Lead Opinion
OPINION
This appeal arises from the denial of appellant Prentis Cordell Jackson’s petition for postconviction relief. Jackson’s petition raised two primary claims. First, Jackson claimed that he was entitled to a new trial because an eyewitness recanted his trial testimony. Second, Jackson claimed that his mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release (LWOR) should be reversed based on Miller v. Alabama, — U.S. -,
We affirm in part the denial of postcon-viction relief because the postconviction court did not abuse its discretion by ruling that an eyewitness’s out-of-court statements were not admissible under Minn. R. Evid. 804(b)(3). But we vacate Jackson’s
I.
The State charged Jackson with first-degree premeditated murder in connection with the shooting death of 15-year-old Michael Anthony Bluntson, Jr. On February 24, 2006, the date of the murder, Jackson was 17 years old. At trial, eyewitness Alfred Lamar testified as follows. He and Jackson were members of the EMB gang (Emerson Money Boys or Emerson Murder Boys). On the date of the murder, Jackson told Lamar that rival gang members had shot a member of the EMB gang and that if he caught one of them he would “F* * * them up.” Later that day, Jackson and Lamar were in a vehicle with fellow gang members Deshawn Jenkins and Bernard Williams when they saw Bluntson walking on the sidewalk. Someone suggested that Jackson “box” with Bluntson. Jackson responded to the suggestion by stating that he was going to “crush him,” at which point the driver stopped the vehicle. As Jackson left the vehicle, he said, “I got something for this n* *ger.” Jackson then approached Bluntson, and the two of them assumed boxing stances. But instead of throwing a punch, Jackson pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it át Bluntson. The first time he pulled the trigger, the gun did not fire. When Jackson pulled the trigger a second time, the gun fired, and the bullet hit Bluntson in the face. Blunt-son then grasped his face and stumbled.
In addition to Lamar’s eyewitness testimony, the State presented the testimony of Jenkins and Williams, which was consistent with Lamar’s testimony. The jury found Jackson guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, and the district court sentenced him to LWOR on November 21, 2006. We affirmed Jackson’s conviction on April 10, 2008. State v. Jackson,
On January 11, 2013, Jackson filed a petition for postconviction relief. The postconviction court first considered Jackson’s challenge to his conviction based on an alleged recantation by Lamar. Viewing the facts alleged in the petition in the light most favorable to Jackson, the postconviction court concluded that it was required to hold an evidentiary hearing under Minn. Stat. § 590.04, subd. 1 (2014).
' During the evidentiary hearing, Lamar asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In the absence of testimony by Lamar, Jackson attempted to prove Lamar’s alleged recantation through Lamar’s out-of-court written statements and through testimony by defense investigator Kim Bossert regarding a telephone call with Lamar. Lamar’s written statement declared as follows: “[M]y testimony was false. I have no knolledge [sic] about the killing of Anthony Bluntson. I was scared and the investiga
Jackson argued that Lamar’s out-of-court statements were admissible under the hearsay exception for statements against penal interest, Minn. R. Evid. 804(b)(3). Under that rule, hearsay statements made against the “declarant’s ... interest” may be admitted when there are “corroborating circumstances clearly indicating] the trustworthiness of the statement.” Minn. R. Evid. 804(b)(3). In an effort to corroborate Lamar’s out-of-court statements regarding coaching, pressure, and threats made by police interrogators, Jackson submitted transcripts of the police interviews. Jackson also presented the testimony of investigator Bossert, who described his telephone call with Lamar.
The State presented the testimony of one of the police interrogators, Scott Larson, who testified that the interrogators never threatened Lamar. The State also presented the testimony of an investigator with the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Erin Spruance. As part of her investigation of a witness-tampering scheme, Spruance obtained a 2010 letter that Jackson had sent to Lamonte Martin asking Martin to procure a statement from Lamar.
After ‘ hearing all of the evidence, the postconviction court concluded that Lamar’s out-of-court statements were not admissible under Rule 804(b)(3) because Jackson had failed to establish corroborating circumstances that clearly indicated the trustworthiness of those statements. Having ruled that Lamar’s out-of-court statements were not admissible, the postconviction court rejected Jackson’s postconviction challenge to his conviction, explaining that “[t]here is no evidence convincing the Court that the alleged recantation is genuine, or that Lamar lied at trial.”
The postconviction court next considered Jackson’s challenge to the constitutionality of his sentence. Jackson argued that his mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release violated the Eighth Amendment according to the rule announced in Miller, — U.S. -,
After we held oral argument for this case, but before we. issued our decision, the
II.
