Court Opinion

ID: 9541147
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:23:03.105187+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:02:37.171838
License: Public Domain

CHAPEL, Judge,
concurring in part/dissenting in part:
I concur in the Court’s decision to affirm the judgment in Count I and to reverse the judgment in Count III. I respectfully dissent to the Court’s decision to affirm Count II, the conspiracy conviction, as I find merit in Dodd’s Proposition IV.
In Proposition IV, Dodd argues the sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the crime of conspiracy to traffic in illegal drugs constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article II, section 9 of the OHahoma Constitution. I find the mandatory sentence of life without parole in this case violates Article II, section 9 of the OHahoma Constitution.
The majority concludes that the mandatory sentence of life without parole for conspiracy to traffic in illegal drugs does not violate either the federal or Oklahoma constitutions. In reaching this conclusion, the majority relies on Harmelin v. Michigan, 501 U.S. 957, 111 S.Ct. 2680, 115 L.Ed.2d 836 (1991) (Michigan statute imposing mandatory penalty of life without parole for possession of 650 grams of cocaine did not offend cruel and unusual punishments clause of Eighth Amendment) and other cases construing the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. I find that the language of Article II, section 9 of the Oklahoma Constitution differs in a significant respect from the federal constitution, and the imposition of a sentence of life without parole violates our state constitution.1
Article II, section 9 of the Oklahoma Constitution provides:
*829Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted.
(emphasis added) In contrast the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
(emphasis added) I find the textual differences between these two constitutional provisions to be significant and I believe this textual difference distinguishes Dodd’s case from the United States Supreme Court holding in Harmelin v. Michigan, supra.2
A useful analogy to Article II, section 9 of the Oklahoma Constitution can be found in the Michigan Constitution. Like Oklahoma, the Michigan Constitution prohibits “cruel or unusual punishments.” Mich. Const.1963, art. 1, § 16. The Michigan Supreme Court examined the textual differences between their constitution and the United States Constitution in People v. Bullock, 440 Mich. 15, 485 N.W.2d 866 (1992), and the Michigan court’s discussion and analysis in Bullock is instructive. In Bullock, the Michigan court found that its state statute imposing a mandatory penalty of life without parole for possession of 650 grams of cocaine violated the state constitutional provision prohibiting cruel or unusual punishments.3 While recognizing that the United States Supreme Court holding in Harmelin was binding for the purposes of construing the federal constitution, the Michigan court stated that it possessed ultimate authority in interpreting the state constitution. Id. 485 N.W.2d at 870. The Michigan Court concluded that the mandatory life without parole penalty for possession of 650 grams of cocaine violated the cruel or unusual punishments clause of the State constitution. I agree with the reasoning of the Michigan Supreme Court and find the cruel or unusual punishments clause of the Oklahoma Constitution must also be construed to prohibit the mandatory penalty of life without parole in Dodd’s case.
Dodd was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the offense of Conspiracy to Traffic in a Controlled Dangerous Substance (Marijuana).. As the majority opinion states, the evidence showed Dodd was caught in a sting operation involving the attempted sale of fifty pounds of marijuana. The jury found Dodd not guilty of the offense of Trafficking in Illegal Drugs, the underlying felony for the conspiracy charge. The jury only found Dodd guilty of the lesser offense of Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance with Intent to Distribute and sentenced him to life imprisonment for that crime.
Under 63 O.S.Supp.1987, § 2-415(D)(3), the sentence of life without the possibility of parole for conspiracy to traffic in illegal drugs is mandatory. This sentence for the crime of conspiracy is grossly disproportionate in comparison with other states and in comparison with sentences imposed for other crimes in this State. The only other crime subject to the punishment of life without parole in Oklahoma is First Degree Murder. However, even persons convicted of First Degree Murder may be sentenced to life imprisonment whereas the only sentence available for Dodd was life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Other horrible, violent crimes, such as rape, second degree murder, and armed robbery, are not punished as severely as Dodd was for conspiracy to traffic in marijuana. Even persons with numerous prior convictions for violent felony offenses who commit another violent crime are not punished as harshly as Dodd. Such a severe and grossly disproportionate punishment for an inchoate crime such as conspiracy is, at a minimum, unusual, and indeed, under the facts of this case, may be considered cruel.
I find the punishment of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the crime of conspiracy to traffic in illegal drugs vio*830lates the cruel or unusual punishment clause of Article II, section 9 of our State Constitution. This finding does not diminish the severity or wrongfulness of Dodd’s conduct in this case. Nonetheless, the punishment that may be inflicted for this offense must be in keeping with the will of the people as expressed in our State Constitution. I am authorized to state that Judge Strubhar joins me in this separate opinion.

. States are free to interpret their own state constitutional provisions. See Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S. 1032, 1037-1042, 103 S.Ct. 3469, 3474-3477, 77 L.Ed.2d 1201, 1212-1215 (1983); Messenger v. Messenger, 827 P.2d 865, 872 (Okl. 1992); R. Rotunda, J. Nowak & J. Young, Treatise on Constitutional Law: Substance and Procedure Sec. 1.6(c) at 31-32.

. Harmelin is distjpguishable from Dodd’s case. The defendant in Harmelin was convicted of possessing in excess of 650 grams of cocaine. In contrast, Dodd was convicted of conspiracy to traffic in marijuana.

. The Bullock court examined the same statute that the United States Supreme Court examined and found constitutional under the Eighth Amendment in Harmelin, supra.