State v. Pratt

873 P.2d 800, 125 Idaho 546, 1993 Ida. LEXIS 141
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 27, 1993
Docket18424, 19736
StatusPublished
Cited by78 cases

This text of 873 P.2d 800 (State v. Pratt) 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. Pratt, 873 P.2d 800, 125 Idaho 546, 1993 Ida. LEXIS 141 (Idaho 1993).

Opinions

McDEVITT, Chief Justice.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

A. The Guilt Phase:

On February 7, 1989, the State filed an information against appellant, James Kevin Pratt, charging him with eighteen crimes. The information alleged that a number of crimes occurred at the home of Louise Turner in Bonner County, Idaho, which were followed by crimes committed during the course of Pratt’s attempt to flee from the police.1 In addition, the information stated that the sentence for each crime should be extended pursuant to I.C. § 19-2520 because Pratt “displayed, used, threatened and attempted to use a firearm.” Specifically, the information alleged that Pratt committed the following crimes:

Count Crime Statute Victim

I First Degree Burglary I.C. §§ 18-1401 and -1402 Louise Turner

II Robbery I.C. §§ 18-6501 and -6502 Peter Detorres

III Second Degree Kidnapping I.C. §§ 18-6501 and -4503 Saul E. Quigley

IV Aggravated Assault I.C. §§ 18-901 and -905 Saul E. Quigley

V Aggravated Battery I.C. §§ 18-903 and -907 Mark A. Palanuik

VI Aggravated Assault I.C. §§ 18-901 and -905 Peter Detorres

VII Kathy Detorres

VIII Mark A. Palanuik

IX Tammy Palanuik

X Angela Detorres

XI Timothy Tucker

XII Peter Detorres,

XIII Jr. Rocky Krieger [551]*551Count Crime Statute Victim

XTV Saul E. Quigley

XV Aggravated Assault Upon A Law Enforce- I.C. §§ 18-901, ment Officer -905, and -915 Det. Harvey Thompson

XVI Attempted First Degree Murder I.C. §§ 18-306, -4001, -4002, and -4003(a)(d) Mark A. Palanuik

XVII Dep. Steve Barbieri

XVIII First Degree Murder2 I.C. §§ 18-4001, -4002, -4003(a) (b)(d), and -4004 Brent K. Jacobson

Pratt was arraigned on February 7, 1989, and he pled “not guilty” to all counts.

On April 6, 1989, Pratt filed motions for a jury trial on the issue of the existence of aggravating circumstances, an advisory jury regarding sentencing, and sentencing by jury. In this regard, he cited the United States and Idaho constitutional guarantees of due process and trial by jury. The motions were heard on April 13, 1989, and the court issued its order denying the motions on April 21, 1989.

Appellant filed additional motions on April 6, 1989 and at the April 13, 1989 hearing. These include motions for jury sequestration, dismissal of counts V and XVI, counts XII, XIII, V, and XVI, counts IV and XIV, count XV, and count XVII, and for striking certain portions of Count XVIII. The court issued its order denying these motions on May 8, 1989. The court ruled that the jury would not be sequestered at trial, only during deliberation. It also ruled that the evidence at the preliminary hearing was sufficient to support the criminal counts challenged by Pratt. Further, the court ruled that counts IV and XIV, regarding aggravated assault against Saul E. Quigley, were not duplicative.

As to the motion to strike a portion of Count XVIII, appellant moved that the following language be stricken:

and that at the time of the killing of such victim the victim was a peace officer, law enforcement officer, and executive officer duly commissioned as such by the United States Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, and was acting in his lawful discharge of his official duties, and assisting the Bonner County Sheriffs Department. The Defendant knew or should have known that Brent K. Jacobson was such an officer so acting, and that said shooting and killing occurred after voice notification to the Defendant of the status of such officer and after the Defendant had been pursued for many hours by such law enforcement officers. Further, that such shooting and killing occurred during the perpetration and commission of the felony criminal offenses of burglary in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, and robbery; and was committed by the Defendant in the furtherance of said commission and perpetration of said felony criminal offenses, and to facilitate the escape and further the commission and perpetration of said felony offenses.

In support of this argument, Pratt cited I.C.R. 5.1 and I.C. §§ 18-4003(b), 19-510, and 19 — 5101(d). In regards to I.C.R. 5.1, the court ruled that it does not require specific findings of fact, only a finding of probable cause that a certain crime was committed by the defendant. As to the cited statutes, the court ruled that I.C. § 18-4003(b) is not limited by I.C. § 19-510, because to do so would exempt deputy sheriffs, Idaho State Police officers, and even the President of the United States from its protection. The court further ruled that “the legislature intended the protection of I.C. § 18-4003(b) to extend to all persons serving in the designated capacities of peace officer or executive officer [whether] federal or state.” It also found that the victim fit within I.C. § 18-4003(b). [552]*552Finally, the court ruled that the Pratts were engaged in the commission of a felony during the killing, as they were escaping from the scene of the crime, because there was a “continuous and unbroken chain of events, ...” citing State v. Fetterly, 109 Idaho 766, 710 P.2d 1202 (1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 870, 107 S.Ct. 239, 93 L.Ed.2d 164 (1986).

After a fifteen day trial, the jury returned its verdict on June 9, 1989. The jury found Pratt “guilty” of first degree burglary, robbery, second degree kidnapping, nine counts of aggravated assault3, aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer, attempted first degree murder, and first degree murder. Pratt was found “not guilty” of aggravated battery upon Mark A. Palanuik. The jury’s verdict of “guilty” for first degree murder was based upon its finding that “[t]he killing occurred during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of robbery, burglary or kidnapping” and “[t]he person killed was a peace officer or executive officer acting within the scope of his duties at the time of the killing.”4

B. The Sentencing Phase:

On November 27,1989, the court issued its I.C. § 19-2515 findings. In its findings, the court discussed the general criminal conduct involved and Pratt’s character, both of which it deemed to be “neither aggravating nor mitigating,” and it identified mitigating circumstances, aggravating circumstances, and statutory aggravating circumstances. Finally, it weighed “all of the mitigating circumstances against each one of the aggravating circumstances.”

As to mitigating circumstances, the court found the following to be neither mitigating nor aggravating: (1) Pratt’s age (twenty seven); and (2) his parent’s divorce when he was twelve years old. Further, the court ruled that because of Pratt’s years of association with convicted spy and bank robber Christopher Boyce, Pratt’s assertion of his “years as being largely self-sufficient and employed ...

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Bluebook (online)
873 P.2d 800, 125 Idaho 546, 1993 Ida. LEXIS 141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pratt-idaho-1993.