State v. Langford

• Decision Date: 04 June 1991
• Docket Number: No. 89-055,89-055
• Citation: 248 Mont. 420,813 P.2d 936
• Parties: STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Terry Allen LANGFORD, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

Page 936

813 P.2d 936

248 Mont. 420

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Terry Allen LANGFORD, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 89-055.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted May 2, 1991.

Decided June 4, 1991.

Michael Donahoe, argued, Helena, for defendant and appellant.

Marc Racicot, Atty. Gen., John Paulson, argued, Asst. Atty. Gen., Helena, and Christopher G. Miller, Powell County Atty., Deer Lodge, for plaintiff and respondent.

TURNAGE, Chief Justice.

On October 12, 1989, this Court remanded this death penalty case to the District Court for the Third Judicial District, Powell County, to permit Terry Allen Langford (Langford) to file a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas regarding two counts of deliberate homicide, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated burglary, one count of robbery, and one count of theft in connection with the deaths of Edward and Celene Blackwood. Following a hearing on July 16, 1990, the District Court denied Langford's motion. We affirm the District Court's opinion and order, and remand this case with orders to reset the date of execution.

Langford presents the following issues on appeal following remand:

1. Did Langford receive effective assistance of counsel in connection with his decision to plead guilty to the charged crimes?

2. Did the District Court impose the death sentences under the influence of passion, prejudice, or other arbitrary factors by relying in part on victim impact statements and on Langford's failure to display remorse?

3. Did the District Court fail to rule as a matter of law that mitigating factors existed and that such mitigating factors were substantial enough to call for leniency?

4. Do Montana's death penalty statutes violate Montana Constitution, Article II, Section 28?

Additionally, Sec. 46-18-310, MCA, mandates that this Court review the following issues in death penalty cases:

The supreme court shall consider the punishment as well as any errors enumerated by way of appeal. With regard to the sentence, the court shall determine:

(1) whether the sentence of death was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor;

(2) whether the evidence supports the judge's finding of the existence or nonexistence of the aggravating or mitigating circumstances enumerated in 46-18-303 and 46-18-304; and

(3) whether the sentence of death is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant. The court shall include in its decision a reference to those similar cases it took into consideration.

Langford raises the issues enumerated in Secs. 46-18-310(1) and (2), MCA, in this appeal, but does not raise the issue enumerated in Sec. 46-18-310(3), MCA. Therefore this Court raises the following issue as mandated under Sec. 46-18-310(3), MCA:

5. Did the District Court excessively or disproportionately impose the death penalty sentence in comparison to similar cases?

Facts

On July 5, 1988, Powell County Sheriff David Collings found Edward Blackwood (Edward) and Celene Blackwood (Celene) dead in their home located two miles north of Ovando, Montana. Both victims were found bound in execution-style positions. Edward was found tied to a chair in the living room with his hands tied behind him. He had been shot once in the back of the head with a small caliber handgun. Celene was found lying face down on the couch in the living room with her hands tied to her ankles behind her back. She had been shot in the side of the head with a small caliber handgun and her throat had been slashed with a knife.

In Langford's confession on August 15, 1988, he stated that he "blew two people's brains out" while traveling in Montana about one month earlier; these people were later identified as the Blackwoods. In his confession, Langford offered no reason for his actions. The facts concerning Langford's own actions before, during, and after the crimes are taken directly from his confession and the record in this case.

In late June, 1988, Langford, equipped with his camping gear, traveled by bus to Montana from North Carolina. When he departed from the bus at Ovando, Montana, he proceeded to walk toward a mountainous area. After wandering aimlessly in this area for a period of time, he eventually ended up on the Blackwoods' property. He watched the Blackwoods' movements from a distance before entering and hiding in their garage one evening. While hiding in the garage, he discovered a rifle in the Blackwoods' truck with which he armed himself.

When Edward entered the garage the next day, Langford pointed the rifle at him and ordered him to lie down on the floor. He then ordered Edward to call for Celene. When Celene came to the garage, he ordered her also to lie on the floor.

Langford ordered Celene to tie Edward's hands and then ordered them into their home. Once they entered their home, he ordered Edward to sit in a chair and Celene to sit on a couch. He then tied Edward to the chair and tied Celene's feet and hands together behind her back and left her lying on the couch.

