State v. Cope

• Decision Date: 02 February 2006
• Docket Number: No. 32175.,32175.
• Citation: 142 Idaho 492,129 P.3d 1241
• Parties: STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent. v. John M. COPE, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

129 P.3d 1241

142 Idaho 492

STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent. v. John M. COPE, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 32175.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, December 2005 Term.

February 2, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for Appellant. Eric D. Fredericksen argued.

Honorable Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General, Boise, for Respondent. Jessica M. Lorello argued.

SCHROEDER, Chief Justice.

John Cope (Cope) murdered Brian Elliot (Elliot) by decapitating him with a knife. Following this act, Cope mutilated Elliot's severed head. The State charged Cope with first degree murder and sought a sentencing enhancement for use of a deadly weapon. Following a Rule 11 plea agreement, Cope pled guilty to second degree murder; the State withdrew its intent to seek a sentencing enhancement; and, the district court imposed a fixed life sentence. Cope moved to reduce the sentence. The district court denied the motion. Cope appealed. The Idaho Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision. Cope filed a Petition for Review, which this Court granted. Cope argues: (1) the use of the competency evaluation and psychologist's testimony at his sentencing hearing violated his constitutional and statutory rights under I.C. § 18-215 and I.C. § 19-3003, the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, Article 1, § 13 and Article 1, § 17 of the Idaho Constitution; and (2) his fixed life sentence is excessive. The state maintains that Cope waived his right to appeal in this Rule 11 plea agreement, and his fixed life sentence is not excessive.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On June 29, 2002, Cope was watching TV in his apartment located above Palucci's Men's store in Lewiston, Idaho. According to his statement in the presentence report, he "must have taken some benadryl or drank some beer or something" when Elliot knocked on the door to remind him he had three days to move out of his apartment. When Elliot came back "five seconds later" and knocked again, Cope said "melcirdak" told him to:

finish [Elliot] off. I hurd [sic] god say finish him off he's the mark of the beast. Get your knife and answer the door. And there was a man who I thought was the mark of the beast a black man mutated white and that's when I slit both sides of his neck and ran him down cut off his head and tossed it and [mutilated] it so he could not speak or hear. I had been taking a lot of benadryl and hearing voices.

Cope murdered Elliot by slitting both sides of his neck with a knife and decapitating him. He then mutilated Elliot's severed head. In the process Cope cut his own hand. He went to an emergency room where he was "covered in blood," acting "psychotic," and talking about "letting the beast out." Cope told an officer that he was "being tormented by the mark of the beast," and when the "mark of the beast" came to his door, he cut the beast's head off with a knife.

The State charged Cope with first-degree murder and filed a motion for a psychological evaluation pursuant to I.C. §§ 18-210 and 18-211. The State amended its charge to include a notice of intent to seek a sentence enhancement for use of a deadly weapon pursuant to I.C. § 19-2520.

The magistrate judge ordered a psychological evaluation pursuant to I.C. § 18-211 to determine whether Cope was competent to assist in his own defense and stand trial. Cope refused to participate in this initial evaluation with the appointed state psychologist (Dr. Phillips). Pursuant to I.C. § 18-211(3), the magistrate judge ordered Cope confined to the Idaho Security Medical Facility for evaluation. A second psychologist, Dr. Sombke, was appointed. Based upon Dr. Sombke's initial evaluation, Cope was found unfit to proceed. However, four months following this initial evaluation, the magistrate judge determined Cope was competent to stand trial and bound him over to the district court.

Pursuant to a Rule 11 plea agreement, the State withdrew its request for a sentence enhancement, and Cope pled guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder. As a part of the agreement Cope waived his right to appeal. The district judge accepted the plea and ordered a presentence investigation report. The State filed a motion asking that the presentence investigator be allowed to review the psychologist's evaluation of Cope. Cope objected, claiming that I.C. § 18-215 prohibited the use of such report in any proceeding other than a determination of competence. The district court granted the State's motion.

At the sentencing hearing, Dr. Sombke testified regarding statements Cope made during his commitment at ISMF and his competency evaluation. The district court sentenced Cope to a fixed life term. Cope filed a motion for a reduction of sentence, which the district court denied. Cope appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's conviction and sentence and held that Cope's waiver of his right to appeal was valid. Cope filed a Petition for Review, which this Court granted.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

When considering a case on review from the Court of Appeals, this Court does not merely review the correctness of the decision of the Court of Appeals. This Court acts as though it is hearing the matter on direct appeal from the decision of the trial court. However, this Court does give serious consideration to the decision of the Court of Appeals. When this Court grants a petition to review a Court of Appeals decision, it will ordinarily hear all the issues presented to the Court of Appeals.

