Lead Opinion
After a lengthy trial, a
The facts relevant to the issues on appeal are undisputed. At the time of the murders, Lasley was twenty-five years old, living in the basement of his parents’ home in the Iowa Meskwaki Settlement. His girlfriend, Antonia, and their three children lived apart from Lasley, but all five gathered at the parents’ home on the evening of February 5, 2014. Antonia and Lasley smoked marijuana in the basement; Lasley’s parents remained upstairs. Around 8:30 p.m., Antonia left with two of the children, leaving one daughter behind. Antonia testified that, when she left, Las-ley seemed “happy” and “was listening to pow-wow music and dancing.”
At some point during the next hour, Lasley went upstairs and killed his parents, using a three-foot-long machete. He first killed his father by striking him three times with the machete, inflicting major wounds. Crime scene evidence indicated his father struggled and tried to flee. Las-ley then turned on his mother, who saw him kill his father. Lasley chased her through the house, striking her with the machete at least six times in the head, neck, and chest. Both parents bled to death. In the next hour, Lasley had several rambling phone conversations with Antonia, saying, among other things: “Are you afraid to die?”; “Just go to the light”; “I killed my mom and dad”; “We’re free. We’re saved”; and “My mom and dad raised me wrong. The white man’s religion is wrong.” He also said he told his parents there were sexually transmitted diseases on the settlement, and his father responded, “it was right here.” Lasley then drove to his brother’s home and told him, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. ... I killed mom and dad.”
Lasley was tried on two counts of first-degree murder. His primary defense was not guilty by reason of insanity. Two defense experts offered different theories of insanity. One testified that Lasley suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, distorting his perception of reality. The other testified that' Lasley’s insanity stemmed from a delusional disorder and a psychotic episode on the night of the murders; he opined that Lasley was under the delusion that his parents had put “bad medicine” on him, causing him to have a sexually transmitted disease, and the only way to remove the bad medicine was to kill his parents. In rebuttal, a government expert testified that Lasley was sane at the time of the murders and that his belief in bad medicine was a shared cultural belief, not a delusion. The government also called lay witnesses who testified to Native American culture and Lasley’s mental health.
II. The Jury Instruction Issue
Prior to trial, Lasley submitted proposed jury instructions on the lesser-included offense of involuntary manslaughter. At the close of the evidence, after an off-the-record discussion with counsel, the court declined to give involuntary manslaughter instructions. During closing argument, defense counsel reviewed the conflicting expert testimony in detail and urged the jury to find Lasley not guilty by reason of insanity of all first and second degree murder charges. The jury rejected the insanity defense, found Lasley guilty of the second-degree murder of both parents, and acquitted him of first-degree murder.
On appeal, Lasley argues the district court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the offense of involuntary manslaughter. Involuntary manslaughter is a lesser-included offense of murder. United States v. One Star,
Involuntary manslaughter is “the unlawful killing of a human being without malice ... [i]n the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or in the commission in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection, of a lawful act which might produce death.” 18 U.S.C. § 1112(a). When Lasley repeatedly slashed his parents with a three-foot-long machete, he committed the felony of assault with a dangerous weapon. See 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(3). He made no claim that he accidentally stabbed his parents. On this evi-dentiary record, a rational jury could not have acquitted Lasley of first- and second-degree murder and convicted him of involuntary manslaughter. See United States v. Elk,
“The requisite mental state for involuntary manslaughter is ‘gross’ or ‘criminal’ negligence ... short of the extreme recklessness, or malice required for murder.” One Star,
III. The Sentencing Issue
At sentencing, the district court determined that Lasley’s advisory guidelines sentencing range was 360 months to life in prison. After considering the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors, the court determined that consecutive life sentences for each murder was “sufficient but not greater than necessary to achieve the goals of sentencing.” Lasley argues the court imposed a substantively unreasonable sentence. We review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard. United States v. Boneshirt,
The district court articulated many reasons for imposing a life sentence. First, the court noted that a life sentence was within the guidelines range had Lasley murdered one parent. But he murdered both parents, and the court found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the killings were premeditated murder. Second, the court explained that Lasley “brutally murdered” his fleeing parents in view of his young daughter, and there was “no evidence of any provocation that would cause a reasonable person to murder these parents.” Third, consistent with past decisions, the
On appeal, Lasley argues the sentence is substantively unreasonable because “it was heavily based on a finding of premeditation and deliberation that was rejected by the jury and not sufficiently established one way or the other to justify the weight accorded it.” Because a jury’s acquittal establishes only that the government failed to prove an essential element of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt, it is well settled that “a sentencing court may consider the conduct underlying an acquitted charge so long as that conduct has been proved by a preponderance of the evidence.” Martin,
Perhaps there’s an argument that the murder of Gordon Lasley Sr. was not premeditated, but when you think of the trial evidence and the way he was attacked from behind and the number of blows and the evidence suggests that he was trying to escape ... to the front door, I think Murder in the First Degree was established by the evidence. Not found by the jury, but established by a preponderance of the evidence in my mind.
