State v. Beam

Decision Date24 October 1985
Docket NumberNo. 15453,15453
Citation710 P.2d 526,109 Idaho 616
PartiesSTATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Albert Ray BEAM, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
SHEPARD, Justice

This is an appeal from appellant Beam's conviction of first degree murder and rape and the sentences imposed thereon. The district court sentenced Beam to death for first degree murder and to a fixed period of 30 years for rape. We review in response to the appeal as well as pursuant to the automatic review of death penalty sentences provisions of I.C. § 19-2827. We hold that no reversible error was committed, we affirm the convictions, and find that the sentence of death was validly imposed.

On July 8, 1983, the body of the victim of this crime, a thirteen-year-old girl, was found in the water of a drainage canal in Nampa, Idaho. She had been sexually abused and raped and her death was due to either drowning or a knife wound to her throat. The following day, a criminal complaint was filed charging appellant Beam with first degree murder. He was arrested in Nevada and gave a confession to law enforcement officials that inculpated Michael Shawn Scroggins. On July 11, a criminal complaint was filed charging both Beam and Scroggins with first degree murder, rape, and the use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a crime.

The record reveals the following facts, much of them coming from the testimony of appellant Beam. On July 7, 1983, the victim and a friend were on their way home when they encountered Beam and Scroggins. Beam and Scroggins allegedly wanted to get a telephone number and the four agreed to go to the victim's home for that purpose. Both parents of the victim were at work at that time. Once inside, the four watched television, following which Beam and Scroggins asked the girls if they wanted to go on a walk and offered them marijuana. The men stated that only one of the girls could go with them at a time. The victim agreed to go and left with Beam and Scroggins.

Beam testified to the following account of the crime. 1 The three of them walked to a back yard and stopped near a tree. Scroggins had a pair of handcuffs, which he used to manacle the victim and then had oral, vaginal and anal sex with her. Beam then had sexual intercourse with the victim. The handcuffs were removed so she could dress and then replaced on her wrists. Beam and Scroggins then walked the victim toward a drainage ditch, during which time Scroggins twice told the victim they were going to kill her. The victim pleaded with them to let her go and then fell into the stream. Scroggins shoved her head under the water, then pulled her out and slit her throat. Beam then held her head under water until she stopped moving. Her body was left in the stream.

At the August 1983 arraignment and thereafter, Beam and Scroggins were each represented by separate counsel. The possible necessity for severance of the defendants' trials was discussed at the arraignment because of the existence of the confession by Beam and certain incriminating statements made by Scroggins. The State made a motion to empanel two juries to hear the case simultaneously because of the Beam confession which inculpated Scroggins and the rule in Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), that a defendant's confession may not be used by a jury in deciding the guilt or innocence of a co-defendant.

Ultimately, the trial court ruled in favor of the State's motion to empanel two juries, holding that the cases would be severed on issues which were not relevant to both defendants, but that the cases would be jointly tried, with both juries sitting as to all other issues. The trial court reserved the right to determine which testimony would be presented to each jury.

Two juries were empaneled and sat simultaneously. Jury A heard the case against Beam and Jury B heard the case

[109 Idaho 619] against Scroggins. When counsel for Beam was engaged in cross-examination, Jury B was dismissed, and when counsel for Scroggins was cross-examining, Jury A was dismissed. When testimony probative as to Beam but prejudicial to Scroggins was about to be admitted, Scroggins' Jury B was to be excused from the courtroom, and vice versa. Most of the testimony pertained to both defendants and was not objectionable as to either one and was therefore heard by both juries. Separate opening and closing arguments were given before each jury

The State's evidence at trial was not substantially controverted and established that the victim's wrists were bruised and that there was a knife wound to her right side where one of the defendants had cut her in slicing off her underwear. A pathologist testified as to evidence of semen in her vagina and rectum. Blood was found in the crotch area of her pants, which the testimony indicated was consistent with a traumatic injury to the vagina, inflicted while she was alive. The knife wounds to the victim's throat consisted of three or four slashes and were about four inches wide and almost an inch deep. The testimony indicated that the throat wounds were inflicted while the victim was alive, but that death was caused by drowning.

