State v. Card

825 P.2d 1081, 121 Idaho 425, 1991 Ida. LEXIS 197
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 31, 1991
Docket18313
StatusPublished
Cited by148 cases

This text of 825 P.2d 1081 (State v. Card) 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
State v. Card, 825 P.2d 1081, 121 Idaho 425, 1991 Ida. LEXIS 197 (Idaho 1991).

Opinions

ON DENIAL OF REHEARING

BOYLE, Justice.

This is an appeal from the first degree murder convictions and death sentences imposed on David Leslie Card for the murders of Eugene and Shirley Morey. In addition to the automatic review required of death penalty cases by I.C. § 19-2827, Card raises many issues on appeal including the constitutionality of the legislative

abolishment of the insanity defense, the constitutionality of the “utter disregard for human life” language contained in I.C. § 19-2515, the limitation on post-conviction relief petitions in capital cases, and the effect of a victim impact statement contained in the presentence report.1

I.

According to the record, during the early morning hours of June 5,1988, Card was in a Circle K convenience store in Nampa, Idaho, and had an argument with the night clerk about death and seeing people die. After the clerk ordered him out of the store, Card went home and retrieved a revolver. Card later returned to the store and found that the clerk with whom he had argued was not working. He then approached a vehicle parked near the store and shot and killed Eugene and Shirley Morey as they were folding newspapers for their morning paper route. According to the record, Card later told a jail cellmate that he originally intended to kill the clerk, but killed the Moreys simply because they were there.

Shortly after Card was charged with two counts of murder, his appointed counsel and the prosecuting attorney filed motions to determine whether Card had the mental capacity to understand the proceedings against him. The district court ordered evaluations of Card by Dr. Mac Webb, a psychologist, and Dr. Michael Estess, a psychiatrist. Both experts agreed that Card, at that time, did not have the mental capacity to understand the proceedings against him and to assist counsel in his defense. On the basis of those evaluations Card was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed for treatment and evaluation for ninety days pursuant to I.C. § 18-212. During the course of treatment Card was found to be suffering from a type of paranoid schizophrenia and he re[428]*428sponded well to medication and treatment. With the treatment Card received he was subsequently adjudged competent to stand trial.

One of Card’s primary defenses at trial was that he did not have the mental capacity to form the specific intent necessary to commit first degree murder. Two licensed psychiatrists testified in his behalf at trial and expressed opinions that Card suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and as a result of this mental defect had a difficult time distinguishing reality from illusion. Notwithstanding this testimony, the jury found Card guilty of two counts of first degree murder.

A sentencing hearing was held in which the two psychiatrists who testified at trial also testified concerning Card’s mental condition. These expert witnesses testified that Card definitely suffered from a form of mental illness but that his prognosis for treatment was good. A presentence report was submitted to the district court which, among other information, contained a summary of statements made to the presentence investigator concerning the impact of the murders on the Morey family.

After considering the evidence presented at the sentencing hearing the district judge found two aggravating circumstances existed that justified the imposition of the death penalty. First, at the time of each murder the defendant also committed another murder. I.C. § 19—2515(g)(2). Second, that by the murders or circumstances surrounding their commission the defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life. I.C. § 19—2515(g)(6). The trial court also determined that the facts supported a finding of several mitigating circumstances. However, the trial court found that the mitigating circumstances did not outweigh either of the aggravating circumstances, and imposed the death penalty. This appeal followed, and we affirm.

II.

Card asserts that I.C. § 18-207 is unconstitutional because it violates his constitutional rights to due process and the right to be tried by a jury. Card claims that the insanity defense is so fundamental to our system of justice that its abolishment constitutes a denial of a fundamental constitutional right.

In State v. Searcy, 118 Idaho 632, 798 P.2d 914 (1990), we considered the fundamental nature of the insanity defense and addressed the constitutionality of I.C. § 18-207. In Searcy we held:

Accordingly, we conclude, based upon the foregoing authorities, that due process as expressed in the Constitutions of the United States and of Idaho does not constitutionally mandate an insanity defense and that I.C. § 18-207 does not deprive the defendant Searcy of his due process rights under the state or federal Constitution.

118 Idaho at 637, 798 P.2d at 919 (citations omitted) (opinion of Bakes, C.J., Boyle, J. and Woodland, DJ. Pro Tem.)2 In State v. Searcy we cited to the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Powell v. Texas, 392 U.S. 514, 88 S.Ct. 2145, 20 L.Ed.2d 1254 (1968), and quoted the following:

[TJhis [C]ourt has never articulated a general constitutional doctrine of mens rea. We cannot cast aside the centu[429]*429ries-long evolution of the collection of interlocking and overlapping concepts which the common law has utilized to assess the moral accountability of an individual for his antisocial deeds. The doctrines of actus reus, mens rea, insanity, mistake, justification, and duress have historically provided the tools for a constantly shifting adjustment of the tension between the evolving aims of the criminal law and changing religious, moral, philosophical, and medical views of the nature of man. This process of adjustment has always been thought to be the province of the States.
[Powell v. Texas], 392 U.S. at 535-536, 88 S.Ct. at 2156, 20 L.Ed.2d at 1269 (emphasis added). Justice Marshall, in his Powell opinion, stated that “nothing could be less fruitful than for this Court to be impelled into defining some sort of insanity test in constitutional terms.”

118 Idaho at 636, 798 P.2d at 918 (footnote omitted).

Card claims that the recent U.S. Supreme Court pronouncement in Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S.Ct. 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989), mandates the allowance of an insanity defense in death penalty cases. Specifically, Card relies upon the following language from Penry:

The common law prohibition against punishing “idiots” for their crimes suggests that it may indeed be “cruel and unusual” punishment to execute persons who are profoundly or severely retarded and wholly lacking the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of their actions. Because of the protections afforded by the insanity defense today, such a person is not likely to be convicted or face the prospect of punishment.

492 U.S. at 333, 109 S.Ct. at 2954.

We agree with the views of the United States Supreme Court but note that the safeguard referred to in Penry is in place in Idaho. Under Idaho law, an individual must be found competent to stand trial. I.C. § 18-210.3

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Bluebook (online)
825 P.2d 1081, 121 Idaho 425, 1991 Ida. LEXIS 197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-card-idaho-1991.