Clearly, the murder of Kim Lasley was premeditated. She watched the defendant attack her husband with the machete. She saw him collapse, and as he bled to death ... the defendant turned on her, and the defendant even remarked after the incident that his mother just stood there and she didn’t do anything; she didn’t call the police. Rather, she ran down the stairs, was likely attacked on the stairs, and there is indication that she was struggling, hoping to get out the basement door.
Having reviewed the trial record, we conclude that these findings of premeditated murder were not clearly erroneous.
Lasley further argues that it was substantively unreasonable “to impose a sentence substantially based on” the district court’s disagreement with the jury’s .first-degree murder verdict. That argument overstates the legal effect of an acquittal. But in any event, the district court identified numerous factors that together justified a life sentence, and we have repeatedly held that a “district court has wide latitude to weigh the § 3553(a) factors in each case and assign some factors greater weight than others in determining an appropriate sentence.” United States v. Maxwell,
It is “the unusual case when we reverse a district court sentence — whether within, above, or below the applicable Guidelines range — as substantively unrea
The judgement of the district court is affirmed.
Notes
. The Honorable Linda R. Reade, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I dissent.
I write to protest the sentencing disparity in this case and the heavy disparity in sentences for other similarly-situated individuals based purely on their race and residence.
I.
The first legal infirmity presented in this case relates to the application of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (Guidelines) to cases brought under the Major Crimes Act without consideration of sentences and time served for similar state-law crimes. The federal courts’ method of sentencing individuals under the Major Crimes Act creates documented disparities in sentences and, as such, Indians often receive higher sentences purely because of their status as an Indian in Indian Country. Such disparities are analogous to disparities in equal rights for African Americans before and since Brown v. Board of Education,
A. The Major Crimes Act and Applications of the Guidelines
The Major Crimes Act creates federal jurisdiction over certain enumerated crimes,
In 1990, Congress also applied the Guidelines to the Major Crimes Act. Crime Control Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-647, § 1602, 104 Stat. 4789 (1990). Prior to that time, some “federal judges tried to take into account Indians’ different culture and the distinct societal background presented by the tribes” when imposing sentences under the Major Crimes Act. Jon M. Sands, Departure Reform and Indian Crimes: Reading the Commission’s Staff Paper with Reservations, 9 Fed. Sent’g Rep. 144, 144 (1996). By applying the Guidelines to Major Crimes Act cases, Congress directed district courts to sentence individuals purely under the Guidelines even when the crime was one traditionally prosecuted under state or tribal law. Documented sentencing disparities for Indians committing crimes in Indian Country are the consequence of Congress’ directions relating to the application of the Guidelines to the Major Crimes Act.
B. Disparities Created by Application of the Guidelines
Concerns surrounding Congress’ decision to apply the Guidelines to the Major Crimes Act are not new. Prior to the application of the Guidelines, many articulated concern that Indian defendants would be treated more harshly under the Guidelines than individuals prosecuted for similar offenses in their respective states. See Tribal Issues Advisory Group, Report 17 & n.16 (2016) [hereinafter TIAG Report] (citing Tova Indriz, Testimony before U.S. Sentencing Comm’n (Nov. 5, 1986); Letter from Frederic F. Kay, Fed. Pub. Def., Dist. of Ariz., to Hon. William W. Wilkins, Chair, U.S. Sentencing Comm’n (Aug. 9, 1989)), available at http://www.ussc.gov/ research/research-publieations/report-tribal-issues-advisory-group.
Unfortunately, Congress ignored the concerns regarding the likelihood of disparity.
