Navajo Nation v. MacDonald

7 Navajo Rptr. 1
CourtNavajo Nation Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 13, 1992
DocketNo. A-CR-10-90
StatusPublished

This text of 7 Navajo Rptr. 1 (Navajo Nation v. MacDonald) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Navajo Nation Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Navajo Nation v. MacDonald, 7 Navajo Rptr. 1 (navajo 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion delivered by

AUSTIN, Associate Justice.

This appeal is from criminal judgments entered against Peter MacDonald Jr. (MacDonald) by the Window Rock District Court on October 22, 1990. They were rendered on an October 17,1990 jury verdict, finding MacDonald guilty of twenty-three counts of conspiracy, aiding and abetting bribery, aiding and abetting violations of the Navajo Ethics in Government Act, and other offenses. MacDonald filed a pro se appeal on November 1, 1990. On April 30, 1991, appointed appellate counsel filed a supplemental brief. The Court heard oral argument on December 9, 1991.

This appeal addresses a series of legal proceedings, beginning with the filing of the initial complaints against MacDonald on December 19, 1989, extensive pretrial motions and hearings, petitions for extraordinary relief to this Court, and a trial which lasted from September 26, 1990 through October 17, 1990. MacDonald’s brief makes twenty-four assignments of error and twenty sub-claims of error. They range from the sufficiency of the criminal complaint to the legality of the sentence, and address many issues in between. They cover so many basic issues of criminal law and procedure that if we wrote a detailed analysis on every claim, the opinion would be over a hundred pages long.

This opinion follows our decision in Navajo Nation v. MacDonald Sr., 6 Nav. R. 432 (1991). Where there are identical issues in that decision and this appeal, we rely upon the discussions of law in MacDonald Sr. We must, of necessity, briefly address many of the issues raised in this appeal.

To impose order on the process, we deal with all the assignments of error in [2]*2broad categories, and combining subcategories under them. MacDonald’s assignments of error are referred to by the Roman numeral assigned in the supplemental appellate brief. The specific issues are summarized in the following general questions:

1. Whether the judge, jury and counsel in the trial of this case were competent, and did they act within their jurisdiction? (Nos. XIII, XVI, XXII, XXIV, XXIII, XVII, XI, XVIII, and XIX)
2. Whether there were errors in court rulings on pretrial matters that denied MacDonald a fair trial? (Nos. Ill, VI, XII, and IV)
3. Whether MacDonald should have been granted an evidentiary hearing to determine if his immunized testimony before a Senate Investigations Committee was improperly used in this case? (No. V)
4. Whether the sentence imposed violates MacDonald’s right against cruel and unusual punishment? (No. XXI)

We vacate the judgments of conviction due to our ruling on assignment of error No. V, the requirement for a pretrial hearing on the use of immunized testimony. Consequently, we will not address issues of evidence and proof, pending a further hearing in the trial court. Assignments of error Nos. I, II, VII, VIII, IX, X, XX, XIV and XV are therefore reserved pending the outcome of that hearing.

I. JUDGE, JURY AND COUNSEL

A. JUDGE DISQUALIFICATION

MacDonald contends that the trial judge, Judge Robert Yazzie, should have recused himself because of ex parte communications and a personal animosity against Peter MacDonald Sr., a co-defendant. MacDonald contends that because his father, MacDonald Sr., once attempted to remove Judge Yazzie from office, he had reasons to exercise animosity against both defendants (XIII).

The right to an impartial judge is an essential element of due process and the basic right of a criminal defendant. McCabe v. Walters, 5 Nav. R. 43 (1985). The standard for the disqualification of a judge is that there must be facts which show bias and prejudice, which influences the judge so that there may not be a fair trial. Estate of Peshlakai, 3 Nav. R. 180 (Shiprock D. Ct. 1981); Toledo v. Benally, 4 Nav. R. 142 (Window Rock D. Ct. 1983). Thus, the facts brought out in the record, consisting of the motion and affidavits of disqualification and any findings by the trial court, must be reviewed to determine whether the court abused its discretion in denying the motion for disqualification.

The record reveals that, for the most part, MacDonald complains of prosecutorial errors or debatable questions of law, and not the conduct of the trial judge. Furthermore, MacDonald does not explain what the ex parte communications are and facts showing animosity are not present. The assignment is conclusive and [3]*3not supported by the record. We must not forget that the jury was the trier of fact, so the ultimate responsibility of determining guilt was not in the judge’s hands. The record does not show, and MacDonald does not demonstrate, that Judge Yazzie expressed any actual animosity towards MacDonald either during the pretrial phase of the case or during the trial itself.

MacDonald Sr. previously sought to disqualify Judge Yazzie on the ground of specific bias, and we held that he caused the circumstances which created the purported bias and could not benefit from his own conduct. In re Certified Questions II, 6 Nav. R. 105 (1989). That rule does not apply to this case. This is a different defendant, but there is nothing in the record to support a conclusion that Judge Yazzie acted in a biased manner towards MacDonald.

B. JURY SELECTION, COMPOSITION AND INSTRUCTION

MacDonald joins his co-defendant in challenging the jury array as not being random or representative of the community (XVI). MacDonald argues that Austin Dawes, a court clerk, selected from voter registration lists “Anglo sounding names” of people living on the reservation in an attempt to “specifically select Anglos.” The irony is that MacDonald challenges the process as excluding Navajos as an identifiable segment of the community. We have held that the array MacDonald complains of here was valid. MacDonald Sr., 6 Nav. R. at 434.

For over a decade, the law of the Navajo Nation has been that non-Navajos will not be excluded from juries. George v. Navajo Tribe, 2 Nav. R. 1 (1979). In 1985, the Navajo Nation Council enacted a statute to provide that “any person” who is eligible may serve on our juries. 7 N.T.C. § 654 (1977). The trial court devised a rational method - the “Dawes Method” - to select a jury containing members who are representative of the population in the Window Rock District. This jury array was composed of both Navajos and non-Navajos. The method was not calculated to exclude any part of that community, including Navajos.

MacDonald asserts that because there was extensive pretrial publicity about this case that the trial court should have taken greater care in conducting the voir dire (examination of jurors for bias), and that it should have conducted in camera (i.e. closed) examinations (XXII). We first note the difference between our system and the federal system, to show that federal precedent does not necessarily apply. As a general matter, voir dire in federal trials is conducted by the judge, with counsel suggesting the questions to be asked. That procedure varies. The general practice in state courts and in our courts is for counsel to conduct the voir dire. The process is free and open, limited by relevance and protection against the abuse of jurors.

While the Navajo Nation argues that the federal cases cited by MacDonald, especially

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United States v. Ewell
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Don C. Silverthorne v. United States
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Bluebook (online)
7 Navajo Rptr. 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/navajo-nation-v-macdonald-navajo-1992.