State v. Campbell

509 P.3d 1161, 170 Idaho 232
Idaho Supreme Court·Decided May 16, 2022·No. 47987/48426·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket Nos. 47987 & 48426

STATE OF IDAHO, ) ) Plaintiff-Respondent, ) Boise, January 2022 Term ) v. ) Opinion Filed: May 16, 2022 ) CORY RYAN CAMPBELL, ) Melanie Gagnepain, Clerk ) Defendant-Appellant. )

Appeal from the District Court of the Fourth Judicial District, State of Idaho, Ada County. Michael J. Reardon, District Judge.

The decision of the district court is affirmed.

Nevin, Benjamin & McKay, LLP, Boise, for appellant, Cory Ryan Campbell. Debra Groberg argued.

Lawrence G. Wasden, Idaho Attorney General, Boise, for respondent, State of Idaho. Kenneth K. Jorgensen argued.

_____________________

STEGNER, Justice. Cory Campbell brings this consolidated appeal. Campbell appeals his sentence arising from his conviction of two counts of battery with attempt to commit rape. Campbell, who was seventeen at the time, was charged with five felony offenses related to multiple victims: four counts of rape and one count of forcible penetration by use of a foreign object. He was charged as an adult pursuant to Idaho Code section 20-509. Campbell ultimately pleaded guilty to amended charges: two counts of battery with attempt to commit rape, both against the same victim. The district court accepted Campbell’s pleas, and the State dismissed all remaining counts. In accordance with the plea agreement, both sides were free to argue at sentencing and nothing was binding on the court. In determining an appropriate sentence, the district court was permitted to consider not only the crimes perpetrated against the victim of the amended charges, but also the crimes alleged by the victims of the dismissed charges and of additional uncharged offenses. All told, Campbell had ten victims. The district court sentenced Campbell to a twenty- year determinate sentence on Count I and to a twenty-year indeterminate sentence on Count II.

1 The district court’s written judgment of conviction specifically indicated that the two sentences were to be served consecutively. Campbell timely appealed. Campbell also filed an Idaho Criminal Rule 35 motion in district court seeking relief under various theories. First, Campbell argued that the written judgment of conviction was inconsistent with the oral pronouncement of sentence in court because the district court did not specify whether the two sentences were to run consecutively or concurrently. Campbell also claimed that he had been erroneously waived into adult court. He further requested a reduction of his sentence. The district court denied Campbell’s Rule 35 motion but ordered that a resentencing hearing take place to clarify the apparent ambiguity involving whether the sentences were to be served consecutively or concurrently. At the resentencing hearing, the district court clarified that although the original sentence was ambiguous, the two sentences imposed were intended to be served consecutively. The district court then entered an amended judgment, specifically clarifying that the sentences were to be served consecutively. Campbell timely appealed from the district court’s amended judgment and the denial of his Rule 35 motion, and the two appeals were consolidated by order of this Court. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the district court’s decisions. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On May 30, 2019, Campbell was charged in district court with multiple counts of felony rape pursuant to Idaho Code section 20-509. The charges resulted from allegations that Campbell had raped ten underage girls between March, 2018 and March of 2019. 1 On September 12, 2019, the State filed an Information reflecting the same charges as the complaint. Campbell eventually agreed to plead guilty to two counts of battery with intent to commit a serious felony (rape) in exchange for the State dismissing the remaining charges. The State then filed an Amended Information to reflect the plea agreement. Campbell was sentenced on March 6, 2020. Pursuant to the plea agreement, “all of the victims of the uncharged cases as well as the dismissed cases would be treated as victims in this case,” and would be permitted to make victim impact statements at Campbell’s sentencing. At sentencing, eleven victim impact statements were presented, either by the victims themselves or

1 The alleged victims were all minors and are therefore referred to only by initials, M.M., J.S., J.J., I.B., M.T., A.A., K.L., K.S., N.W., and N.A. The victims ranged in age from fourteen to seventeen years old and each recounted claims that Campbell had raped them under various circumstances. We use the word “alleged” not to discredit the victims, but because, pursuant to his plea deal, Campbell has not been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt regarding each victim.

2 by their close family members. The district court orally pronounced Campbell’s sentence as follows: “[O]n Count I [the sentence] is 20 years in prison as a determinate sentence with zero years fixed and on Count II [the sentence is] 20 years in prison zero years fixed, all indeterminate.” The written judgment of conviction specified that the sentences would run consecutively. Campbell timely appealed, arguing that the district court abused its discretion in sentencing him. Approximately five months after Campbell’s original sentencing, the State moved for an in camera review of documents related to an Instagram account, created six days after the sentencing hearing, where an anonymous user posted photos of the protection orders for each victim, along with each victim’s name and some of the high schools they attended. The caption to this post stated “All of the bitches who falsely reported Cory campbell [sic].” The State sought in camera review by the district court to ensure that the documents related to an investigation of the account were not subject to disclosure pursuant to Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). Campbell opposed this motion and argued that the documents should be disclosed. The district court conducted an in camera review and concluded that the documents were not subject to disclosure under Brady because the Instagram account and post were not created until after Campbell had been sentenced. The district court ruled that as such, the documents were not material to either Campbell’s guilt or punishment. After filing his first notice of appeal, Campbell also filed an Idaho Criminal Rule 35 motion with the district court to correct what he claimed was an illegal sentence. Campbell asserted that (1) his sentence was illegal because the district court lacked jurisdiction over Campbell absent a waiver hearing and waiver order from juvenile court (magistrate court) into adult court (district court), and (2) the district court’s oral pronouncement of the sentence did not match the written judgment of conviction. The district court denied in part and granted in part Campbell’s Rule 35 motion. The district court granted Campbell a new sentencing hearing to correct any ambiguity in his sentence. Campbell objected to the new sentencing hearing and filed an Idaho Criminal Rule 36 motion to correct the written judgment to conform to the oral pronouncement of the sentence. The hearing proceeded, and the district court denied Campbell’s Rule 36 motion. The district court concluded that its expressed intent, based upon the entire colloquy and the context of the comments made during the oral pronouncement, was a determinate prison term of 20 years on Count I and on Count II an indeterminate prison term of 20 years. That is, zero

3 years fixed on Count II followed by 20 years indeterminate to run consecutively to Count I. The district court entered an amended judgment to reflect the clarification.

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State v. Campbell, 509 P.3d 1161, 170 Idaho 232 (Idaho 2022).

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