State v. Daley, 04-458.

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Vermont
• Citation: 892 A.2d 244,2006 VT 5
• Docket Number: No. 04-458.,04-458.
• Parties: STATE of Vermont v. Eric P. DALEY.
• Decision Date: 06 January 2006

892 A.2d 244 2006 VT 5 STATE of Vermont
v.
Eric P. DALEY. No. 04-458. Supreme Court of Vermont. January 6, 2006.

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PRESENT: REIBER, C.J., and DOOLEY, JOHNSON, SKOGLUND and BURGESS, JJ.

ENTRY ORDER

¶ 1. Defendant Eric P. Daley appeals from an aggregate sentence of twenty-six to thirty-three years imposed by the trial court following the court's acceptance of defendant's guilty plea to seven criminal charges resulting from a high speed police pursuit in which defendant struck and killed a state police trooper. Defendant contends the court erred by: (1) refusing to treat defendant's claimed unconstitutional detention, and the trooper's alleged misuse of spike strips, as mitigating factors; (2) conferring victim status on two state troopers who witnessed the incident; and (3) failing to consider as a mitigating factor defendant's testimony that he was unaware of having struck the trooper. We affirm.

¶ 2. The events that resulted in the death of State Police Sergeant Michael Johnson may be summarized as follows. On the afternoon of June 15, 2003, Trooper Michael Smith of the Vermont State Police stopped a vehicle for speeding on Interstate 91. During the ticketing process, the officer requested background information about the driver, later identified as defendant, and learned that he had previously been arrested for possession of illegal drugs. Shortly after Trooper Smith completed the paperwork, another officer, Sergeant Page, arrived at the scene and advised Trooper Smith to detain defendant

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until they located a canine unit to search the car for illegal drugs. Upon learning that a unit was not available, Trooper Smith was about to inform defendant that he was free to leave when he heard defendant's tires squeal and observed defendant drive away at a high rate of speed traveling south on Interstate 91.

¶ 3. The officers pursued defendant in their cruisers with their blue lights flashing, at times reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour. They were unable to gain ground on defendant, however, who was weaving in and out of other cars on the Interstate. In the meantime, Sergeant Johnson, who was traveling in the opposite direction and monitoring the chase, radioed dispatch to determine whether Sergeant Page wanted him to lay down a set of spike mats on the highway to stop the fleeing vehicle. Sergeant Johnson had indicated that he was at mile marker seventy-six. Sergeant Page informed dispatch to advise Sergeant Johnson to deploy the spikes and to hurry because they were approaching mile marker seventy-seven and coming fast.

¶ 4. Sergeant Johnson, in response, parked his cruiser in a U-turn area of the center-median of the Interstate, crossed to the west side of the southbound lane, and began laying down spikes. As Sergeant Page approached at high speed, he observed Sergeant Johnson run across the southbound lane toward his parked cruiser. Ahead of Sergeant Page was defendant and a caravan of three vehicles carrying a group of parents and eighth graders returning from a school trip. Defendant passed two of the vehicles and was pulling in behind the third when the latter struck the spikes. Defendant in response swerved sharply to the left and lost control of his car. It crossed onto the grass median, spun down a slope, and struck Sergeant Johnson, who was thrown about ninety feet by the collision. Defendant's vehicle came to rest in the northbound lane, about twenty-five feet from where Sergeant Johnson landed. Defendant left his vehicle, jumped over a guardrail, and escaped into the woods. With the assistance of friends, he fled to Pennsylvania, where he was eventually arrested. Sergeant Johnson was transported to Dart-mouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about an hour after the incident. A subsequent search of defendant's vehicle revealed several bags of marijuana and smaller amounts of LSD and Ecstasy.

¶ 5. Defendant was charged with seven separate counts, including grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle with death resulting, leaving the scene of an accident with death resulting, attempting to elude a police officer, second-degree murder, and three counts of possession of illegal drugs. Pursuant to a negotiated plea, the State agreed to reduce two of the possession charges, to reduce the murder charge to involuntary manslaughter, and to run several of the charges concurrently, for a maximum exposure of thirty-three years. The Department of Corrections filed a presentence investigation report, defendant filed a sentencing memorandum to which the State responded, and the court held a sentencing hearing over the course of three days in September 2004. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court sentenced defendant to a term of twenty-six to thirty-three years, consistent with the negotiated plea. This appeal followed.

¶ 6. Our review in this matter is limited. As we have frequently observed, the trial court enjoys broad discretion in imposing sentence. State v. Ingerson, 2004 VT 36, ¶ 10, 176 Vt. 428, 852 A.2d 567; State v. White, 172 Vt. 493, 501-02, 782 A.2d 1187, 1193 (2001). Absent exceptional circumstances, we will defer to the court's judgment so long as the sentence is

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within the statutory limits and was not based on improper or inaccurate information. Ingerson, 2004 VT 36, ¶ 10, 176 Vt. 428, 852 A.2d 567. With these standards in mind, we turn to defendant's claims.

¶ 7. Defendant contends initially that the court abused its discretion in refusing to consider his allegedly unconstitutional detention as a mitigating factor. Defendant argued at sentencing that the police exceeded their authority when, following issuance of the speeding ticket, they attempted to detain him further to conduct...