State v. Schofield

• Decision Date: 29 June 2005
• Citation: 895 A.2d 927,2005 ME 82
• Parties: STATE of Maine v. Sally A. SCHOFIELD.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 927

895 A.2d 927

2005 ME 82

STATE of Maine v. Sally A. SCHOFIELD.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued: March 11, 2003.

Reargued: September 23, 2004.

Decided: June 29, 2005.

Opinion on Rehearing November 16, 2005.

G. Steven Rowe, Atty. Gen., Charles K. Leadbetter, State Sol. (orally), William R. Stokes, Deputy. Atty. Gen. (orally), Augusta, for State.

Jed Davis (orally), Aglaia Davis (orally), Jim Mitchell and Jed Davis, P.A., Augusta, for defendant.

Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, ALEXANDER, CALKINS, and LEVY, JJ.

Majority: SAUFLEY, C.J., and DANA, CALKINS, and LEVY, JJ.

Dissent: CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, and ALEXANDER, JJ.

DANA, J.

[¶ 1] In this appeal we consider the United States Supreme Court's recent Sixth Amendment jurisprudence as applied to an upper tier sentence — one greater than twenty years of imprisonment — based on a defendant's conviction of a Class A crime imposed pursuant to 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1252(2)(A) (Supp.2001).

[¶ 2] Pursuant to 15 M.R.S.A. §§ 2151-2157 (2003) and M.R.App. P. 20, Sally A. Schofield was granted leave to appeal from the sentence imposed on her by the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Delahanty, J.) following her conviction for manslaughter (Class A) in violation of 17-A M.R.S.A. § 203(1)(A) (1983 & Supp.2000).¹ Schofield was sentenced to a prison term of twenty-eight years, with all but twenty years suspended, to be followed by six years of probation. She contends, relying on Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), that (1) her waiver of her right to a jury trial on the merits did not extend to her right to have the jury determine, beyond a reasonable doubt, any fact necessary to increase her sentence beyond twenty years; (2) Maine's statute permitting a court to sentence her to more than twenty years if it finds her conduct to be "among the most heinous crimes" violates the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution; and (3) the error was such that we should consider it on appeal even though it was not raised at the trial court. Because we agree with her contentions, we vacate her sentence and remand for resentencing.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

[¶ 3] Schofield worked as an adoption caseworker for the Department of Human Services² from the early 1990s until November of 2000. In September of 2000, five-year-old Logan Marr and her two-year-old sister were removed from the custody of their mother and subsequently placed in Schofield's home in Chelsea. Logan had experienced substantial trauma in her short life and exhibited difficult behavior while in Schofield's custody. For example, she had "melt-downs," went into rages, and screamed uncontrollably. To deal with this behavior, Schofield invoked progressively longer time-out periods, which often involved covering Logan with a blanket, or lying on top of her while bargaining with Logan for the release of one limb at a time. The court found that the relationship between Logan and Schofield became a test of wills.

[¶ 4] On the afternoon of January 31, 2001, Logan's behavior so infuriated Schofield that she took Logan to the cluttered basement storage room in her home and placed her in a high chair facing a blank concrete wall. As the court found:

[Schofield] secured Logan to the high chair by wrapping layers of duct tape around Logan's torso and behind the back of the chair to prevent her from getting out. To silence her screams she wrapped more duct tape under her chin, over her head and across her mouth. Having already violated the [Department] rules of discipline by physical confinement, Ms. Schofield then left Logan to struggle against her bonds in isolation.

Logan died in that chair of mechanical asphyxia.

[¶ 5] Schofield was indicted for depraved indifference murder, 17-A M.R.S.A. § 201(1)(B) (1983),³ and manslaughter, 17-A M.R.S.A. § 203(1)(A). During Schofield's jury-waived trial held in June of 2002, the court granted Schofield's motion for a judgment of acquittal as to the charge of depraved indifference murder, concluding that the evidence was insufficient to support the charge. The court found Schofield guilty of manslaughter and ordered a presentence investigation.

[¶ 6] At the sentencing hearing, the State presented the testimony of a number of witnesses, various members of Logan's family, and Logan's guardian ad litem. The State recommended to the court that Schofield be sentenced to thirty years in prison with no part of that sentence suspended. Schofield presented comparative information regarding sentences imposed in other manslaughter cases involving child deaths, as well as the testimony of a number of her family members and friends.