We first consider Jackson’s challenge to his conviction based on the alleged recantation by Lamar. Jackson argues that the postconviction court erred by concluding that Lamar’s out-of-court statements were not admissible under the hearsay exception for statements against penal interest, Minn. R. Evid. 804(b)(3). “We review a postconviction court’s decision to admit or exclude evidence for an abuse of discretion.” Dobbins v. State,
An out-of-court statement madé by a nonparty and offered to prové the truth of the matter asserted is hearsay. Minn. R. Evid. 801(c); Miles,
To determine whether the “corroborating circumstances” requirement of Rule 804(b)(3) is satisfied, we have considered the following factors:
(1) whether other evidence corroborates the facts in the hearsay statement; (2) the extent to which the hearsay statement is .consistent with the declarant’s prior testimony and other statements; (3) the relationship between the declar-ant and other witnesses and parties, including the defendant; (4) whether -the declarant has reason to fabricate .the statement; (5) the overall credibility and character of the declarant; and (6) the timing of the statement.
State v. Ferguson,
After carefully considering the six Ferguson factors, the postconviction court determined that Jackson failed to establish corroborating circumstances that clearly indicated the trustworthiness of Lamar’s out-of-court statements. The record supports the postconviction court’s determination.
With respect to the first factor, the evidence in the record fails to corroborate Lamar’s statements regarding coaching, pressure, and threats made by police interrogators. The report from the second police interview demonstrates that Lamar was not pressured because he freely volun
As for the second factor, Lamar’s out-of-court statements are not consistent with his prior testimony and the prior testimony of others. ■ In the notarized statement, Lamar claimed to have no direct knowledge of Bluntson’s murder. This statement is not only inconsistent with Lamar’s trial testimony, it is also inconsistent with the trial testimony of two other witnesses: Deshawn Jenkins and Bernard Williams.
The postconviction court’s findings on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth factors further support the court’s determination that Lamar’s out-of-court statements are not' trustworthy. The court found that Lamar was a fellow gang member who had been convicted of providing false information to police. The court also found that Lamar’s hearsay statements could not be considered trustworthy because Jackson attempted to procure them by relying on Martin, “who ha[d] been convicted of perpetrating a fraud on the court in the creation of false affidavits for the purpose of obtaining postconviction relief.” The court also found that the statements were made 6 years after Jackson’s trial and 2 years after Jackson sent a letter to Martin asking him to procure a statement from Lamar.
In sum, the postconviction court properly applied the law to the facts when it determined that Jackson failed to establish corroborating circumstances that clearly indicated the trustworthiness of Lamar’s out-of-court statements. Because the postconviction court’s determination is neither-based on an erroneous view of the law nor against logic and the facts in the record, we hold that the court did not abuse its discretion when it ruled that Lamar’s out-of-court statements were not admissible-under Minn. R. Evid. 804(b)(3).
III.
We next consider Jackson’s challenge to the constitutionality of his sentence under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution in light of Miller v. Alabama, — U.S. -,
In Chambers and Roman Nose, we held that the Miller rule did not apply retroactively to juveniles whose LWOR sentences became final before the Miller rule was announced. Roman Nose,
Having concluded that Jackson is entitled to retroactive application of the Miller rule, we next determine whether the Miller rule was violated here. It is undisputed that the district court imposed a mandatory sentence of LWOR and did not consider Jackson’s youth-related factors, whether Jackson fell within the vast majority of juvenile offenders whose crimes reflect “transient immaturity,” or whether Jackson was one of the “rare” juveniles whose crimes reflect “irreparable corruption” or “permanent incorrigibility,” according to Miller, — U.S. at -,
IV.
We next consider the appropriate remedy for the constitutional violation in Jackson’s case. In State v. Ali, after holding that a juvenile’s LWOR sentence violated the Miller rule, we considered two remedies:
Jackson urges us to reconsider our decision in Ali to allow district courts to hold Miller hearings because Ali was premised on applying Miller as a rule of criminal procedure. We concluded in Ali that district courts had the authority to' hold Miller hearings because the sentencing scheme violated , a “rule of constitutional criminal procedure.” Id. at 256. Jackson argues that our reasoning in Ali is undermined by the holding in Montgomery that “Miller announced a substantive rule of constitutional law.” Montgomery, — U.S. at -,
Although one of the premises for allowing a Miller hearing in Ali has been significantly undermined by Montgomery, we need not decide now whether Ali has any continuing viability. A Miller-hearing remedy provides inadequate relief in a retroactive context for a juvenile such as Jackson, whose sentence was imposed nearly 10 years ago. Based on the significant passage of time since Jackson’s 2006 sentencing, holding a fair and meaningful Miller hearing is not possible. For example, no presentencing investigation was conducted following his conviction. Similarly, no record of Jackson’s youthful characteristics was made at the time of the 2006 sentencing. The significant passage of time creates a barrier to presenting evidence and witnesses that would allow a meaningful Miller hearing. A fair and meaningful evaluation of a juvenile’s youthful characteristics, including his or her “transient immaturity” versus permanent “corruption” and “incorrigibility” at the time of the offense is not possible in cases involving a retroactive application of the Miller rule. The sentencing court would be required to evaluate a juvenile’s mindset and characteristics from many years ago. With limited relevant evidence available, such a remedy would result in a significant risk of an unfair hearing.
