State v. Carsner
| Decision Date | 09 March 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 20970,20970 |
| Citation | 894 P.2d 144,126 Idaho 911 |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Jeffrey Louis CARSNER, Sr., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Alan G. Lance, Atty. Gen., Michael A. Henderson, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, for respondent. Michael A. Henderson, argued.
In this case we are asked to review a number of rulings by the district court in a criminal trial. After reviewing the record and the alleged errors, we affirm the judgment of conviction.
On June 3, 1992, Lorraine McKee died from a single gunshot wound to the head. From a neighbor's apartment, Jeffrey Carsner, McKee's live-in boyfriend, called 911 and stated that his girlfriend had just shot herself. When the police arrived, they found Carsner still in the neighbor's apartment. Carsner again told the police that McKee had shot herself. An investigation of the scene showed that after McKee had died, her body had been moved by someone. Other evidence suggested a struggle had occurred before the shooting. The gun used in the shooting was not initially recovered, but was found in the bedding underneath McKee once her body was removed.
Carsner was charged with second degree murder. He pled not guilty. Carsner maintained at trial that he was not in the room at the time of the shooting and that McKee had committed suicide. To explain the movement of the body and the further evidence suggesting a struggle, the defense theorized that someone, probably other neighbors, had entered the house after the shooting in search of marijuana and valuables.
The prosecution's theory was that Carsner had intentionally killed McKee. To support this, expert testimony was offered on high-speed blood splatters found on Carsner's clothing. These splatters indicated that Carsner was in close proximity to McKee when the gun was fired. The prosecution also produced evidence of motive, offering a note written by McKee to Carsner instructing him to move out of the apartment. There was an outstanding felony arrest warrant for Carsner in Oregon and McKee's note indicated that if Carsner did not move out as she instructed, leaving his young son and their cars behind, McKee would contact the authorities.
The jury was given instructions on second degree murder and the lesser included offense of manslaughter. The jury was further instructed on adequate provocation. Carsner was found guilty of second degree murder. Carsner appeals his conviction, claiming that Idaho's standard jury instructions on murder and manslaughter are incomprehensible and should be rewritten in modern, understandable language. Carsner also claims that a number of other errors resulted in an unfair trial, including: (1) improper jury instructions; (2) improper response by the district court to a written question from the jury; (3) improper impeachment of a defense witness; and (4) improper comments by the prosecutor during closing argument. Finally, Carsner claims that all the errors together amounted to cumulative error.
Carsner asserts that Idaho's standard jury instructions regarding murder and manslaughter are incomprehensible and unnecessarily confusing. He urges this Court to hold that the instructions are improper and should be rewritten in modern, understandable language. Specifically, Carsner challenges The language that Carsner objects to is drawn from the Idaho statutes defining murder, malice and manslaughter. I.C. §§ 18-4001, -4002 and -4006. In a challenge to similar instructions as those given in this case, the Idaho Supreme Court has stated:
[126 Idaho 914] such phrases as "abandoned and malignant heart," "malice, express or implied," and "malice is negated by sudden quarrel or heat of passion," as used in Instruction Nos. 8, 9, 15, 16, 17 and 18. At trial, counsel for Carsner below did not object to the wording of these instructions. Normally the failure to object below precludes consideration of an alleged error on appeal. The Idaho Supreme Court has stated, however, in interpreting revisions to I.C.R. 30, that "the failure to object to an instruction at trial in a criminal case does not constitute a waiver of any objection to the instruction on appeal." State v. Smith, 117 Idaho 225, 229, 786 P.2d 1127, 1131 (1990). Thus, we may consider Carsner's challenge to the jury instruction language
An instruction to the jury that essentially follows the words of a statute normally is not error. "Ordinarily, the language employed by the legislature in defining a crime is deemed to be best suited for that purpose, and error cannot be predicated upon its use in informations and instructions."