[¶ 7] In imposing its sentence, the court stated on the record its reasons for determining that the nature and seriousness of Schofield's crime was sufficient to justify a sentence in excess of twenty years, pursuant to section 1252(2)(A):

It became a test of wills between Logan and Sally, and Sally Schofield was determined to win out. She couldn't accept the fact that a five-year-old Logan might get the best of her. And yet despite all of her training and all of her experience and knowledge of children in foster care and her awareness of the rules and regulations, she acted recklessly when she restrained Logan in the basement to fight her bonds in solitude and silence.

The situation developed over time, and the conduct leading to the actual death, however, did not happen in a momentary lapse. The defendant's conduct in restraining Logan recklessly led to her death. At any time during the process of restraining her she could've closed the door instead of putting the gag around her. She could've turned up the radio if she wanted to drown out the sounds of Logan making noise and yelling. Putting her in restraints was against the rules and regulations of the placement. But even if she had done that, by placing the duct tape around the head and as was disclosed-described as clamping her mouth shut, Logan had no chance.

This case is most serious, and the Court believes that the base sentence in this case falls in the 20 to 25-year range. With the enhancement called for in the death of a child under the age of six, the Court fixes the base sentence at 28 years.

[¶ 8] The court determined that the circumstances of the case did not call for any adjustment from the base sentence. The court suspended eight years of the twenty-eight-year sentence, and ordered Schofield to serve six years of probation following her release from incarceration.

[¶ 9] At the time of Schofield's sentencing, section 1252(2)(A) authorized a sentence not to exceed forty years, and we had previously construed the statute as creating two tiers of sentences for Class A offenses: a lower tier of up to twenty years for most offenses, and an upper tier of between twenty and forty years for "the most heinous and violent crimes committed against a person." State v. Lewis, 590 A.2d 149, 151 (Me.1991).⁴

[¶ 10] We granted Schofield leave to appeal her sentence. See 15 M.R.S.A. § 2152; M.R.App. P. 20(g), (h).

II. DISCUSSION

A. Whether Schofield Waived Her Sixth Amendment Rights

[¶ 11] As a preliminary matter, we are unpersuaded by the State's assertion that Schofield, by waiving her right to a jury trial, also waived any Sixth Amendment rights announced in Blakely. The United States Supreme Court has stated that there is a general presumption against the waiver of constitutional rights. Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625, 633, 106 S.Ct. 1404, 89 L.Ed.2d 631 (1986). Any waiver of Schofield's Sixth Amendment rights must be knowing and voluntary. See State v. York, 1997 ME 156, ¶ 6, 705 A.2d 692, 694; State v. Staples, 354 A.2d 771, 776 (Me.1976).

[¶ 12] Because Schofield, prior to Blakely, did not know that she had a right to have a jury determine, beyond a reasonable doubt, any facts necessary to increase her sentence beyond twenty years, see infra Part B, her waiver extends only to the findings necessary to determine her guilt or innocence to the charge of manslaughter. It does not extend to findings that would serve to double the maximum sentence she faced upon conviction. See State v. Williams, 197 Or.App. 21, 104 P.3d 1151, 1152-53 (2005) (holding that a pre-Blakely waiver of a right to a jury trial did not extend to a right to have a jury determine sentencing facts). A waiver of a right to a jury trial on the elements of a crime does not extend beyond those elements, just as Blakely's waiver of his trial rights in pleading guilty did not constitute a waiver of his right to have a jury determine aggravating factors. See Blakely, 542 U.S. at 299-304, 124 S.Ct. at 2535-38. Contrary to the State's assertion, if we conclude that Schofield has a Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial on the factual findings required to increase her sentence into the upper tier range, that right was not extinguished by her initial jury waiver.

B. Whether an Upper Tier Sentence Determination Must be Made by a Jury

[¶ 13] Schofield was sentenced pursuant to section 1252(2)(A), which, prior to its recent amendment, provided, in relevant part:

In the case of a Class A crime, the court shall set a definite period not to exceed 40 years. The court may consider a serious criminal history of the defendant and impose a maximum period of incarceration in excess of 20 years based on either the nature or seriousness of the crime alone or the nature and seriousness of the crime coupled with the serious criminal history of the defendant.

17-A M.R.S.A. § 1252(2)(A) (Supp.2001).

[¶ 14] In Lewis, decided before the addition in 1995 of the second sentence to section 1252(2)(A), we concluded that the statute provided two tiers of sentences for Class A offenses: up to twenty years for most offenses, and between twenty and forty years for "the most heinous and violent crimes committed...