State v. Chacon

198 P.3d 749, 146 Idaho 520, 2008 Ida. App. LEXIS 122
Idaho Court of Appeals·Decided September 10, 2008·No. 33394, 33613·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinions

LANSING, Judge.

Jesus Ariel Chacon challenges his conviction for several drug offenses and the associated sentences imposed after the district court found that Chacon had failed to perform his obligations under a confidential informant agreement, thereby relieving the State of its obligations under the agreement.

[522] I.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

While on probation for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, Idaho Code section 37 — 2732(a)(1)(A), Chacon was charged on August 26, 2005 with, among other things, five counts of conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine, I.C. §§ 18-1701, 37-2732(0, 37-2732(a)(1)(A) and 37-2732B(a)(4)(C). Chacon subsequently entered into a plea agreement and confidential informant agreement with the State, whereby he pleaded guilty to the five counts of trafficking. Chacon’s main obligation under the confidential informant agreement was to purchase controlled substances from a specifically-named target as directed by the Mini-Cassia Drug Task Force and to provide testimony and cooperation in the prosecution of members of the target’s organization. Chacon was also required to work with the Task Force in generally “identifying, apprehending, and convicting those people involved in the use, distribution, and manufacture of controlled substances.” In exchange, the State agreed to dismiss four of the five counts if Chacon fulfilled his obligations under the agreement. The State also agreed to recommend a sentence on the remaining count of twenty-five years’ imprisonment with five years fixed, a $15,000 fine, and restitution if Chacon fulfilled his end of the agreement. The agreement gave Chacon sixty days to perform his obligations, with the possibility of reasonable time extensions.

Some members of the Task Force were reluctant to have the State enter into the agreement due to their doubt that Chacon could perform or would be willing to put forth the effort necessary to be successful. Nevertheless, the agreement was eventually signed, due largely to Chacon’s assurances that he would be able to make buys from the named target, whom the Task Force considered to be of high value. When Chacon later reported that he was unable to arrange any transactions with the target or members of the target’s distribution ring, detectives urged him to set up buys from other sources. Despite Chacon’s initial assurances of his ability to arrange drug transactions, during a period of more than half a year he did not arrange a single drug purchase from either the named target or any other seller.

After approximately seven months without any buys or any actionable leads, Chacon’s case proceeded to sentencing. The State took the position that Chacon had not complied with the confidential informant agreement and that the State was therefore excused from any obligation to dismiss four of the five counts or to recommend the agreed sentence. At the sentencing hearing, Chacon testified that he had made sincere efforts to set up buys first from the named target and then from other dealers per his supervising officer’s instructions. He maintained that it became impossible for him to make any buys, and that this was most likely because too many people in the drug dealing community were made wary by Chacon’s release from custody pending sentencing and feared that he was working with police. The district court nevertheless found that Chacon had breached the confidential informant agreement and that the State’s performance was therefore excused. The court imposed unified thirty-five-year sentences with fifteen-year determinate terms on two counts, and unified fifteen-year sentences with five-year determinate terms on the three remaining counts. Chacon’s probation was also revoked in the separate possession ease, and that sentence of seven years with five years determinate was executed, to be served concurrently with the sentences for conspiracy.

The two cases have been consolidated on appeal. Chacon challenges the district court’s finding that he breached the confidential informant agreement and contends that his sentences in both cases are excessive.

II.

ANALYSIS

A. Whether Chacon May Enforce the Confidential Informant Agreement

Confidential informant agreements, like plea agreements, are generally governed by contract law principles, Dunlap v. State, 141 Idaho 50, 63, 106 P.3d 376, 389 (2004), and both the prosecutor and the defendant are bound by their agreement. Berg v. [523] State, 131 Idaho 517, 519, 960 P.2d 738, 740 (1998). A court need not blindly follow contract law principles in reviewing confidential informant agreements, however, because “[e]ases may arise in which the law of contracts will not provide a sufficient analogy and mode of analysis.” Dunlap, 141 Idaho at 63, 106 P.3d at 389 (quoting United States v. Carrilo, 709 F.2d 35, 36-37 n. 1 (9th Cir. 1983)) (unconscionability of contract doctrine not applied to plea agreement analysis). We review questions of law de novo and questions of fact for clear error. Dunlap, 141 Idaho at 56,106 P.3d at 382.

Chacon acknowledges that he did not fulfill his obligation under the confidential informant agreement to arrange drug purchases. He argues, however, that his nonperformance was excused under the contract law doctrine of impossibility of performance. We disagree. Even if we assume, arguendo, that Chacon used his very best efforts to set up drug buys but was unable to do so because his contacts in the drug dealing milieu were suspicious that he was cooperating with law enforcement, the impossibility doctrine is inapplicable. Impossibility is proven by showing that a contingency occurred, the nonoccurrenee of which was a basic assumption of the agreement, and that the contingency made performance of the contract impossible. Kessler v. Tortoise Dev., Inc., 130 Idaho 105, 108, 937 P.2d 417, 420 (1997); Haessly v. Safeco Title Ins. Co., 121 Idaho 463, 465, 825 P.2d 1119, 1121 (1992). It is not sufficient to show that the performance simply became more difficult or more expensive than anticipated-it must have been made impossible. Id. Most importantly, it is the task itself which must be impossible-it is not enough that the particular promisor is unable to perform the task if it would be possible for a different promisor to perform. Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 261 cmt. e (1981); 30 Richard A. Lord, Williston on Contracts § 77:25 (4th ed.2004); 14 James P. Nehf, Corbin on Contracts § 74.6 (Joseph M. Perillo ed., 2001); cf. Rasmussen v. Martin, 104 Idaho 401, 406, 659 P.2d 155, 160 (Ct.App.1983) (frustration of purpose must be objective, not subjective, to excuse a contractual obligation). Here, Chacon’s claimed impossibility was personal to him. He does not suggest that it was impossible for anyone to make a drug purchase from the target or other drug dealers. Therefore, the doctrine of impossibility does not operate to excuse Chacon’s nonperformance.

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State v. Chacon, 198 P.3d 749, 146 Idaho 520, 2008 Ida. App. LEXIS 122 (Idaho Ct. App. 2008).

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