State v. Redcrow, 98-148

Decision Date11 May 1999
Docket NumberNo. 98-148,98-148
Citation980 P.2d 622,1999 MT 95
PartiesSTATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Lucy Marie REDCROW, Defendant and Appellant.
CourtMontana Supreme Court

Jeffrey T. Renz, Montana Defender Project, Missoula, Montana, James Taylor and Andrea J. Olsen, Attorneys at Law, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; Pablo, Montana, for Appellant.

Hon. Joseph P. Mazurek, Attorney General; Tammy K. Plubell, Assistant Attorney General; Helena, Montana, Michael W. Sehestedt, Acting Missoula County Attorney; Betty Wing, Deputy County Attorney; Missoula, Montana, for Respondent.

Justice JIM REGNIER delivered the opinion of the Court.

¶1 On February 19, 1988, Lucy Marie Redcrow was convicted of deliberate homicide by a jury in the Fourth Judicial District Court, Missoula County, Montana. On October 20, 1988, Redcrow was sentenced to a term of fifty years, with an additional ten years for the use of a weapon, the sentences to run consecutively. She was designated a dangerous offender for purposes of parole. Redcrow appealed her conviction, and on March 29, 1990, we affirmed her conviction in State v. Redcrow (1990), 242 Mont. 254, 790 P.2d 449, overruled on other grounds by State v. Gollehon (1995), 274 Mont. 116, 120-21, 906 P.2d 697, 700. On March 29, 1995, Redcrow filed a petition for postconviction relief with the District Court. In an order dated September 12, 1995, the District Court concluded that although Redcrow's petition for postconviction relief was not filed within five years of the defendant's conviction, the issues raised by the petition were significant and should be disposed of on the merits. On May 2, 1997, the District Court entered an order ultimately concluding that Redcrow's petition for postconviction relief was untimely, but then further concluded that "the 'miscarriage of justice' exception to the procedural bar found within Mont.Code Ann. § 46-21-102 allows the state court to examine the record to ascertain whether a constitutional violation occurred." The District Court then concluded that no constitutional violation occurred and dismissed Redcrow's petition for postconviction relief. On December 3, 1997, the District Court denied Redcrow's petition requesting that it reconsider its order dismissing the petition. On January 29, 1998, Redcrow filed a notice of appeal. We affirm.

¶2 The issues presented on appeal are as follows:

¶3 1. Did the District Court err when it concluded that Redcrow's petition for postconviction relief was untimely?

¶4 2. Did the District Court err when it concluded that enforcement of the procedural bar would not result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice?

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶5 Lucy Marie Redcrow was charged by information on September 4, 1987, with one count of deliberate homicide, a felony, as specified in § 45-5-102, MCA(1987), punishable by a maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment. Redcrow was jointly tried by a jury with co-defendant Paul Regudon. On November 29, 1988, the District Court entered judgment following a jury verdict convicting Redcrow of one count of deliberate homicide and sentenced Redcrow to a sixty-year sentence. Redcrow was designated a dangerous offender.

¶6 Redcrow moved for a new trial based on her mental state, which the District Court denied. Redcrow then appealed the judgment and sentence to this Court. We affirmed Redcrow's conviction and sentence on March 29, 1990, in State v. Redcrow (1990), 242 Mont. 254, 790 P.2d 449.

¶7 Redcrow was represented in the District Court by court-appointed counsel during pretrial, at trial and sentencing, and on direct appeal. Redcrow's co-defendant, Paul Regudon, was represented by a public defender during pretrial proceedings and at trial.

¶8 The following facts regarding the homicide of which Redcrow was convicted are taken directly from our decision in Redcrow.

¶9 In the early evening hours of August 26, 1987, the body of Marie Richie was discovered by Missoula City police officers along the bank of the Clark Fork River in Missoula. Regudon was apprehended nearby. Redcrow was also discovered in the brush along the Clark Fork River not far from the location of the victim's body.

¶10 Law enforcement officers determined that the homicide had been committed at the nearby Sweetrest Motel, in Room 23. In this room, which was registered to Regudon, law enforcement officers found large amounts of blood, and a knife later determined to be the one used in the stabbing of Richie.

¶11 In the months prior to August 26, 1987, Redcrow, Regudon, Richie, Kathy Glover, and Frank Fry shared the residence of Ronald Fry in Missoula. Glover moved out, leaving a jacket at the Fry residence. Glover heard that Richie had disposed of the jacket. Glover and Redcrow made several demands upon Richie to return the jacket. On August 26, 1987, Glover and Redcrow met at a Missoula bar called Flippers, and agreed to "beat up" Richie. Redcrow left the bar and returned later with Richie accompanying her. At the bar, both women made threats to Richie. Redcrow took a closed knife from her pocket and threatened Richie with it.

