State v. Burkhart
Decision Date | 23 December 2004 |
Docket Number | No. 03-108.,03-108. |
Citation | 2004 MT 372,325 Mont. 27,103 P.3d 1037 |
Parties | STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Richard Earl BURKHART, Defendant and Appellant. |
Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Kristina Guest (argued), Assistant Appellant Defender, Helena, Montana, for Appellant.
Hon. Mike McGrath, Attorney General; Jim Wheelis (argued), Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana Brant Light, Cascade County Attorney; John Parker, Deputy County Attorney, Great Falls, Montana, for Respondent.
¶ 1 Defendant Richard Earl Burkhart (Burkhart) was convicted by a jury in the Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County, on one count of deliberate homicide, felony-murder. Burkhart appeals his conviction. We affirm.
¶ 2 The following issues are presented on appeal:
¶ 3 1. Whether the District Court correctly denied Burkhart's motion to dismiss on the grounds the State's accomplice testimony was uncorroborated?
¶ 4 2. Whether the District Court correctly denied Burkhart's motion to dismiss and deprived him of due process on the grounds the predicate offense for felony-murder was an assault with a weapon?
¶ 5 3. Whether the District Court abused its discretion when it removed a prospective juror for cause?
¶ 6 4. Whether the District Court improperly considered Burkhart's refusal to admit guilt or express remorse at his sentencing hearing?
¶ 7 On November 13, 2001, the body of William Ledeau (Ledeau) was found at 12th Street and 1 Alley North in Great Falls, Cascade County. He had been struck in the head four times with a blunt object. The State initially charged Burkhart on December 10, 2001, with deliberate homicide by accountability. The State later amended the information on September 4, 2002, to include deliberate homicide, felony-murder, pursuant to § 45-5-102(1)(b), MCA. Burkhart was found guilty as charged by a jury on September 19, 2002, and sentenced to life imprisonment on October 24, 2002.
¶ 8 Prior to trial, the State moved to dismiss one juror for cause during voir dire because of the opinion he expressed concerning a reluctance to follow laws he found disagreeable. The prosecuting attorney brought up the example of seat belt laws and asked the following question of the prospective juror:
After the prosecutor challenged O'Leary for cause, the District Court allowed Burkhart's attorney, Vincent van der Hagen, to question him. Their exchange proceeded as follows:
Following further exchanges, the District Court stated: The District Court then excused O'Leary and a jury was eventually impaneled.
¶ 9 The trial began on September 9, 2002. The State's evidence at trial showed the following: In search of the individuals behind an attempted break-in of his car, Burkhart and his friend, Michael Staley (Staley), encountered Ledeau in the alley between 1 Alley North and 12th Street. Ledeau had been walking home from his aunt's house. Burkhart and Staley confronted Ledeau, accusing him of breaking into Burkhart's car earlier that evening. When Ledeau denied his involvement in the break-in and took offense at being accused, Burkhart hit Ledeau in the head once with a ball-peen hammer. After the initial blow, Ledeau attempted to flee but was eventually caught and hit three more times in the back and top of the head by Burkhart. Burkhart and Staley then returned to Staley's house and called police to report the break-in.
¶ 10 Officer Jamie Pinski of the Great Falls Police Department initially arrived at the crime scene and stated she was approached by Burkhart and Staley. According to Pinski, Burkhart and Staley told her Burkhart's vehicle had been broken into and they had seen a male run northbound across Central Avenue down 12th Street North. They also saw a second male run after the first male and, intending to confront the suspected thieves, gave chase after the two men. In pursuit, Burkhart and Staley said they ran through the parking lot to the east-side of "All Seasons Spas" and cut off one of the males in 1 Alley North. Burkhart and Staley told Pinski they caught and confronted one of the males.
¶ 11 Staley indicated the male flipped his hat off and stated, "Come on mother-fuckers, let's go" and began challenging them to a fight. Pinski reported she pointed out a baseball cap lying near Ledeau and asked them if it appeared to be the same cap the male suspect was wearing. Pinski indicated both Burkhart and Staley agreed that it was the suspect's hat. Ledeau's aunt, Joanne Dubois, testified at trial Ledeau was wearing the baseball hat when he left her home that evening.
¶ 12 Burkhart and Staley were further interviewed that evening by police. Detectives learned from Burkhart he had broken parole that day, traveling from Bigfork to Great Falls to visit Staley, another parolee, and buy some methamphetamine. Burkhart stated he was getting ready to drive back to Bigfork when they both walked out to his car and discovered someone had stolen some change, cigarettes, and a jacket from inside the automobile. Additionally, someone had attempted to pry open the trunk of his car in order to gain access to the speakers in the back.
¶ 13 Both men told officers they had confronted an Indian man in the alley but had walked away when the individual became angry and confrontational. They described the male as Native American, in his twenties, about 5' 10" with a stocky build, skinny mustache, some hair on his chin and a "skater hair cut." Burkhart indicated the male was wearing a dark shirt, dark pants and a blue baseball cap. This description matched Ledeau when officers found him that evening. Burkhart and Staley also claimed to have seen other suspicious individuals in the area that evening. Although Burkhart maintained he and Staley had left the confrontation when the male became angry, he later told detectives he chased the male to within 50 feet of where Ledeau's body was found.
¶ 14 As part of their investigation, detectives also interviewed Staley's roommate, Rochelle Smith-Sterner. Smith-Sterner recalled on November 12, 2001, observing Burkhart and Staley leave her residence to execute a methamphetamine purchase. A short time later, she remembered hearing Burkhart yelling that someone had broken into his car, specifically "I am going to kill the fucker that broke into [my] car." Shortly thereafter, Smith-Sterner observed Burkhart and Staley running after two individuals in the area of Central Ave and 12th Street. Smith-Sterner's...
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...by the Supreme Court in Mullaney v. Wilbur , 421 U.S. 684, 701, 95 S.Ct. 1881, 44 L.Ed. 2d 508 (1975)."); State v. Burkhart , 325 Mont. 27, 103 P.3d 1037, 1046–47 (2004) (holding the felony-murder rule does not violate due process since intent to kill is not an element of the crime under th......
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...rule creates an alternate means of holding one responsible for reckless actions likely to result in death." State v. Burkhart, 2004 MT 372, ¶ 36, 325 Mont. 27, 103 P.3d 1037 (internal citation omitted). Under the felony murder rule, the prosecution does not need to prove the "'purposely or ......
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