Dillard v. State

623 P.2d 1294, 101 Idaho 917, 1981 Ida. LEXIS 284
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 25, 1981
Docket13469
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 623 P.2d 1294 (Dillard v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dillard v. State, 623 P.2d 1294, 101 Idaho 917, 1981 Ida. LEXIS 284 (Idaho 1981).

Opinions

DONALDSON, Justice.

The state alleged in a petition that appellant Dillard, a 17V2 year old minor, committed the murder of Ruth Madsen, an elderly woman, in her trailer home located at the Marsing Job Corps Center near Marsing, Idaho. On March 22, 1978, the deceased’s body was found in her trailer with three [918]*918knife slash wounds of the neck, and multiple stab wounds on her lower neck and chest. The curtains in the trailer had been partially burned in an apparent attempt to cover up the murder.

After an investigation, an Owyhee County Deputy Sheriff filed a petition alleging that Dillard committed the first degree murder of Ruth Madsen on or about March 21, 1978. On March 30, 1978, the prosecuting attorney of Owyhee County, State of Idaho, filed a motion to waive juvenile jurisdiction under I.C. § 16-1806 so that Dillard could be charged with, and tried for, the offense of first degree murder as an adult. The waiver decision determined whether Dillard, if found guilty at a subsequent proceeding, would be under juvenile protection services until he reaches majority, or would be subject to death or life imprisonment as an adult.1 After a two-day evidentiary hearing,. the magistrate made the following findings:

1. that Dillard is an immature, streetwise juvenile from an unstable home and has a sociopathic personality that is generally treatable;
2. that he is not a disruptive, hardened, or embittered juvenile;
3. that although Idaho has no adequate facilities itself, it has contracted with California making an appropriate juvenile rehabilitation program available for treatment of Dillard;
4. that Dillard has little experience with juvenile rehabilitation or correction programs;
5. that Dillard’s substantiated prior offenses are burglaries at age 12, 15, and 16;
6. that the likelihood appears as good for Dillard as it would for most any other juvenile that he could be rehabilitated by available programs; and
7. that the offense alleged to have been committed by Dillard appears to have been committed unquestionably in an aggressive, violent, premeditated, or willful manner.

The magistrate described his weighing of the involved factors by stating that:

“[EJven though the Court finds the offense charged is of a very serious nature, that the juvenile does have some serious prior record, that this is outweighed by the fact that juvenile programs and processes are available, if not in Idaho, available through contract through states such as California, that he is likely to be amenable as any other child of comparable age, personality, and background, that such have not been exhausted, and it is the intent of the Legislature that before a juvenile be treated as an adult, that it be shown that there would be no purpose Or benefit from further efforts in the juvenile process or programs.”

The denial of the motion to waive jurisdiction was appealed by the State to the district court.

The district court reviewed and reversed the magistrate’s decision using the standards of review established by I.R.C.P. 83(u); Koester v. Koester, 99 Idaho 654, 586 P.2d 1370 (1978), and In the Matter of Matthews, 97 Idaho 99, 540 P.2d 284 (1975). The district court citing Koester, supra, permitted additional evidence to be entered pursuant to I.R.C.P. 83(u)(2) as to the lack of facilities available for Dillard’s treatment and made its own findings as to such evidence. The district court explained that:

“Here as in Koester, the evidence offered by the state reflects a ‘material change of circumstances that had occurred since the appeal’ was filed. The state has offered, and this Court has admitted an affidavit of John Shuler, identified as the person who administers the [Idaho] program for placement and supervision of delinquent youths in other states, which relates that on March 5, 1979, he received a letter, a [919]*919copy of which is attached to the affidavit, from the California Youth Authority stating that ‘due to population pressures, it is necessary to terminate the agreement entered into on July 1, 1978, between the State of Idaho and the Department of Youth Authority.’ That letter further advised that it constituted the thirty day notice of termination provided for in the contract, that no additional referrals would be accepted after the thirty day period, and that it might become necessary to return to Idaho any persons already placed in the California facilities. Shuler’s affidavit further states that on March 7,1979, he talked by telephone with the California official who approves placement of youth in California facilities, and that said official advised Shuler that no other persons from Idaho would be accepted after April 1, 1979. Finally, the affidavit affirms that Idaho has no placement contracts with any states other than California.”

After considering the additional evidence, the district court found that there were no facilities available to the court which would be adequate to provide any likelihood of rehabilitation of Dillard by his age of majority. In reversing the magistrate’s decision, the district court pointed out that it did not prejudge Dillard’s innocence or guilt. On appeal, Dillard raises issues regarding the standard of review in appeals from the magistrate court to the district court.

This Court has held that a district court reviewing a decision of a magistrate may review the case on the record as an appellate court, remand the case for a new trial with instructions, or try the case de novo. In the Matter of Matthews, supra.

I.R.C.P. 83(u)(1) provides:

“The scope of appellate review on an appeal to the district court shall be as follows:
(1) Upon an appeal from the magistrate’s division of the district court, not involving a trial de novo, the district court shall review the case on the record and determine the appeal as an appellate court in the same manner and upon the same standards of review as an appeal from the district court to the Supreme Court under the statutes and law of this state, and the appellate rules of the Supreme Court .... [Amended January 8, 1976, effective March 1, 1976.]”

In Hawkins v. Hawkins, 99 Idaho 785, 589 P.2d 532 (1978), we read this rule as stating that a district court should perform the appellate review of a magistrate’s decision in the same manner as this Court performs its appellate review of the trial decision of a district court. Furthermore, I.R.C.P. 83(u)(2) empowers the district court in an appellate review to hear additional evidence on one or more issues. In Koester, supra, this Court held:

“[T]hat where the district court choses to handle an appeal as an appellate review and then elects to hear additional evidence on one or more issues, these issues affected by the additional evidence shall be treated as if involving a trial de novo. In other words, to the extent that the new evidence affects the decision of the magistrate, the district court shall act as a trial court.

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State v. Dillard
718 P.2d 1272 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1986)
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State, Department of Health & Welfare v. Holt
625 P.2d 398 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1981)
Dillard v. State
623 P.2d 1294 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1981)

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Bluebook (online)
623 P.2d 1294, 101 Idaho 917, 1981 Ida. LEXIS 284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dillard-v-state-idaho-1981.