¶12 The three women left the bar and began walking along the south bank of the Clark Fork River. Glover testified at trial that she hit Richie in the back several times during this walk. She also testified that she hit Richie in the face, possibly breaking Richie's nose, while Redcrow restrained Richie. Glover also testified that Redcrow repeatedly hit Richie on the back of the head with a closed knife. Glover testified that Redcrow ripped Richie's shirt off, and stabbed her with the knife in the neck.

¶13 Several witnesses observed the women during this time. The incident was reported and Missoula City Police Officer Bill Olsen was dispatched to the area. He found Richie and Redcrow at McCormick Park. Glover had returned to the bar by that time. Officer Olsen observed that Richie was bleeding from the back of the head and offered her assistance. However, Richie refused assistance and Officer Olsen left the area.

¶14 Bill Shorten testified at trial. He stated that he observed two women crossing to the north side of the Clark Fork River via a railroad bridge between 6 and 7 p.m. He stated that the shirt of one of the women was ripped down the front and had bloodstains on it.

¶15 Ken Thormuhlen also observed two women walking by his barber shop at about ¶16 Another Missoula resident, Chester Field, gave one of his employees, Charles Hoshaw, a ride home. Hoshaw resided in Room 24 at the Sweetrest Motel. Field testified that as he started to drive away, a tall Native American girl approached his truck and opened the door to the passenger side. Field stated that she requested a ride to either Flippers or to the town of Ravalli; however, he denied her request.

the same time, one of whom had a ripped shirt, and blood on the back of her shirt and neck. He noticed that they were walking in the direction of the Sweetrest Motel.

¶17 Hoshaw testified that shortly after Field dropped him off, Redcrow came to his room and asked for two cigarettes. He observed that her hands and feet were covered with blood.

¶18 Another resident of the Sweetrest Motel observed two people carrying a body past his window. He called the police.

¶19 On August 27, 1987, an autopsy was performed on Richie. Dr. Kenneth Mueller found multiple injuries, including five potentially fatal wounds. Four stab wounds had penetrated Richie's chest cavity and lungs. A fifth wound had severed the left carotid artery.

¶20 Although neither Redcrow nor Regudon testified at trial, both gave separate video-taped statements to law enforcement officers soon after the incident. On August 27, 1987, Redcrow gave a statement to law enforcement in which she stated she had stabbed Richie three or four or maybe more times in the motel room occupied by Regudon at the Sweetrest Motel. On August 27, 1987, Regudon told law enforcement officers that both Redcrow and Richie came to his room at the Sweetrest Motel. He stated that Redcrow stabbed Richie to death while Richie cried out, "Let me live. Let me live." Regudon stated that he attempted to clean the knife and the shoes worn by Redcrow, and that he helped Redcrow carry the body of the victim down to the river. These video-taped statements were introduced into evidence at trial and heard by the jury. In addition to Redcrow's video-taped statement, Brenda Shoulders, an inmate, testified at trial that Redcrow admitted to her that she killed Richie.

¶21 Redcrow was found guilty of deliberate homicide. Regudon was acquitted.

¶22 One basis for Redcrow's motion for new trial was that new evidence was discovered which supported a diagnosis that she was suffering from "battered woman's syndrome," causing her to confess to the murder of Richie, when, in fact, someone else caused Richie's death. The District Court conducted a hearing on the motion which included the testimony of a psychiatrist who examined Redcrow and testified that she suffered from the syndrome and believed that she did not commit the homicide. After argument and briefing, the District Court denied the post-trial motion, noting in part that the psychiatrist had examined Redcrow on several occasions prior to trial and further that the new evidence was not so material that it would produce a different result. The denial of Redcrow's motion for new trial was appealed and affirmed by this Court. See Redcrow, 242 Mont. at 263, 790 P.2d at 454.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶23 We review a district court's conclusions of law in a postconviction relief matter to determine whether they are correct. See State v. Sullivan (1997), 285 Mont. 235, 239, 948 P.2d 215, 218.

ISSUE 1

¶24 Did the District Court err when it concluded that Redcrow's petition for postconviction relief was untimely?

¶25 At the time of Redcrow's conviction in 1988, the period for filing a petition for postconviction...

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