First, judges have observed sentencing disparities for individual Indians prosecuted under the Major Crimes Act. For exam- • pie, this judge’s first experience with this disparity and obvious prejudice to a defendant came during consideration of United States v. Deegan,
A grand jury returned a federal indictment charging Deegan with first-degree murder. Id. at 628 (majority opinion). Dee-gan entered into a written plea agreement and pled guilty to one count of second-degree murder. Id. The district court calculated Deegan’s Guideline range at 121 to 151 months’ (approximately 10 to 15]k years’) imprisonment. Id. The district court then sentenced Deegan to more than ten years’ imprisonment (121 months) without considering similarly situated defendants in the State of North Dakota. Id. at 656-58 (Bright, J., dissenting).
What was startling about the Deegan case was the contrast between Deegan’s more than ten-year term of imprisonment compared to other North Dakota women who similarly committed the crime of neo-naticide. Around the same time Deegan committed her offense, a young student in Fargo, North Dakota permitted her newborn to die within twenty-four hours after birth. BJ Jones & Christopher J. Ironroad, Addressing Sentencing Disparities for Tribal Citizens in the Dakotas, 89 N.D. L. Rev. 53, 71 (2013). The. student was prosecuted in state court and received a sentence of three-years’ probation with time suspended. Id. (citing North Dakota v. N.D. State Univ. Student, No. 09-00-K-01202-1, slip op. (N.D. Dist. Ct. 2000)). A few years later, a Bismarck, North Dakota woman drowned her newborn soon after birth. Id. The woman was prosecuted in state court and received a sentence of two-years’ imprisonment with time suspended. Id. at 72 (citing North Dakota v. Glum, No. 08-07-K-02741, slip op. (N.D. Dist. Ct. 2007)). More recently, another North Dakota woman committed neonaticide by drowning her newborn. The woman was sentenced in state court to one-year imprisonment with time suspended. Bryce Martin, Lindstrom to Serve No Jail Time, Gets Suspended Sentence, Bowman County Pioneer, June 14, 2014.
The comparison between Deegan’s sentence of more than ten years’ imprisonment and the sentences imposed upon these other North Dakota women for a similar crime is staggering. Deegan’s sentence is eighty percent longer than the most stringent sentence .imposed under North Dakota law and the North Dakota defendants served little-to-no time in jail.
Deegan’s case serves as a graphic example of the disparity that exists because of the application of the Guidelines to Major Crimes Act cases without consideration of
Scholarly research provides a second source of information regarding the disparity in sentences for Indians convicted under the Major Crimes Act. Many legal scholars have researched and observed sentencing disparities in Major Crimes Act cases. Some scholarly articles on this topic include: Jones & Ironroad, supra, at 68-72; Lindsey Trainor Golden, Note, Embracing Tribal Sovereignty to Eliminate Criminal Jurisdiction Chaos, 45 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 1039, 1061-64 (2012); Emily Tredeau, Comment, Tribal Control in Federal Sentencing, 99 Cal. L. Rev. 1409, 1416-17 (2011); Timothy J. Droske, Correcting Native American Sentencing Disparity Post-Booker, 91 Marq. L. Rev. 723, 728-46 (2008); Gregory D. Smith, Comment, Disparate Impact of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines on Indians in Indian Country, 27 Hamline L. Rev. 483, 509-22 (2004); Nora V. Demleitner, First Peoples, First Principles: The Sentencing Commission’s Obligation to Reject False Images of Criminal Offenders, 87 Iowa L. Rev. 563, 574-79 (2002); Sands, supra, at 144-47.
A third body of evidence documenting this disparity comes from advisory groups formed by the U.S. Sentencing Commission (Commission). In 2002, the Commission formed the Native American Advisory Group (NAAG) to research whether disparate sentences were imposed under the Major Crimes Act. NAAG Report at 10. NAAG issued a report concluding that a disparity gap existed for many Indians prosecuted under federal law. Id. at 19-25, 30-33. NAAG asked the Commission to take certain actions to diminish the sentencing impact on Indian defendants convicted under the Major Crimes Act, id. at 39, but the Commission failed to take any action in response to the NAAG Report, Jones & Ironroad, supra, at 67-68.
More recently, the Commission formed the Tribal Issues Advisory Group (TIAG) which issued its report in May 2016. TIAG Report at 18. In its report, TIAG found that “many Native Americans, federal prosecutors, federal defenders, and some federal and state judges ... believe that Indians receive different sentences than do non-Indians who commit the same or similar crimes.” Id. at 19. TIAG concluded that “[rjegardless of the existence of supporting statistics, widespread perceptions of unfair sentencing merit serious discussion” because “ ‘[pjerceived improper racial disparity fosters disrespect for and lack of confidence in the criminal justice system.’ ” Id. at 20 (quoting Diana E. Murphy et al., U.S. Sentencing Comm’n, Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy 103 (2002)). TIAG further opined that data “hint[ed] at disparity and underscore] the need for more targeted information.” Id. at 21-24.