The Beam jury found Beam guilty of premeditated first degree murder and rape. The Scroggins jury found Scroggins guilty of first degree murder, finding that he did not commit the crime directly but rather aided and abetted and/or encouraged and advised its commission, and found Scroggins guilty of attempted rape. Both juries acquitted their respective defendant of the enhancement charge of using a deadly weapon (the knife) in the commission of a crime.

At Beam's sentencing hearing, testimony was offered by the State and the defense, the State calling three witnesses, the director of the Canyon County Detention Center (where Beam was incarcerated), a detention center sergeant, and one of Beam's prior cellmates. The defense called Beam. The trial court also had before it the presentence investigation and psychological evaluation reports. That testimony indicated that Beam abused drugs, was on parole for burglary when the murder was committed, had been exposed to and participated in much sexually deviant behavior, had tortured animals, was impulsive, and lacked any adequate conscience.

Following Beam's sentencing hearing, the trial court, pursuant to I.C. § 19-2515, found the existence of three statutory aggravating circumstances: (1) that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel and it manifested exceptional depravity; (2) that Beam had exhibited utter disregard for human life; and (3) that Beam, by prior conduct or conduct in the commission of the murder, had exhibited a propensity to commit murder which would probably constitute a continuing threat to society. The trial court considered six possible mitigating factors: that Beam was 21 years old; that he had been mentally and emotionally deprived; that he had been cooperative with police and had admitted involvement in the crime; that he had limited employment skills as a cook and a mechanic; that he suffered from substance dependency; and that he was raised in a turbulent family setting. The trial court found that these factors did not outweigh the gravity of the aggravating circumstances.

The trial court sentenced Beam to death for the murder and sentenced him to a concurrent determinate sentence of 30 years for the rape in the event that the death penalty was not upheld. Scroggins was sentenced to death for the murder and received a ten-year concurrent determinate sentence for attempted rape. The Scroggins' appeal is pending before this Court.

Beam asserts the following errors: (1) that the Idaho death penalty scheme is unconstitutional; (2) that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence certain photographs of the victim's body; (3) that I.C. § 18-207, which provides that mental condition shall not be a defense to any charge of criminal conduct, is a denial of due process; and (4) that the use of dual juries in a simultaneous trial of the co-defendants deprived Beam of due process.

[109 Idaho 620] Beam asserts the imposition of the death sentence in this case is violative of the Idaho Constitution because it was imposed by a judge rather than a jury. This Court has held that neither the United States Constitution, nor ID.CONST. art. 1, § 7, requires the participation of a jury in the sentencing process in a capital case. State v. Creech, 105 Idaho 362, 670 P.2d 463 (1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1051, 104 S.Ct. 1327, 79 L.Ed.2d 722 (1984); State v. Sivak, 105 Idaho 900, 674 P.2d 396 (1983), cert. denied, 468 U.S. 1220, 104 S.Ct. 3591, 82 L.Ed.2d 887 (1984). See also Spaziano v. Florida, 468 U.S. 447, 104 S.Ct. 3154, 82 L.Ed.2d 340 (1984).

Although Beam also argues that Idaho's statutory procedure in capital cases is unconstitutional because uneven imposition of the death penalty occurs based on the age of the defendant and the age and sex of the victim, we find those arguments to be without merit. Idaho's statutorily mandated sentencing in death penalty cases was enacted to give the trial judge specific and detailed guidance in deciding whether to impose the death penalty and thereby avoid an arbitrary or capricious imposition of the penalty. State v. Osborn, 102 Idaho 405, 631 P.2d 187 (1981). Section 19-2515, Idaho Code, requires a sentencing hearing at which all relevant information is to be presented. The statute lists the aggravating circumstances, one of which must be found to exist beyond a reasonable doubt by the trial court. The aggravating circumstances must be held to outweigh any mitigating circumstances.

The age of a victim is a legitimate consideration in viewing the aggravating circumstances listed at I.C. § 19-2515(g)...

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