State v. Redcrow5/11/1999
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Fourth Judicial District, In and for the County of Missoula, The Honorable Douglas G. Harkin, Judge presiding.
Submitted on Briefs: December 3, 1998
. On February 19, 1988, Lucy Marie Redcrow was convicted of deliberate homicide by a jury in the Fourth Judicial District Court, Missoula County, Montana. On October 20, 1988, Redcrow was sentenced to a term of fifty years, with an additional ten years for the use of a weapon, the sentences to run consecutively. She was designated a dangerous offender for purposes of parole. Redcrow appealed her conviction, and on March 29, 1990, we affirmed her conviction in State v. Redcrow (1990), 242 Mont. 254, 790 P.2d 449, overruled on other grounds by State v. Gollehon (1995), 274 Mont. 116, 120-21, 906 P.2d 697, 700. On March 29, 1995, Redcrow filed a petition for post-conviction relief with the District Court. In an order dated September 12, 1995, the District Court concluded that although Redcrow's petition for post-conviction relief was not filed within five years of the defendant's conviction, the issues raised by the petition were significant and should be disposed of on the merits. On May 2, 1997, the District Court entered an order ultimately concluding that Redcrow's petition for post-conviction relief was untimely, but then further concluded that "the 'miscarriage of Justice' exception to the procedural bar found within Mont. Code Ann. § 46-21-102 allows the state court to examine the record to ascertain whether a constitutional violation occurred." The District Court then concluded that no constitutional violation occurred and dismissed Redcrow's petition for post-conviction relief. On December 3, 1997, the District Court denied Redcrow's petition requesting that it reconsider its order dismissing the petition. On January 29, 1998, Redcrow filed a notice of appeal. We affirm.
. The issues presented on appeal are as follows:
. 1. Did the District Court err when it concluded that Redcrow's petition for post-conviction relief was untimely?
. 2. Did the District Court err when it concluded that enforcement of the procedural bar would not result in a fundamental miscarriage of Justice?
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
. Lucy Marie Redcrow was charged by information on September 4, 1987, with one count of deliberate homicide, a felony, as specified in § 45-5-102, MCA (1987), punishable by a maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment. Redcrow was jointly tried by a jury with co-defendant Paul Regudon. On November 29, 1988, the District Court entered judgment following a jury verdict convicting Redcrow of one count of deliberate homicide and sentenced Redcrow to a sixty-year sentence. Redcrow was designated a dangerous offender.
. Redcrow moved for a new trial based on her mental state, which the District Court denied. Redcrow then appealed the judgment and sentence to this Court. We affirmed Redcrow's conviction and sentence on March 29, 1990, in State v. Redcrow (1990), 242 Mont. 254, 790 P.2d 449.
. Redcrow was represented in the District Court by court-appointed counsel during pretrial, at trial and sentencing, and on direct appeal. Redcrow's co-defendant, Paul Regudon, was represented by a public defender during pretrial proceedings and at trial.
. The following facts regarding the homicide of which Redcrow was convicted are taken directly from our decision in Redcrow.
. In the early evening hours of August 26, 1987, the body of Marie Richie was discovered by Missoula City police officers along the bank of the Clark Fork River in Missoula. Regudon was apprehended nearby. Redcrow was also
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