing at that time. Row v. State, 177 P.3d 382, 386 (Idaho 2008) ("Row III").
By March 20, law enforcement officers believed that they had sufficient evidence to charge Row with murder. At about 11:00 a.m. on that date, a deputy prosecuting attorney signed a criminal complaint charging Row with three counts of murder and presented the complaint to a magistrate judge, who issued a warrant for her arrest. (State's Lodging C-17, p. 12.) At 1:00 p.m., the Sheriff and prosecutors held a joint press conference to announce the filing of these charges. (Id.)
Row had learned that she was being charged with murder, and she called McHugh at about the same time as the press conference. (State's Lodging C-17, p. 12.) McHugh repeated the story about not finding Row in the home on the night of the fire. This time, Row responded that she had been outside speaking with her psychiatrist. (Id.) In a call later that day, McHugh pressed Row about this supposed late night/early morning meeting, but Row refused to say who the psychiatrist was. Row III, 177 P.3d at 386.McHugh finally told Row that she was working with Detective Raney, and their conversations ceased.
Row was arrested on the murder charges the following Monday, March 23, and she made her initial appearance before a magistrate judge that day. (State's Lodging A-1, pp. 3-5.) The attorney who had been representing Row on the grand theft charge continued to represent her on the new charges at the magistrate court level. (Id. at 22.) After a preliminary hearing, Row was bound over for trial on three counts of first degree murder and one count of aggravated arson. (Id. at 36.) The trial court then appointed the Ada County Public Defender as counsel for Row, and August Cahill and Amil Myshin of that office were assigned to the case. (Id. at 36, 48.)
A jury trial was held from late January to early March of 1993, and the jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges. (State's Lodging A-5, pp. 3562-63.)
The sentencing hearing began on October 19, 1993. (State's Lodging A-6, p. 3672.) The State chose not to offer any additional evidence in aggravation. (State's Lodging A-6, pp. 3685-86.) Defense counsel Cahill and Myshin presented the testimony of three witnesses, in addition to letters written in support of Row, and Row gave an unsworn statement in court. (Id.)
At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court found that four statutory aggravating circumstances had been proven by the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt:(1) Row committed multiple murders at the same time, Idaho Code § 19-2515(g)(2); (2) the murders were committed during an arson, making them first degree felony murders, and were accompanied by a specific intent to kill, Idaho Code § 19-2515(g)(7); (3) the murders were committed for remuneration or the promise of remuneration, Idaho Code § 19-2515(g)(4); and (4) Row exhibited an "utter disregard for human life," Idaho Code § 19-2515(g)(6).
The trial court also found several facts in mitigation, including that Row had endured a difficult and abusive childhood, had shown responsibility in the past, did not have an extensive record of violent crimes, was involved in a mutually abusive relationship with Randy, and suffered from various mental, psychological, and personality problems. (State's Lodging A-2, pp. 423-37.) The court weighed all of the mitigating circumstances against the multiple murder aggravating factor and concluded that mitigation did not outweigh that single aggravating circumstance. (Id. at 428-32.) The court declined to engage in a formal weighing assessment for each of the other aggravating factors, concluding that it would be an exercise in futility. (Id. at 432.)
On December 16, 1993, the trial court sentenced Row to death for the murder convictions and to twenty years fixed for aggravated arson. (State's Lodging A-2, pp. 413-433.)
Two months after Row was sentenced, Rolf Kehne and John Adams substituted asconflict counsel for the Ada County Public Defender in the capital post-conviction and appellate proceeding. (State's Lodging A-6, p. 4065.) The trial court ordered the immediate filing of a "tentative or generic" post-conviction petition, as required by Idaho Code § 19-2719, but gave counsel a deadline of 42 days after the trial transcripts were completed to submit a finalized petition. (State's Lodging A-6, p. 4067; State's Lodging B-10, pp. 51, 56.) Kehne and Adams lodged an initial Petition for Post-Conviction Relief on March 17, 1994. (State's Lodging B-10, p. 56.)
Six months passed before the transcripts were finished, but counsel did not file an amended petition by the previously imposed deadline. (State's Lodging B-10, p. 66.) Instead, three months later, they requested another extension of time, which the court granted until June 15, 1995. (Id. at 68, 87.) Kehne and Adams also asked that the court appoint an independent "money judge" to review all motions for the appointment of experts. (State's Lodging B-10, p. 73.) The court denied the request for a money judge but left open the possibility that certain motions that contained privileged matters could be reviewed in camera. (State's Lodging B-12, pp. 15-19.)
In March...
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