State v. Deck, No. SC 89830 (Mo. 1/26/2010)
| Decision Date | 26 January 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. SC 89830.,SC 89830. |
| Parties | STATE OF MISSOURI, Respondent, v. CARMAN L. DECK, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, The Honorable Gary P. Kramer, Judge.
In February 1998, a jury found Carmen Deck guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, one count of first-degree robbery and one count of first-degree burglary for the 1996 robbery and shooting deaths of James and Zelma Long. He was sentenced to two death sentences. This Court affirmed those convictions and sentences in State v. Deck, 994 S.W.2d 527 (Mo. banc 1999) ("Deck I").1 Deck filed a motion for post-conviction relief pursuant to Rule 29.15, which was overruled by the circuit court. On appeal, this Court reversed the death sentences but affirmed the findings of guilt for his convictions. Deck v. State, 68 S.W.3d 418 (Mo. banc 2002) ("Deck II"). At the penalty-phase retrial, he was, again, sentenced to two death sentences. This Court affirmed the death sentences in State v. Deck, 136 S.W.3d 481 (Mo. banc 2004) ("Deck III"), but the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and found he was denied a fair trial because he appeared in shackles in the presence of the jury. See Deck v. Missouri, 544 U.S. 622 (2005). This Court ordered a second penalty-phase retrial, and Deck again received two death sentences. He appeals these two death sentences on numerous grounds. This Court has exclusive jurisdiction pursuant to Mo. Const. art. V, § 3. The judgment is affirmed.
Deck argues the trial court violated his rights to due process, equal protection, and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment under the United States and Missouri Constitutions in sentencing him to two death sentences. He contends section 565.040.2, RSMo 2000, mandates he should have been sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole because the death sentences imposed were held to be unconstitutional in Deck, 544 U.S. at 622.
Deck's claim involves the construction and application of section 565.040.2. The construction of a statute is a question of law reviewed de novo. State v. Perry, 275 S.W.3d 237, 241 (Mo. banc 2009).
This Court has previously indicated that trial error premised on a constitutional violation not directly affecting the imposition of the death penalty statutory scheme does not result in the application of section 565.040.2. See State v. Whitfield, 107 S.W.3d 253 (Mo. banc 2003).
Section 565.040.2 provides that when a death sentence is held to be unconstitutional, the trial court that previously imposed the sentence shall resentence the defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole:
In the event that any death sentence imposed pursuant to this chapter is held to be unconstitutional, the trial court which previously sentenced the defendant to death shall cause the defendant to be brought before the court and shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without eligibility for probation, parole, or release except by act of the governor, with the exception that when a specific aggravating circumstance found in a case is held to be inapplicable, unconstitutional or invalid for another reason, the supreme court of Missouri is further authorized to remand the case for retrial of the punishment pursuant to subsection 5 of section 565.035.
In Whitfield, the jury found the defendant guilty of first-degree murder, "but could not agree on punishment during the penalty phase, voting 11 to 1 in favor of life imprisonment." 107 S.W.3d at 256. Because the jury was unable to reach a verdict, the trial judge "undertook the four-step process required by section 565.030.4," which, at the time, was the process to determine punishment. Id. The trial judge found the presence of statutory and non-statutory aggravating circumstances, determined these circumstances warranted death, considered whether there were mitigating circumstances and found they did not outweigh the circumstances in aggravation, and decided under all the circumstances to impose a death sentence. Id.
After all of Whitfield's appeals and claims of ineffective assistance were exhausted, the United States Supreme Court decided Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 589 (2002), and held that capital defendants had a right under the Sixth Amendment to a jury determination of any fact that increases their maximum punishment, which included the finding of any statutory aggravating circumstances. Whitfield, 107 S.W.3d at 256. Because the judge, not the jury, made the factual findings and sentenced Whitfield to death, this Court held that the sentence of death was unconstitutionally imposed. Id.
