Conspiracy to Conspire?

Here’s a quick update on some cases that were released last week. Links to the cases are provided.

Unquestionable Incompetency
Gonzales v. State, (Tex. Crim. App.), June 16, 2010 – Held: A trial judge is not required to conduct a competency hearing on his own initiative after hearing evidence that, due to alcohol or drug abuse, the defendant suffered amnesia with respect to events giving rise to the charged offense.

Cruel, but not Unusual
Davis v. State, (Tex. Crim. App.), June 16, 2010 – Held: Death sentence affirmed. Appellant raises 11 points of error challenging the propriety of the Texas Death Penalty scheme, including the allegation that death by lethal injection is unconstitutional as cruel and unusual punishment. Having considered and rejected these exact claims in previous cases, the CCA overruled all points of error and upheld the death sentence. (I guess in Texas, the death penalty, while arguably cruel, is by no means unusual.)

A Threat to Society From Behind Bars
Estrada v. State, (Tex. Crim. App.), June 16, 2010 – Held: For a non-parole eligible capital defendant, the relevant question to ask the jury, who is called upon to determine whether the death penalty should be levied, remains “whether there is a probability that the defendant would constitute a continuing threat to society whether in or out of prison.” The CCA rejected defendant’s argument that the issue should be restricted to future dangerousness in prison only (since he would be ineligible for parole). Side note – the death penalty was reversed and remanded on a separate issue (the State presented false and misleading testimony during the punishment phase).

Conspiracy to Conspire
Barrera v. State, (4th Dist.—San Antonio), June 16, 2010 – Held: “Conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping” and “engaging in organized criminal activity though conspiring to commit aggravated kidnapping” are not the same offense for double jeopardy purposes. (Truly a technical distinction with which I do not agree. Good thing there isn’t another offense on the books for “engaging in organized criminal activity by conspiring to engage in organized criminal activity”!)

LWOP Abolished for Juvenile Offenders in Nonhomicide Cases

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court released its opinion in Graham v. Florida, wherein it held:

The [Cruel and Unusual Punishment] Clause does not permit a juvenile offender to be sentenced to life in prison without parole for a nonhomicide crime.

Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor joined.  Chief Justice Roberts concurred.

Writing for Justices Scalia and Alito (in part), Justice Thomas stated is his dissenting opinion:

     The Court holds today that it is “grossly disproportionate” and hence unconstitutional for any judge or jury to impose a sentence of life without parole on an offender less than 18 years old, unless he has committed a homicide.  Although the text of the Constitution is silent regarding the permissibility of this sentencing practice, and although it would not have offended the standards that prevailed at the founding, the Court insists that the standards of American society have evolved such that the Constitution now requires its prohibition.
     The news of this evolution will, I think, come as a surprise to the American people. Congress, the District of Columbia, and 37 States (but not Texas!) allow judges and juries to consider this sentencing practice in juvenile nonhomicide cases, and those judges and juries have decided to use it in the very worst cases they have encountered.

He goes on to state:

     I am unwilling to assume that we, as members of this Court, are any more capable of making such moral judgments than our fellow citizens. Nothing in our training as judges qualifies us for that task, and nothing in Article III gives us that authority.

This opinion should not make much as a ripple in Texas law, however, becuase Texas does not allow LWOP for any juvenile offense, having abolished LWOP for juvenile capital murder last year.  Even so, it's a big case for 37 other states out there.

LWOP Upheld for Juvenile Capital Murder Case

The Fourth Court of Appeals (San Antonio), who, by the way, issues the most aesthetically pleasing opinions, just upheld a Cruel and Unusual Punishment challenge Texas' sentencing scheme (pre-Sept 1, 2009) that imposed a mandatory life without parole (LWOP) punishment on a juvenile capital murder offender.  Meadoux v. State.

Appellant (16 years old), who was questioned for over an hour at the police station, ultimately confessed to killing his 2 friends (accidentally, of course).  The police officers never advised Appellant of his Miranda rights, maintaining that he was could terminate the "interview" and leave anytime he wished.  Accordingly, Appellant challenged, at trial and on appeal, the admission of his incriminating statement, as well as the Texas sentencing scheme of mandatory LWOP.

After a lengthy (and intriguing) recitation of the facts of the case, the Court spent another 11 pages discussing what is well-established precedent.  "Viewing all the evidence in the light most favorable to the court's ruling" the Court affirmed the decision of the trial court that Appellant was not "in custody" and therefore, the officers were not required to read him his Miranda rights.  Furthermore, because Appellant was not "in custody" the trial court did not have to submit a question to the jury regarding whether the confession was "voluntary."

If you want a crash course on juvenile criminal procedure, including the admissibility of statements, whether an interrogation is "custodial" and whether Miranda warnings are required, check out the full text of the case here.  Justice Speedlin does an excellent job in her presentation of the law and application of the facts.  Really, in my view, it could have gone either way at the trial level, but once the trial judge has spoken, it would have been a stretch for the appellate court to deviate.

I see all of this as a side issue, because, for me (and possibly the CCA), the thrust of this case was the issue of the constitutionality of mandatory LWOP for juvenile capital murder offenders.  I hate that the Court gave such little attention to this issue (4 measly pages).  As the Court notes, the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments on the question of whether LWOP for a non-homicide offense committed by a juvenile is "cruel and unusual." Sullivan and Graham.

I know what you are thinking... "the Supremes are only considering the constitutionality of LWOP for a non-homicide offense and they will not likely extend any opinion beyond the issue presented."  Right you are, but if (and that's a big IF) they hold that LWOP for a juvenile is unconstitutional as it applies to non-homicide offenses, we are only a small step (and a slight shift in public opinion or court ideological makeup) away from LWOP being unconstitutional for all juvenile cases.  If you'll remember, it wasn't too long ago that a state could execute a mentally retarded person.

This hardly stands to cause a big fuss in Texas, because, as you may know, Texas recently amended section 12.31(a) of the penal code which now requires a mandatory Life sentence for juvenile cases rather than LWOP.  But be on the lookout for U.S. Supreme Court opinions embracing this issue (Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida), for, while they are unlikely to affect current TX cases, they could bring on a firestorm of habeus petitions.