Veney v. United States

681 A.2d 428, 1996 D.C. App. LEXIS 145, 1996 WL 414179
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 25, 1996
Docket93-CF-456
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 681 A.2d 428 (Veney v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Veney v. United States, 681 A.2d 428, 1996 D.C. App. LEXIS 145, 1996 WL 414179 (D.C. 1996).

Opinions

ON REHEARING EN BANC

SCHWELB, Associate Judge:

Pursuant to the terms of a negotiated plea agreement, Tycho Veney was convicted of manslaughter while armed. D.C.Code §§ 22-2401, -3202 (1996). Through counsel, Veney, who was then nineteen years of age, requested the trial judge to sentence him as a youth offender pursuant to the District of Columbia Youth Rehabilitation Act (DCYRA or the Act), D.C.Code §§ 24-801 et seq. (1996). The judge declined Veney’s request and sentenced Veney as an adult to a prison term of fifteen years to life.

Veney filed a timely appeal, contending that the judge failed to make an explicit finding that Veney would not derive benefit from sentencing as a youth offender, and that this omission rendered the sentence invalid. On April 20, 1995, a division of this court affirmed the judgment. Veney v. United States, 658 A.2d 625 (D.C.1995) (per curiam) (Veney I). The division stated that it was bound by Peterson v. United States, 657 A.2d 756, 763-64 (D.C.1995) (King, J., joined by Terry, J., concurring), in which a majority of a different division had concluded three weeks earlier that a “no benefit” finding is not required by the DCYRA. We subsequently vacated Veney I and granted rehear[429]*429ing en banc. Veney v. United States, 666 A.2d 63 (D.C.1995) (Veney II).

The record in this case reflects that the judge was aware of his authority to order treatment of the defendant as a youth offender, considered that rehabilitative option, and consciously rejected it. Because, in our view, the DCYRA requires no more than that, we now affirm.

I.

TRIAL COURT PROCEEDINGS

A The Facts. 1

This case had its genesis in a brutal killing by ambush. On February 28, 1992, Marc Locust was riding his bicycle to a convenience store which he apparently frequented. Appellant Veney, who had purchased a revolver about four weeks earlier, was pacing back and forth at a corner near the market. As Locust approached the store, Veney pulled the revolver from his waistband, pointed it at Locust, and shot him in the chest from a distance of six feet. The bullet pierced Locust’s heart and lungs.

Locust, who was unarmed, fell from the bicycle and tried to run away. Veney gave chase and fired again; a second bullet grazed Locust’s forehead. Minutes later, Locust was found by his brother in a gutter, bleeding and gasping for breath. Marc Locust then died. He was twenty-one years old.

Veney was arrested and gave a videotaped statement to the police. He revealed that he and Marc Locust had argued several summers earlier over a girl. He claimed that Locust had fired at him a few weeks before the killing, but he could not remember exactly where this occurred. Veney admitted that he shot Locust, and that he ran home and hid the revolver. He later threw the weapon into the river.

Veney was charged with first degree murder while armed and with associated weapons offenses. A plea agreement was negotiated, and Veney was permitted to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed. The murder charge was dismissed.

B. The Sentencing Proceedings.

In advance of sentencing, Veney’s counsel presented to the court evaluations of her client by two psychologists and one psychiatrist. It is apparent from these evaluations that Veney is at least moderately retarded2 and that he suffers from various mental and emotional disorders. He was abused by both parents, and he was apparently present when his mother shot his father. He has, on occasion, attempted suicide. There can be no doubt that he is a limited young man and that he grew up in most unfortunate circumstances.

The materials submitted by the defense also reveal, however, that Veney is an extremely dangerous individual. Since his teens, he has been engaged in numerous unlawful activities, including setting fires, cruelty to animals, stealing cars, destruction of property, fighting, and carrying a knife. He was committed to Saint Elizabeths Hospital and to the Receiving Home, and he spent two years at The Pines Treatment Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. He was released in June 1991. Then, according to the defense psychiatrist, Neil Blumberg, M.D., Veney

returned to the District of Columbia and began associating with a delinquent crowd. He did not work, began drinking and abusing drugs, and eventually became involved in selling drugs, which became his primary means of support.

Veney’s chosen lifestyle is especially dangerous, both for him and for others. In the words of defense psychologist Lanning E. Moldauer, Ph.D.,

Mr. Veney is particularly poorly equipped for the role of drug dealer or street “hustler” where the action is likely to turn violent and the demands for making quick, accurate distinctions in life-and-death situations are all too great.

[430]*430In -written submissions to the sentencing judge and at the sentencing hearing, the parties presented arguments for and against DCYRA sentencing. Veney’s counsel asserted that his client was an appropriate candidate for rehabilitation, and that “[t]he court’s greatest assurance for rehabilitating is to sentence him under the Youth Rehabilitation Act and commit him to the Lorton Youth Center.” The prosecutor countered that

[t]here has been a lot of discussion about what would help Mr. Veney. I think the time has come to put the needs of the community ahead of those of Mr. Veney.

The prosecutor also stated that she had discussed with J. William Erhardt, Esq. of the Superior Court Criminal Division’s Legal Assistance Branch the availability of psychiatric counselling both at the Youth Center and at the adult facility, and that although “[i]n theory the treatment’s better [at the Youth Center],” it wasn’t cle.ar to Mr. Erhardt that this was so in practice.

The judge declined to sentence Veney pursuant to the DCYRA, and ordered that he be incarcerated for a period of fifteen years to life. He stated in some detail his reasons for rejecting the DCYRA option:

Mr. Veney, this is a difficult case. It’s difficult because of your situation, it’s difficult because of the victim. I can’t overlook the fact that you have been carrying around a gun for a while and I cannot assure myself that you only had that gun for Mr. Locust, because of something that he had done to you, as opposed to having that gun for its general use whenever you felt it happened to be needed.
If you had gone to trial, you stood a chance of being convicted of offenses that when you add up the possible sentences would add up to 26 years to life, of which 25 years would have been a mandatory minimum, if you’d been convicted of all these three offenses.
The plea that you entered subjects you to a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years if you’re sentenced as an adult. And if

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Veney v. United States
681 A.2d 428 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1996)

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Bluebook (online)
681 A.2d 428, 1996 D.C. App. LEXIS 145, 1996 WL 414179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/veney-v-united-states-dc-1996.