This Court then applied section 565.040.2 and sentenced Whitfield to life imprisonment without parole. Id. This Court held that section 565.040.2 applied because the entry of the death sentence itself was accomplished through the application of an unconstitutional procedure under chapter 565 because the trial court made findings that the Sixth Amendment required a jury to make. Id. at 270. In reaching this holding, this Court noted that the alleged error — allowing the judge to determine the facts making Whitfield eligible for the death penalty — was not "some unrelated trial error, but the very entry of a judgment of death based on the judge's findings" in violation of Ring, which made the death sentence itself unconstitutional. Id. at 270 n.20.
In applying section 565.040.2, this Court stressed that the situation in Whitfield, in which the entry of the death sentence itself was unconstitutional or imposed under an unconstitutional statutory scheme, was distinguishable from a case such as the case at bar in which a new trial is ordered because of unrelated trial court error that violates a defendant's constitutional rights:
This [case] is to be distinguished from situations like State v. Mayes, 63 S.W.3d 615, 635 (Mo. banc 2001), and other cases cited by the separate opinion, in which a new trial was ordered because of unrelated trial error of constitutional dimension. Here, as discussed, it is the very entry of the death sentence that is held to be unconstitutional, since made without the very jury findings required for imposition of the death penalty under Missouri law, and hence the only remedy is to order imposition of the proper penalty-a life sentence.
This construction of section 565.040.2 was amplified by the dissent in Whitfield:
Section 565.040, however, does not apply to situations of mere procedural error, even if such error is rooted in constitutional principles. First, the plain words of the statute limit its application to events in which "the death penalty [in its totality] ... is held to be unconstitutional" or in which "any death sentence imposed [as to a particular offender] ... is held to be unconstitutional". Second, there is no policy reason to mandate a particular more extreme remedy when a lesser, more moderate remedy, is sufficient to guard the procedural rights of the offender.
Id. at 274 (Price, J. dissenting) (alteration in original).
This observation is consistent with the legislative intent behind the passage of section 565.040.2. The dissent even went on to point out the several cases in which this Court had concluded that although a death sentence had been imposed, a remand for a retrial of the penalty phase proceeding was the appropriate remedy for a trial error premised on a constitutional violation. Id.
The limitation put on the application of section 565.040.2, as articulated in both the majority and dissenting opinions in Whitfield, is in perfect harmony with the legislative intent and history behind its enactment.
In this case, Deck is not entitled to the relief allowed by section 565.040.2 because the reversible error recognized by the United States Supreme Court — Deck's shackling in front of the jury — was trial error unrelated to the statutory scheme that set out the death penalty procedures.
Deck asserts the trial court violated his right to a trial by a fair and impartial jury and abused its discretion in sustaining the State's motions, over his objections, to strike certain potential jurors for cause based on their reluctance to serve as the jury's foreperson. He contends these potential jurors were otherwise qualified to serve as jurors and their only "fault" was a reluctance to serve as foreperson and sign the verdict form of death.
"The trial court's `ruling on a challenge for cause will not be disturbed on appeal unless it is clearly against the evidence and constitutes a clear abuse of discretion.'" State v. Taylor, 134 S.W.3d 21, 29 (Mo. banc 2004) (quoting State v. Smith, 32 S.W.3d 532, 544 (Mo. banc 2000)).
The qualifications for a prospective juror are not determined from a single response, but rather from the entire examination. State v. Johnson, 22 S.W.3d 183, 188 (Mo. banc 2000). The trial court can better evaluate a veniremember's commitment to follow the law and has broad discretion to determine the qualifications of prospective jurors. Id. "[T]he trial judge evaluates the venire's responses and determines whether their views would prevent or substantially impair their performance as jurors (including the ability to follow instructions on the burden of proof)." Id.
Accordingly, a great deal of deference is owed to the trial court's determination that a prospective juror is substantially impaired. Uttecht v. Brown, 551 U.S. 1, 7 (2007). This deferential standard applies whether the trial court has engaged in a specific analysis regarding the substantial impairment; "even the granting of a motion to excuse for cause constitutes an implicit finding of bias." Id. "Deference...
To continue reading
Request your trial