State v. Aragon, 107 Idaho 358, 362, 690 P.2d 293, 297 (1984) quoting State v. Brooks, 49 Idaho 404, 409, 288 P. 894, 896 (1930).
This case falls squarely within the principle set forth in Aragon and Brooks. If the legislature chooses to amend the language of the statutes defining murder and manslaughter, then the instructions given to juries in this state should parallel those changes. Until such time, however, we are bound by the words that the legislature has chosen for the definition of various crimes. Accordingly, we reject Carsner's argument that his conviction should be overturned because of the language in the challenged instructions.
Carsner asserts that Instruction No. 13 improperly allowed the jury to consider Carsner's silence as evidence of his guilt. Instruction No. 13 read:
Intent ordinarily may not be proved directly, because there is no way of fathoming or scrutinizing the operations of the human mind. But you may infer the defendant's intent from the surrounding circumstances. You may consider any statement made and done or omitted by the defendant, and all other facts and circumstances in evidence which indicate his state of mind.
Carsner claims that this instruction violates his right to remain silent as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 13 of the Idaho State Constitution.
The question whether the jury has been properly instructed is a question of law over which we exercise free review. State v. Gleason, 123 Idaho 62, 65, 844 P.2d 691, 694 (1992). When reviewing jury instructions, we ask whether the instructions as a whole, and not individually, fairly and accurately reflect applicable law. State v. Bowman, 124 Idaho 936, 942, 866 P.2d 193, 199 (Ct.App.1993).
The court and prosecution cannot comment on the accused's decision not to testify at trial as an inference of guilt. Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1965). The question here, however, is whether Instruction No. 13 invited the jury to make such an inference. The jury was also instructed, by Instruction No. 6, that:
It is a constitutional right of a defendant in [a] criminal trial that he may not be compelled to testify. Thus the decision as to whether he should testify is left to the defendant, acting with the advice and assistance of his attorney. You must not draw any inference of guilt from the fact that he does not testify, nor should this fact be discussed by you or enter into your deliberations in any way.
Because we read the instructions as a whole, Instruction No. 6 would be sufficient to negate any improper inference that may Carsner also argues, however, that the instruction permitted the jury to consider his silence as to certain facts in his statements to the police. In support of this argument, Carsner cites State v. Sundstrom, 77 Idaho 72, 286 P.2d 640 (1955), a case which held it error to instruct the jury that "the accused's evasions, denials, contradictions and falsities may be considered as links in the chain of circumstantial evidence showing his guilt." Id. at 74, 286 P.2d 640. The Court in Sundstrom, however, did not overturn the conviction because the instruction improperly allowed consideration of the defendant's silence, but because the Supreme Court felt the trial judge had invaded the province of the jury. The Court found that the passage:
[126 Idaho 915] result from Instruction No. 13. Reading these instructions together, we believe the jury would understand that they could not consider the failure to testify at trial, but might consider statements not made and facts omitted from Carsner's conversations with the police. Therefore, the instructions given to the jury did not infringe upon Carsner's right not to testify at trial.
singles out the accused, appellant, and in effect instructs the jury that the accused factually committed evasions, denials, contradictions and falsities, and that the same may be considered by the jury as links in the chain of circumstantial evidence showing his guilt. It is within the province of the jury, and not the court, to find whether the accused, appellant, was guilty of any such conduct, and if so, whether the same constitutes a circumstance showing his guilt. The trial court should not have assumed as a fact in the instruction either, that appellant had been guilty of any such conduct, or, that such conduct constitutes a circumstance showing his guilt.
We do not believe that the language of Instruction No. 13 invades the province of the jury by implying the existence of evasions and falsities. In this case, the jury was also instructed:
The applicability of some of these instructions will depend upon the conclusions you reach as to what the facts are. As to any such instructions, the fact that it has been given must not be taken as indicating an opinion of the Court that the instruction will be necessary or as to what the facts are. If an instruction applies only to a state of facts which you find does not exist, you will disregard the instruction.
The jury was further...
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