Court Opinion

ID: 9697768
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:29:32.277052+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:35.268122
License: Public Domain

GILBERT, Justice
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
I concur with the majority’s opinion that there was sufficient evidence to support a second-degree murder drive-by shooting conviction, but respectfully dissent on the remand for sentencing and would affirm the lower court’s upward durational departure of 1.5 times the presumptive sentence. There were severe aggravating circum*425stances present with respect to this offense as found by the district court.
The violent act of firing eight shots toward ten people gathered in a public place presents sufficient aggravating circumstances to depart from the presumptive sentence. It is true, as the majority states, that a public park is not traditionally a zone of privacy. See State v. Mortland, 399 N.W.2d 92, 95 n. 2 (Minn.1987). Also, I agree that a public park may not necessarily be within a zone of tranquility. However, it is important to move beyond the labels that were used by the lower courts and decide the case on its merits. We must decide whether the district court abused its discretion by ordering an upward durational departure based on appellant’s act of firing multiple shots at close range directly toward a number of people attempting to enjoy their freedom in a public gathering place.
If there is sufficient evidence in the record to justify the departure, we are to affirm the sentence. Williams v. State, 361 N.W.2d 840, 844 (Minn.1985). It is important to note that although in Mort-land we held that a public park was not within a victim’s zone of privacy, we went on to overturn the court of appeals’ reduction of defendant’s total sentences and reinstated the district court’s sentence. 399 N.W.2d at 95. One of the factors the Mortland district court considered was “the fact that the snatching took place in a seemingly safe neighborhood park close to the victim’s home.” Id. While disagreeing with the district court’s conclusion that this park was within the victim’s zone of privacy, we explicitly referenced the court’s recognition that one of the aggravating circumstances was that the crime took place in a seemingly safe neighborhood park before going on to affirm the court’s upward durational departure. Id. Here, we also have a crime that took place in a seemingly safe neighborhood park, which was a factor that the district court considered. To do so was not an abuse of discretion.
The majority states that it is a “close question” whether the district court sentenced appellant twice for the same crime but goes on to conclude that appellant’s behavior was no different than that which is required to be convicted under Minn. Stat. § 609.66, subd. le (2000), which allowed appellant to be convicted of second-degree murder. Notwithstanding the legislative history cited by the majority, the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the firing of eight random shots into a group of ten people was significantly more serious than the statutory reference to a reckless discharge. As the majority points out, to be convicted under the drive-by shooting statute one must recklessly discharge a firearm at or toward a person (or toward another motor vehicle or building). Id. Here, appellant recklessly discharged a firearm eight times at ten people in a public park. While the majority concludes this is just a typical drive-by shooting, it fails to recognize the varying degrees of recklessness that may exist and the interplay between the drive-by shooting statute and the second-degree murder statute.
Under the relevant statutes, a defendant who recklessly discharges a firearm once from a vehicle toward a single person standing in the middle of the field or vacant parking lot would also be guilty of second-degree murder if the victim died from the gunshot. See Minn.Stat. §§ 609.66, subd le, 609.19, subd. 1(2) (2000). In fact, a defendant who recklessly discharges a firearm once from a vehicle toward another motor vehicle or building is also guilty of second-degree murder if the bullet happens to kill somebody, even if the defendant thought the motor vehicle *426or building was unoccupied. See Minn. Stat. §§ 609.66, subd le, 609.19, subd. 1(2). Certainly the facts in this case indicate that appellant’s level of recklessness was more serious than that in either of the above hypotheticals. There is a dramatic difference in the level of recklessness involved depending on the number of shots fired, the number of people directly in the vicinity of the shooting, and where the shooting took place. Here, eight shots were fired at ten people in a public park— this is sufficient evidence in the record to justify the district court’s upward departure. Accordingly, I would hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion and would affirm both appellant’s conviction and sentence.