While the couple remained tied up, he conversed mainly with Edward for a few hours, asking Edward about his background and if he owned more guns. Edward told him that he owned several handguns, which were located in the bedroom. Langford then retrieved five or six handguns from the bedroom.

Langford later shot Edward and then shot Celene with one of the handguns. Following the shootings, Langford stated that he "got real close and I looked right in [Edward's] eyes" and asked him "Are you dead?" Edward did not reply. At this same time, Langford stated that Celene was "[c]hoking in her own blood. Or so it sounded like. She wouldn't die. I shot her in the side of the head, but the bitch didn't die." He then slashed Celene's throat.

When he left the Blackwoods' home, he took the money from the Blackwoods' wallets, and he also took a blue athletic bag, which he loaded with several of their possessions including five or six handguns. He then traveled to Great Falls, Montana, in the Blackwoods' blue pickup truck. Police recovered this truck in Great Falls on July 7, 1988. Fingerprints taken from the truck matched those of Langford and accordingly identified him as a suspect.

Langford proceeded by bus to Louisville, Kentucky, and then by taxi to Indiana, where he stayed the night at a motel, later identified as the Star Motel in Jeffersonville. The next morning, he pulled a knife on a maid when she entered his motel room and startled him. Immediately following his encounter with the maid, Langford left the Star Motel with the blue athletic bag containing the handguns, and wandered into a nearby wooded area where he discarded the bag and its contents. He then hitchhiked to Birmingham, Alabama, and later proceeded by bus to Raleigh, North Carolina.

In the meantime, the State of Indiana issued a warrant for Langford's arrest for an alleged July 6, 1988, robbery attempt of the Star Motel. Later, Langford testified at his sentencing hearing that because he needed cash and was attempting robbery, he had intended to kill not only the maid, but also a pizza delivery boy while he was in Indiana. He also testified at his sentencing hearing that in another robbery attempt, he pulled a knife on the taxi cab driver who drove him to Indiana.

Montana authorities had identified and listed the Blackwoods' handguns as stolen on the National Crime Information Computer. Consequently, Montana authorities were notified when the blue athletic bag and handguns therein were discovered on July 27, 1988, in a wooded area 1/4 mile from the Star Motel. One of the weapons in the athletic bag, a High Standard, field king model, .22 caliber, semiautomatic pistol, was later positively identified as the weapon that was used to shoot the Blackwoods. This positive identification was made after an examination by a ballistics expert of the said pistol, the bullets recovered from the Blackwoods' bodies, and the shell casings found at the crime scene.

On August 12, 1988, Langford was arrested in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the Indiana warrant. At the time of his arrest, North Carolina authorities advised him of his Miranda rights. After receiving notice of Langford's arrest from the North Carolina authorities, Powell County Sheriff David Collings and Montana Criminal Investigator Ward McKay traveled to Raleigh on August 13, 1988, to question Langford regarding the Blackwoods' deaths. On August 15, 1988, the two Montana investigators met with Langford and he agreed to talk with them. After advising Langford of his Miranda rights, Collings and McKay recorded Langford's statement wherein he confessed that he was responsible for the Blackwoods' deaths.

On September 1, 1988, the District Court granted County Attorney Christopher Miller leave to file an information charging Langford with two counts of deliberate homicide; two counts of aggravated kidnapping under Sec. 45-5-303(1)(c), MCA, alternatively charged as two counts of aggravated kidnapping under Sec. 45-5-303(1)(b), MCA; and one count each of aggravated burglary, robbery, and theft. The court appointed C.F. MacKay (MacKay) as counsel for Langford. On September 9, 1988, MacKay moved the court for Langford to be admitted to Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs for a psychiatric evaluation to determine if Langford suffered from a mental disease, disorder or defect. MacKay made this motion based on one remark Langford made to him, which alluded to the possibility that something was wrong with him.

The court granted this motion. Langford remained at Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs for fifty-four days for the completion of a psychiatric evaluation. In the meantime, MacKay continued to meet with Langford on a regular basis to discuss his case and possible defenses. Langford, however, told MacKay that he did not want MacKay to pursue any defenses and desired the...