Case Title: State v. Daley

Citation: 179 Vt. 589, 2006 VT 5, 892 A.2d 244

Docket Number: 2004-458

State: vermont

Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Date: 2006-01-06T00:00:00Z

Document:
State v. Daley (2004-458); 179 Vt. 589; 892 A.2d 244

2006 VT 5

[Filed 06-Jan-2006]

                                 ENTRY ORDER

                                  2006 VT 5

                      SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 2004-458

                             OCTOBER TERM, 2005
  State of Vermont	               }	APPEALED FROM:
                                       }
                                       }
       v.	                       }	District Court of Vermont,
                                       }	Unit No. 1, Windsor Circuit
  Eric P. Daley	                       }
                                       }	DOCKET NO. 696-6-03 WrCr

                                                Trial Judge: Mary Miles Teachout

             In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:

       ¶  1.  Defendant Eric P. Daley appeals from an aggregate sentence of
  twenty-six to thirty-three years imposed by the trial court following the
  court's acceptance of defendant's guilty plea to seven criminal charges
  resulting from a high speed police pursuit in which defendant struck and
  killed a state police trooper.  Defendant contends the court erred by: (1)
  refusing to treat defendant's claimed  unconstitutional detention, and the
  trooper's alleged misuse of spike strips, as mitigating factors; (2)
  conferring victim status on two state troopers who witnessed the incident;
  and (3) failing to consider as a mitigating factor defendant's testimony
  that he was unaware of having struck the trooper.  We affirm.
   
       ¶  2.  The events that resulted in the death of State Police
  Sergeant Michael Johnson may be summarized as follows.  On the afternoon of
  June 15, 2003, Trooper Michael Smith of the Vermont State Police stopped a
  vehicle for speeding on Interstate 91.  During the ticketing process, the
  officer requested background information about the driver, later identified
  as defendant, and learned that he had previously been arrested for
  possession of illegal drugs.  Shortly after Trooper Smith completed the
  paperwork, another officer, Sergeant Page, arrived at the scene and advised
  Trooper Smith to detain defendant until they located a canine unit to
  search the car for illegal drugs.  Upon learning that a unit was not
  available, Trooper Smith was about to inform defendant that he was free to
  leave when he heard defendant's tires squeal and observed defendant drive
  away at a high rate of speed traveling south on Interstate 91.

       ¶  3.  The officers pursued defendant in their cruisers with their
  blue lights flashing, at times reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour.  They
  were unable to gain ground on defendant, however, who was weaving in and
  out of other cars on the Interstate.  In the meantime, Sergeant  Johnson,
  who was traveling in the opposite direction and monitoring the chase,
  radioed dispatch to determine whether Sergeant Page wanted him lay down a
  set of spike mats on the highway to stop the fleeing vehicle.  Sergeant
  Johnson had indicated that he was at mile marker seventy-six.  Sergeant
  Page informed dispatch to advise Sergeant Johnson to deploy the spikes and
  to hurry because they were approaching mile marker seventy-seven and coming
  fast.  
   
       ¶  4.  Sergeant Johnson, in response, parked his cruiser in a U-turn
  area of the center-median of the Interstate, crossed to the west side of
  the southbound lane, and began laying down spikes.  As Sergeant Page
  approached at high speed, he observed Sergeant Johnson run across the
  southbound lane toward his parked cruiser.  Ahead of Sergeant Page was
  defendant and a caravan of three vehicles carrying a group of parents and
  eighth graders returning from a school trip.  Defendant passed two of the
  vehicles and was pulling in behind the third when the latter struck the
  spikes.  Defendant in response swerved sharply to the left and lost control
  of his car.  It crossed onto the grass median, spun down a slope, and
  struck Sergeant Johnson, who was thrown about ninety feet by the collision. 
  Defendant's vehicle came to rest in the northbound lane, about twenty-five
  feet from where Sergeant Johnson landed.  Defendant left his vehicle,
  jumped over a guardrail, and escaped into the woods.  With the assistance
  of friends, he fled to Pennsylvania, where he was eventually arrested. 
  Sergeant Johnson was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center,
  where he was pronounced dead about an hour after the incident.  A
  subsequent search of defendant's vehicle revealed several bags of marijuana
  and smaller amounts of LSD and Ecstasy.  

       ¶  5.  Defendant was charged with seven separate counts, including
  grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle with death resulting,
  leaving the scene of an accident with death resulting, attempting to elude
  a police officer, second-degree murder, and three counts of possession of
  illegal drugs.  Pursuant to a negotiated plea, the State agreed to reduce
  two of the possession charges, to reduce the murder charge to involuntary
  manslaughter, and to run several of the charges concurrently, for a maximum
  exposure of thirty-three years. The Department of Corrections filed a
  pre-sentence investigation report, defendant filed a sentencing memorandum
  to which the State responded, and the court held a sentencing hearing over
  the course of three days in September 2004.  At the conclusion of the
  hearing, the court sentenced defendant to a term of twenty-six to
  thirty-three years, consistent with the negotiated plea. This appeal
  followed.     

       ¶  6.  Our review in this matter is limited.  As we have frequently
  observed, the trial court enjoys broad discretion in imposing sentence. 
  State v. Ingerson, 2004 VT 36, ¶10, 176 Vt. 428,