DIEUDONNE v. State

245 P.3d 1202
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 27, 2011
Docket54491
StatusPublished

This text of 245 P.3d 1202 (DIEUDONNE v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DIEUDONNE v. State, 245 P.3d 1202 (Neb. 2011).

Opinion

245 P.3d 1202 (2011)

Abell DIEUDONNE, Appellant,
v.
The STATE of Nevada, Respondent.

No. 54491.

Supreme Court of Nevada.

January 27, 2011.

*1203 David M. Schieck, Special Public Defender, and JoNell Thomas, Deputy Special Public Defender, Clark County, for Appellant.

Catherine Cortez Masto, Attorney General, Carson City; David J. Roger, District Attorney, Steven S. Owens, Chief Deputy District Attorney, and Susan M. Pate, Deputy District Attorney, Clark County, for Respondent.

Before the Court En Banc.

OPINION

By the Court, CHERRY, J.:

In this appeal, we consider whether a criminal defendant holds an absolute right to be sentenced by the judge who accepted his or her plea. We conclude that there is no such right absent an express agreement or indication by the defendant that the plea was entered with that expectation. In this case, there was no such express agreement, and we decline to imply one based on the judge's use of a personal pronoun during the plea canvass, particularly given the defendant's failure to object to proceeding with sentencing before a different judge. We also take this opportunity to reaffirm our holding in Buschauer v. State, 106 Nev. 890, 893, 804 P.2d 1046, 1048 (1990), that witnesses offering oral victim impact statements must be sworn. While the victim impact witnesses in this case were not sworn, we cannot say that this error rises to the level of plain error warranting a new sentencing hearing. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of conviction.

*1204 FACTS

Appellant Abell Dieudonne was charged in connection with the robbery and murder of Giovanna Simmons. The State alleged that Dieudonne and Semairo McNair conspired to rob Simmons and burglarize her house. Specifically, the State alleged that McNair unlawfully entered Simmons's residence with the intent to commit robbery, brandished a loaded weapon to forcefully take Simmons's money and marijuana, and subsequently shot and killed her while Dieudonne acted as the lookout and getaway driver during the commission of the crimes. The State charged Dieudonne with conspiracy to commit burglary, burglary while in possession of a firearm, conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, and murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

Dieudonne entered a plea before Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez, with the terms of the plea agreement providing that Dieudonne would plead guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, and second-degree murder, and the State would not oppose the sentence for the conspiracy charge running concurrently to the sentences for the other charges. Dieudonne indicated that he understood the extent of the district court's discretion as to the range of sentences and also acknowledged that he had not received any promises with regard to sentencing that were not contained in his plea agreement. During the plea canvass, Judge Gonzalez repeatedly used the personal pronoun "I" when explaining the court's sentencing discretion but never directly referenced that she would impose the sentence.

Before the sentencing hearing, the case was transferred from Judge Gonzalez to Judge Douglas Smith.[1] At the sentencing hearing, Judge Smith inquired of defense counsel as to whether there was any legal reason why the court should not go forward with sentencing that day, and counsel responded in the negative. Defense counsel did not object to Judge Smith presiding over the hearing.

During the sentencing hearing, the victim's sisters and friends gave victim impact statements. These statements contained profanity, threats, and the use of a racially based disparaging term directed at Dieudonne.

Judge Smith sentenced Dieudonne to serve a term of 12 to 72 months on the conspiracy-to-commit-robbery charge, two consecutive terms of 60 to 180 months on the robbery-with-use-of-a-deadly-weapon charge, and a term of 120 months to life on the second-degree murder charge. The sentences for each of the counts were ordered to run consecutively. Dieudonne's counsel expressed surprise that the district court ordered the sentence on conspiracy to commit robbery to be served consecutively and noted that Judge Smith was not the judge who took the plea. Thereafter, Judge Smith decided to make the conspiracy sentence concurrent to the robbery and murder sentences and entered an amended judgment of conviction. At the time, Judge Smith acknowledged that Dieudonne had probably anticipated that Judge Gonzalez would sentence him.

On appeal, Dieudonne contends that: (1) under the circumstances, he was entitled to be sentenced by the judge who took his guilty plea; and (2) he was entitled to a sentencing hearing in which those testifying were sworn in, and in which testimony was not plagued by racial epithets and profanity. We affirm the district court on all issues because we conclude that there was no error with regard to the first issue raised on appeal, and because the error associated with the second issue did not amount to plain error.[2]

DISCUSSION

Failure to object

Because Dieudonne failed to object to either being sentenced by Judge Smith or *1205 to any of the victim impact statements, we review Dieudonne's arguments on appeal for plain error only. Vega v. State, 126 Nev. ___, ___, 236 P.3d 632, 636 (2010). While failure to object generally precludes appellate review, we have discretion to address any errors that were plain and that affected the defendant's substantial rights. Gallego v. State, 117 Nev. 348, 365, 23 P.3d 227, 239 (2001). "In conducting plain error review, we must examine whether there was `error,' whether the error was `plain' or clear, and whether the error affected the defendant's substantial rights." Green v. State, 119 Nev. 542, 545, 80 P.3d 93, 95 (2003). To amount to plain error, an error must be so unmistakable that it is apparent from a casual inspection of the record. Vega, 126 Nev. at ___, 236 P.3d at 637 (internal quotations and citations omitted). Dieudonne must demonstrate that an error was prejudicial in order to establish that it affected his substantial rights. Gallego, 117 Nev. at 365, 23 P.3d at 239.

Sentencing requirements

Dieudonne contends that, as a matter of due process, he was entitled to be sentenced by Judge Gonzalez because she took his guilty plea, remains available as a sitting judge, and has retained discretion over the sentence to be imposed. Furthermore, Dieudonne argues that he entered his guilty plea with an expectation that he would be sentenced by Judge Gonzalez. Dieudonne relies on People v. Arbuckle, 22 Cal.3d 749, 150 Cal.Rptr. 778, 587 P.2d 220, 224-25 (1978), for support of this contention. The State asserts that Dieudonne was well aware that he was not guaranteed to be sentenced by any particular judge because the plea agreement does not contain any such promise. While this is an issue of first impression for this court, several other jurisdictions have addressed the issue.

In the case on which Dieudonne relies, Arbuckle, the California Supreme Court confronted this very situation.

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Dieudonne v. State
245 P.3d 1202 (Nevada Supreme Court, 2011)
Vega v. State
236 P.3d 632 (Nevada Supreme Court, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
245 P.3d 1202, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dieudonne-v-state-nev-2011.