Garza v. State, 139 Idaho 533, 535, 82 P.3d 445, 447 (2003) (internal citations omitted).

A plea agreement is contractual in nature, must be measured by contract law standards, and as a question of law, this Court exercises free review. Dunlap v. State, 141 Idaho 50, 63, 106 P.3d 376, 389 (2004).

The primary goal in sentencing is the protection of society. State v. Moore, 78 Idaho 359, 304 P.2d 1101 (1956). For the purpose of review this Court considers the fixed term of confinement as the sentence imposed. State v. Strand, 137 Idaho 457, 460, 50 P.3d 472, 475 (2002).

III.

COPE KNOWINGLY, VOLUNTARILY, AND INTELLIGENTLY, WAIVED HIS RIGHT TO APPEAL AND THE DISTRICT COURT WAS NOT REQUIRED TO EXPRESSLY WARN COPE OF THE WAIVER FOR IT TO BE VALID.

Idaho Criminal Rule 11(d)(1) states that in a plea agreement, "The prosecuting attorney and the attorney for the defendant... may engage in discussions with a view toward reaching an agreement, which may include a waiver of the defendant's right to appeal the judgment and sentence of the court. . . ." Idaho Criminal Rule 11(c) provides the following:

(c) Acceptance of plea of guilty. Before a plea of guilty is accepted, the record of the entire proceedings, including reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, must show:

1) The voluntariness of the plea.

2) The defendant was informed of the consequences of the plea, including minimum and maximum punishments, and other direct consequences which may apply.

3) The defendant was advised that by pleading guilty the defendant would waive the right against compulsory self-incrimination, the right to trial by jury, and the right to confront witnesses against the defendant.

4) The defendant was informed of the nature of the charge against the defendant.

5) Whether any promises have been made to the defendant, or whether the plea is a result of any plea bargaining agreement, and if so, the nature of the agreement and that the defendant was informed that the court is not bound by any promises or recommendation from either party as to punishment.

In State v. Murphy, 125 Idaho 456-57, 872 P.2d 719-20 (1994), this Court stated that:

The law has long since recognized that a criminal defendant by pleading guilty waives certain constitutional rights including, the privilege against self-incrimination... Waiver of these constitutional rights will be upheld if the entire record shows the waiver was made voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently.

. . .

The right to appeal is purely a statutory right and is not a right guaranteed by any provision of the federal or state constitutions. Given the fact that constitutional rights may be waived, there is no doubt that a statutory right may be waived as well.

. . .

Since the waiver of the right to appeal in this case was entered as a part of the plea agreement, we employ the same analysis as we would in determining the validity of any plea of guilty.

(Emphasis added). Additionally, the United States Supreme Court has stated:

When a criminal defendant has solemnly admitted in open court that he is in fact guilty of the offense with which he is charged, he may not thereafter raise independent claims relating to the deprivation of constitutional rights that occurred prior to the entry of the guilty plea. He may only attack the voluntary and intelligent character of the guilty plea . . .

Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258, 267, 93 S.Ct. 1602, 1608, 36 L.Ed.2d 235, 243 (1973).

Federal case law prior to the 1999 amendment to F.R.C.P. 11(b)(1)(N) which explicitly requires federal courts to openly warn defendants of their right to appeal supports the conclusion that unless stated, there is no prerequisite requiring a court to openly warn a defendant about his decision to waive his right to appeal. See United States v. DeSantiago-Martinez, 38 F.3d 394, 395 (9th Cir. 1992) ("In our view, a Rule 11 colloquy on the waiver of the right to appeal is not a prerequisite to a finding that the waiver is valid; rather, a finding that the waiver is knowing and voluntary is sufficient."); United States v. Black, 201 F.3d 1296, 1301-02 (10th Cir. 2000); United States v. Michelsen, 141 F.3d 867, 871-72 (8th Cir.1998); United States v. Wenger, 58 F.3d 280, 282 (7th Cir. 1995); United States v. Portillo, 18 F.3d 290, 292-293 (5th Cir.1994); United States v. Davis, 954 F.2d 182, 186 (4th Cir.1992). This Court notes that the amendment to ...