State v. Daniels

• Decision Date: 08 November 2011
• Docket Number: No. DA 10–0291.,DA 10–0291.
• Citation: 265 P.3d 623,2011 MT 278,362 Mont. 426
• Parties: STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Larry B. DANIELS, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

2011 MT 278

265 P.3d 623

362 Mont. 426

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Appellee,

v.Larry B. DANIELS, Defendant and Appellant.

No. DA 10–0291.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs June 22, 2011.Decided Nov. 8, 2011.

For Appellant: Colin M. Stephens; Smith & Stephens, P.C.; Missoula, Montana.

For Appellee: Steve Bullock, Montana Attorney General; Jonathan M. Krauss, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, Dan Guzynski, Assistant Attorney General, Special Deputy County Attorney for Carbon County, Helena, Montana, Alex Nixon, Carbon County Attorney, Red Lodge, Montana.

Justice JIM RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court.

[362 Mont. 427] ¶ 1 Defendant Larry B. Daniels (Daniels) appeals from the conviction and judgment for deliberate homicide entered following jury trial in the Twenty–Second Judicial District Court, Carbon County. In defense, Daniels asserted justifiable use of force. We affirm and restate the issues on appeal as follows:

¶ 2 1. Did the District Court err in its rulings regarding the admissibility of character evidence of the victim in violation of the Rules of Evidence and Daniels' constitutional rights?

¶ 3 2. Did the District Court err by refusing Daniels' proposed jury instructions on justifiable use of force in defense of an occupied structure and burglary as a forcible felony?

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 4 In April 2009, the Daniels family rented a ten-acre property in Fromberg, Montana. Daniels, age 66, Buddy (Daniels' adult son, age 43), Logan (Daniels' son, age 14), and Hagen (Buddy's son, age 13), lived together on the property. Daniels and Logan had recently moved to Montana from California, and the property was rented by Daniels so that the Daniels family could live together. Two residential structures were on the property, including a north house consisting of an apartment and attached shop, and the main house located to the south. Buddy, Logan, and Hagen lived in the main house, while Daniels resided in the apartment in the north house.

¶ 5 Daniels and Buddy had plans to develop the property, and on the morning of May 21, 2009, they went to Billings to purchase lumber to build corrals. Daniels and Buddy drank beer while driving home, stopping to buy food and supplies for Logan and Hagen. They stopped at a bar and drank beer and liquor with friends until around 8:00 p.m. According to the bartender, everyone “seemed to be getting along great.”

¶ 6 Later, Daniels, Buddy, Logan and Hagen gathered at the main house for dinner. Logan testified that Daniels and Buddy were intoxicated. An argument ensued during dinner over Daniels incorrectly remembering Logan's birthday and not being “a good grandpa” to Hagen. The argument escalated, with Buddy asking Daniels to leave the main house, and Daniels refusing. Buddy broke two chairs and Daniels threw a beer at Buddy. Buddy then struck Daniels and wrestled him to the ground, pinning him there and telling him to leave. Buddy then rolled or drug Daniels down the stairs. Daniels testified he did not remember being struck, only that he ended up at the bottom of the stairs. The argument continued as Daniels and Buddy moved into the mud room. Hagen testified “it kind of toned down a little bit” and that neither person seemed to be hurt. Daniels headed to his house, with Buddy following. Hagen testified that he and Logan decided to “separate” Daniels and Buddy, and the boys started to go towards Daniels' house. Daniels went into his house and was the only witness to the events that occurred inside the home.

¶ 7 Daniels testified that he “went straight to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer,” and went upstairs. He said he was quite upset, took a .22 pistol out of a holster and sat on his bed “thinking about shooting myself.” Daniels testified he heard the front door open and Buddy's angry voice. Buddy came up the stairs and verbally challenged Daniels. Daniels testified that when Buddy came up the stairs, Daniels said, “No more. Go home. It's over. Go home. Get out of here.” Daniels told police “[b]y that time I'm around on this side of my bed at my nightstand and my pistol lays right there. I picked up my pistol and I said Bud, just leave and leave me alone. He said fuck you and your pistol. I'll shove that mother fucker up your ass and he come toward me, pop, pop.” Daniels testified Buddy “straight-arm[ed] me in the chest,” and the pistol went in the air and he pulled the trigger “to protect myself.” Daniels told police that he fired three shots ten feet from Buddy. He told police his intent was to “[g]et away from him” and “to stop him,” and that “[a]ny time you pick up a gun and you pop a cap, your intent is to kill.”

