Court Opinion

ID: 9526193
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:14:00.207602+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:09:15.147310
License: Public Domain

LEVINE, Justice,
specially concurring.
I would have concluded that there was no obvious error and would not have addressed the constitutional question. Therefore, I do not concur in the constitutional determination.
Tweed did not raise the void-for-vagueness issue before the district court and I would adhere to traditional precepts of state and federal law and decline to entertain the issue now. E.g., Gange v. Clerk of Burleigh County District Court, 429 N.W.2d 429 (N.D.1988); State v. Miller, 388 N.W.2d 522 (N.D.1986).
Because Tweed did not advance his constitutional claim in the district court, we may only consider it if the record discloses “obvious error” within the meaning of Rule 52(b), NDRCrimP. That rule says that obvious errors affecting substantial rights may be noticed even though they were not brought to the district court’s attention. “But the power to notice obvious error, whether at the request of counsel or on the court’s own motion, is one the courts should exercise cautiously and only in exceptional circumstances. The power should be exercised only where a serious injustice has been done to the defendant.” Explanatory Note, NDRCrimP 52.
Only constitutional error that is “egregious” and “grave” is subject to the obvious error rule. See United States v. Agnew, 931 F.2d 1397, 1407 (10th Cir.1991). I am confident that the violation asserted by Tweed is neither egregious nor grave and does not constitute obvious error.
Tweed alleges that the class AA felony statute is unconstitutionally vague. Not surprisingly, the obviousness of an alleged error plays a major role in our determination of whether there is obvious error. E.g., United States v. Frady, 456 U.S. 152, 163 n. 14, 102 S.Ct. 1584, 1592 n. 14, 71 L.Ed.2d 816 (1982); United States v. Blackwell, 694 F.2d 1325, 1341 (D.C.Cir.1982). There is nothing “obvious” about the alleged vagueness of the statute. The statute is, of course, presumed to be constitutional. We examined identical language in the reckless endangerment statute and found no constitutional violation in State v. Hanson, 256 N.W.2d 364 (N.D.1977). A claim which has been decided against the defendant’s constitutional argument in another case cannot be obvious error in this case. Nor is it obvious error even if the claim is novel. United States v. Blackwell, supra, 694 F.2d at 1342 n. 22. If asserted error is not obvious merely because no court has yet addressed the issue, neither can it be obvious when a comparable issue has been resolved unfavorably to the claimant.
I see no serious injustice against the defendant and no threat, therefore, to the integrity and fairness of our system. I would affirm Tweed’s conviction without reaching the merits of the constitutional claim. We have long said that we do not decide constitutional questions unless they are necessary to our decision. State v. King, 355 N.W.2d 807 (N.D.1984).