Ultimately, however, TIAG concluded that “data limitations ... prevent a systematic and comprehensive exploration” into the “[d]ifferences in sentencing arising from the different ways federal and state law treat the same crime.” Id. at 21. TIAG recommended the Commission take steps to collect this information because, absent reliable data collection, the Commission is unable to provide “a federal criminal justice system that is free of unintentional
In light of the wealth of evidence that disparities in sentences exist for Indians convicted under the Major Crime's Act, action must be taken to ensure all defendants receive fair sentences. However, while TIAG’s recommendation to seek more data on this issue is well taken, the TIAG Report merely scratches the surface for a resolution to this unfair and prejudicial system. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the federal courts to reduce these disparities even without action by the Commission.
Steps can, and should, be taken to reduce disparities in sentences under the Major Crimes Act and are supported by precedent. Namely, many disparities in sentences could be avoided if district courts were encouraged, if not required, to consider sentences imposed and time actually served for similar state-law crimes when sentencing Indian defendants under the Major Crimes Act.
C. Solution
As stated above, a limited resolution to the disparity problem is to require district courts to take into account sentences and actual time served for similar state-law crimes along with calculating a sentence under the Guidelines. My position is supported by this Court’s precedent.
In 1990, we faced the question of whether the Guidelines passed in 1984 applied to crimes under the Major Crimes Act. Norquay,
This Court’s holding in Norquay has been applied in a number of Circuits. See, e.g., United States v. Male Juvenile,
This case presents a good example of how consideration of sentences for similar state-law crimes would likely result in a lower sentence for Indian defendants. Here, a jury convicted’ Lasley of two counts of second-degree murder for crimes committed on an Indian reservation within the border of the State of Iowa. Under Iowa law, the mandatory sentence for second-degree murder is fifty-years’ imprisonment. Iowa Code § 707.3; Michael R. Mullins, Office Iowa State Pub. Def., Iowa
In contrast to Iowa, Lasley’s federal Guideline range was 360 months’ (30 years’) to life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole. Without considering the general fifty-year sentence for second-degree murder convictions under Iowa law, the district court imposed the maximum sentence permitted by the Guidelines as though the crimes were first-degree murder. Thus, Lasley will be incarcerated the rest of his life when there would be a strong probability of release before death had he committed the crimes off the reservation. Such a result undermines the purpose of the Major Crimes Act, to ensure “Indians and non-Indians committing the same crime be subject to the same punishment,” Nor quay,
The time has come for federal courts to take action to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities for individuals like Lasley. Federal courts must take into account sentences and actual time served for similar state-law crimes when sentencing under the Major Crimes Act to ensure Indians in Indian Country do not receive drastically increased penalties for crimes traditionally handled in state or tribal court. This is an important first step to resolve the underlying disparities that result from prosecutions under the Major Crimes Act. For this reason, I would remand to the district court for consideration of Iowa state law and practice when imposing Lasley’s sentence.
II.
The second legal infirmity presented is this Court’s precedent that “the Constitution does not preclude a district court from considering acquitted conduct in sentencing a criminal defendant.” United States v. Papakee,
Many federal judges have expressed the view that the use of acquitted conduct to enhance a defendant’s sentence should be deemed to violate the Sixth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Jones v. United States, — U.S. -,
In recent years, the Supreme Court directly held the Sixth Amendment, together with the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, “requires that each element of a crime” be either admitted by the defendant, or “proved to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt.” Alleyne v. United States, — U.S. -,
Beginning with the Sixth Amendment, in the past two decades, the Supreme Court has emphasized the central role of the jury in the criminal justice system. Id. (listing cases). The right to trial by jury is designed to guard against oppression on the part of the Government. Duncan v. Louisiana,
Yet, under this Court’s' current precedent, we permit a district court to ignore express findings by the jury under the . assertion that the fact is a mere “sentencing factor.”