¶ 8 After the shooting, Daniels went downstairs. Logan and Hagen came through the doorway and Daniels told them to leave. Logan and Hagen testified that Daniels said that he had just shot and killed Buddy. Daniels called 911, telling the dispatcher: “He's wantin' to beat me up all the time and he owes me a ton of money and arguin' about this and one thing another. He ripped my shirt off of me and he shoved me down the stairs one thing another and I ... I come over to my little house and he followed me up here gonna kick my ass one thing another and I said leave me alone. I can't out ... I can't beat you. I'm too old. I can't whip him anymore. I picked up my gun, he said oh fuck you. What ya gonna do with that gun you know and blah, blah and I said I ... I ain't gonna do it anymore. I'm tired of it. Then I pulled the trigger. I'm guilty 100%.” Daniels testified he remembered telling the 911 dispatcher he was “one hundred percent guilty,” and meant that “I had shot my son. I knew that I had done this. I was not looking for any kind of defense at the time. I was not looking for justification. I was just—yes, I did it.” A trooper who arrived at the scene testified that Daniels' demeanor struck him as almost jovial and upbeat, and Daniels “asked if [the trooper] could get him a beer because it might be the last one that he would ever have.” Six hours after the shooting Daniels' blood alcohol content was 0.08. Daniels was arrested at the scene.

¶ 9 Daniels had an abrasion on his left elbow, and no other injuries. Buddy had two gunshot wounds, one to the back of his head at the base of his skull—which the forensic pathologist/medical examiner, Dr. Thomas Bennett, believed was sustained first—and a second gunshot wound to the middle of his back. The third bullet went into the ceiling. The gunshot to the back of Buddy's head struck and fractured the base of the skull. Dr. Bennett testified that the shot to Buddy's skull probably took place when he was upright, and it would have rendered Buddy immediately unconscious and caused him to fall directly to the ground. Dr. Bennett believed Buddy was still alive at that point and his heart would still have been beating. Dr. Bennett opined the second shot to the middle of his back occurred when Buddy was on the ground. According to Dr. Bennett, this shot broke two ribs and perforated Buddy's lung, causing his chest cavity to fill with blood. Dr. Bennett believed both shots were fired very close in time. Dr. Bennett believed the first shot was fired from a distance of “at least four to five feet or more,” and the second shot was fired from a closer distance of approximately a foot and a half away. Injuries sustained from the two gunshot wounds caused Buddy's death.

¶ 10 The State filed an Information charging Daniels with deliberate homicide in violation of § 45–5–102, MCA (2007).¹ The State later amended the Information to alternatively charge mitigated deliberate homicide in violation of § 45–5–103, MCA. Daniels pled not guilty to the charges and filed notice of his intent to rely on the affirmative defense of justifiable use of force. The State filed a motion in limine to prohibit Daniels from referencing testimony regarding Buddy's alleged character for violence until a proper foundation had been laid by Daniels, and Daniels sought an order excluding “any argument by the prosecution that would tend to shift the burden of proof.” (Emphasis omitted.) The District Court entered preliminary rulings and deferred final rulings until trial. In January 2010, a six-day jury trial was conducted, during which Daniels testified. The jury returned a guilty verdict on the charge of deliberate homicide. The District Court sentenced Daniels to 60 years in Montana State Prison, with a condition that he be ineligible for parole for 20 years. Daniels appeals. Additional facts as necessary will be discussed herein.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 11 A district court has broad discretion when determining the relevance and admissibility of evidence. State v. Derbyshire, 2009 MT 27, ¶ 19, 349 Mont. 114, 201 P.3d 811. Generally, we review evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion. State v. Dist. Ct. of the Eighteenth Jud. Dist., 2010 MT 263, ¶ 31, 358 Mont. 325, 246 P.3d 415. A district court abuses its discretion if it “acts arbitrarily without the employment of conscientious judgment or exceeds the bounds of reason, resulting in substantial injustice.” Derbyshire, ¶ 19. “In exercising its discretion, however, the trial court is bound by the Rules of Evidence or applicable statutes. Thus, to the extent the court's ruling is based on an interpretation of an evidentiary rule or statute, our review is de novo.” Derbyshire, ¶ 19; see also Dist. Ct. of the Eighteenth Jud. Dist., ¶ 31. Our review is plenary for questions regarding constitutional law. State v. Jackson, 2009 MT 427, ¶ 50, 354 Mont. 63, 221 P.3d 1213.

DISCUSSION

¶ 12 1. Did the District Court err in its rulings regarding the admissibility of character evidence of the victim in violation of the Rules of Evidence and Daniels' constitutional rights?

A. 2009 Legislative Changes

¶ 13 The central theme of Daniels' arguments is that the District Court erred by making rulings in violation of legislation enacted by the 2009 Legislature....