We therefore turn to another option for relief. Under the Fedziuk severance remedy, a facially unconstitutional amendment to a statute may be severed and the most recent constitutional version of the statute revived. Fedziuk,
Therefore, rather than the overly broad facial severance we applied in Fedziuk, here we consider a narrower approach: as-applied severance. See, e.g., Whiteside v. State,
Here, because a fair and meaningful Miller hearing under Ali/Chauvin is not possible, and because facial severance is overly broad, we conclude that the most appropriate remedy is as-applied severance and revival. Under this remedy, the relevant LWOR sentencing statutes are severed and the most recent constitutional statutes are revived, as applied to Jackson and any other juvenile offenders who received mandatory LWOR sentences that were final before the Miller rule was announced. For Jackson, who was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, Minn.Stat. § 609.185(a)(1) (2014), the most recent constitutional versions of the relevant sentencing statutes are from the year 2004. See MinmStat. §§.609.106, subd. 2, 244.05, subds. 4-5 (2004).
We affirm in part the denial of Jackson’s petition for postconviction relief. We affirm the denial of Jackson’s challenge to his conviction based on the alleged recantation by Lamar. The postconviction court did not abuse its discretion when it ruled that Lamar’s out-of-court statements were not admissible under Minn. R. Evid. 804(b)(3). However, for the above reasons, we conclude that Jackson’s mandatory LWOR sentence violated - the Eighth Amendment under the Miller rule; that it is not possible to remand for a fair, and meaningful Miller hearing; and that the most appropriate remedy for the constitutional violation in this case is as-applied severance and revival. We hold that MinmStat, §§ 609.106, subd. 2, 244.05, subds. 4-5 (2014), are severed as applied to Jackson and any juvenile offenders who received mandatory LWOR sentences that were final before the Miller rule was announced. The most recent constitutional versions of those statutes are revived. Based on Jackson’s conviction of first-degree premeditated murder, the revived statutes require a sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of release after 80 years, MinmStat. §§ 609.106, subd. 2, 244.05, subds. 4-5 (2004). Therefore, we vacate Jackson’s LWOR sentence and remand to the district court for imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of release after 30 years.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
Notes
. Jackson also raised several state-law claims challenging his sentence under Minn. R.Crim. P. 27.03, subd. 9; Minn.Stat. § 590.01 (2014); and Minn.Stat. § 244.11 (2014). Because we are vacating Jackson's sentence and granting the relief he requests under the Eighth Amendment, we need not and do not address his state-law claims.
. The presentation of evidence occurred on two different dates: November 19 and December 19, 2013. We refer to these two hearings collectively as "the evidential^ hearing” because the bifurcated presentation of evidence does not impact our analysis.
. The letter states: "1 need that address that I gave you to call because I need my b* * * ⅜ to send a copy of that affidavit there. I forgot to give you the one I had. I'm trying to get Ghost s* * *. Then it’s a wrap. Hopefully I dan get that s* * * in the next month ór so. That'll be love.” Ghost is Lamar’s street name.
. The Miller decision, which established that mandatory LWOR sentencing statutes are unconstitutional as applied to juveniles, was issued over four years ago, on June 25, 2012. Since then, various reform bills have been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature in response to Miller, but no legislation has been passed to date.
. Our Ali decision, which was issued before Montgomery, did not involve a retroactive application of Miller. We held that the Miller rule applied in that case because the appellant’s conviction was not final before the Miller rule was announced. See State v. Ali,
. The Walsh article further explains that "a statute that has unconstitutional applications cannot be constitutionally applied to anyone ... unless the court can sever the unconstitutional applications of the statute from the constitutionally permitted ones.” Walsh, supra at 748 (quoting Dorf, supra at 238).
. Similar remedies of as-applied severance and revival, or partial severance, were advocated by the dissenting opinions in our All decision. See
. The supervised release described by these provisions is permissive, not required. Under the current statutory scheme, before supervised release is authorized, a community investigation report is prepared. See Minn.Stat. § 244.05, subd. 5(b) (2014). The report includes the views of the victim’s family, the sentencing judge, the prosecutor, and law enforcement personnel involved in the case. Id. The report is evaluated by an advisory panel of corrections specialists to consider the inmate’s case ■ history; including the facts and circumstances of the offense, past criminal history, institutional adjustment, program team reports, psychological and psychiatric reports, and the results of community investigations. Minn. R. 2940,1800, subp. 2 (2015),
The Montgomery Court noted that "[a] state may remedy a Miller violation by permitting juvenile homicide offenders to be. considered for parole, rather than by resentencing them_Those prisoners who have shown an inability to reform, will continue to serve life sentences.” — U.S. -,
Concurrence Opinion
(concurring).
In accordance with my dissenting opinion in State v. Ali,