With regard to the Fifth Amendment, the Supreme Court held that “[d]ue process commands that no man shall lose his liberty unless the Government has borne the burden of ... convincing the factfinder of his guilt.” In re Winship,
As stated before, “consideration of ‘acquitted conduct’ undermines the notice requirement that is at the heart of any criminal proceeding.” Canania,
Examining the present case highlights the unconstitutionality of using acquitted conduct to enhance a defendant’s sentence. Here, a jury expressly found Lasley not guilty of first-degree murder — namely, Lasley did not commit murder willfully, deliberately, maliciously, or with premeditation and malice aforethought. See 18 U.S.C. § 1111. The district court, in direct contradiction to this finding, concluded that “Murder in the First Degree was established ... by preponderance of the evidence.” Thus, the district court described Lasley’s crime as “premeditated” and indicated the “starting point” for Las-ley’s sentence was “a life sentence.”
In the mind of the district court, therefore, Lasley’s advisory Guideline range went from a choice of 360 months’ (30 years’) to life imprisonment, to a presumptive sentence of life imprisonment. Such findings do not protect Lasley’s right under the Sixth Amendment to have a jury find every element that will increase his sentence beyond a reasonable doubt. See Apprendi,
Therefore, in my view, the time has come to protect a defendant’s rights under the Sixth Amendment and Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and overrule existing precedent permitting the use of acquitted conduct to enhance a defendant’s sentence. For this reason also, I would remand for the district court to
CONCLUSION
This case presents yet another example that our sentencing system is broken
I suggest that Supreme Court review of these important sentencing issues may be appropriate.
. I concur with the majority as to the jury instruction issue.
. While I recognize existing precedent supports the majority opinion, it is well established that “when governing decisions are unworkable or are badly reasoned,” the law can, and must, change. Payne v. Tennessee,
.While imprecise to describe Native Americans and their reservation lands, I use the terms "Indian” and "Indian Country” because both are legal terms of art that appear in the Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. §1153. See Tribal Issues Advisory, Group, Report 4, 16-17 (2016) [hereinafter TIAG Report] (citing United States v. Stymiest,
. The enumerated crimes are “murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, maiming, a felony under chapter 109A, incest, a felony assault under section 113, an assault against an individual who has not attained the age of 16 years, felony child abuse or neglect, arson, burglary, robbery, and a felony under section 661 of this title within the Indian country.” 18 U.S.C. § 1153(a).
. At the time the Guidelines were adopted, the only special consideration given to Indians concerned the treatment of prior tribal court convictions. TIAG Report at 17 n.16. Specifically, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual §4A1.2(I) provides that “[sjentences resulting from tribal court convictions are not counted, but may be considered ... [for] [a]dequacy of [criminal [h]istory.”
. Deegan’s case is discussed extensively in BJ Jones & Christopher J. Ironroad, Addressing Sentencing Disparities for Tribal Citizens in the Dakotas, 89 N.D. L. Rev. 53, 69-72 (2013).
. As stated above, later in 1990 Congress codified this Court’s holding that the Guidelines applied to the Major Crimes Act by amending the statute. Crime Control Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-647, § 1602, 104 Stat. 4789 (1990).
. It is true that Iowa law permits consecutive sentences when a person is "sentenced for two or more separate offenses.” Iowa Code §901.8. Thus, for two counts of second-degree murder under Iowa law, Lasley could serve one-hundred-years’ imprisonment with the possibility of parole after seventy years. See Mullins, supra, at 2. But, to date, there is not a single example of an individual being convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and serving consecutive sentences. Email from Steve Michael, Divisional Adm'r, Iowa Dep’t of Human Rights, to Heather Quick, Assistant Fed. Pub. Def. (Jan. 4, 2016, 13:25 CST).
. This Court's precedent relies upon the Supreme Court’s opinion in United States v. Watts,
. To be sure, the Supreme Court generally permits judicial fact-finding by preponderance of the evidence at sentencing that goes beyond the elements of the crime. See, e.g., United States v. O'Brien,
. The Executive Branch has also described the federal sentencing system is “broken.” See Neil Eggleston, White House Counsel to the President, President Obama has Now Commuted the Sentences of 348 Individuals, White House (June 3, 2016, 3:30 PM), https://www. whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/03/30/president-obama-has-now-commuted-sentences-348-individuals; Eric Holder, Attorney General of the United States, United States Department of Justice, Remarks at the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates (Aug. 12, 2013), available at http:// www.justice.gov/iso/opa/ag/speeches/2013/ag-speech-130812 .html.