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State v. Merrill6/10/2005
This case presents the questions of whether Utah Code section 77-13-6(2)(b) creates a jurisdictional bar to a criminal defendant's withdrawal of a guilty plea, and whether the thirty-day limitation in which a plea must be withdrawn is unconstitutional. We hold that the bar is jurisdictional and constitutionally permissible.
BACKGROUND
On October 29, 1998, Scott Joseph Merrill hid among rocks overlooking a road upon which Charles Watterson, an employee of Emery County, was operating a road grader. When Mr. Watterson approached Mr. Merrill's location, Mr. Merrill approached the grader and repeatedly shot Mr. Watterson, killing him. Mr. Merrill then took Mr. Watterson's belongings and left the scene.
Law enforcement officials found thirty-five spent .22 caliber casings in the area of the killing. A firearms expert determined that the casings were from a Ruger 10.22 semiautomatic weapon owned by Mr. Merrill. Investigators also found footprints around Mr. Watterson's vehicle that were consistent with the tread pattern of Mr. Merrill's boots.
The Emery County Sheriff's Office uncovered a camp between Green River and the crime scene where some of Mr. Merrill's personal belongings were found. Further investigation revealed that Mr. Merrill had arrived in Green River via an eastbound Amtrak train and spent a few nights camping in the desert. After shooting Mr. Watterson, Mr. Merrill proceeded to a Green River motel where he was discovered and taken into custody.
Mr. Merrill was initially charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, and criminal mischief, each of which was accompanied by a firearm enhancement. On February 17, 2000, Mr. Merrill pleaded "no contest" to the charge of aggravated murder. In exchange for Mr. Merrill's plea, the State agreed to dismiss the charges of aggravated robbery and criminal mischief, together with all three firearm enhancements. The State further agreed not to seek the death penalty or the sentence of life in prison without parole and to recommend a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
In a "no contest" statement filed with the court as part of his plea entry, Mr. Merrill acknowledged that he intentionally shot and killed Mr. Watterson and took personal property from him. Mr. Merrill indicated that he acted on a commandment from God to kill Mr. Watterson, believing this commandment to supersede Utah law. Mr. Merrill also informed the court that he believed he was mentally competent to enter his plea and that, although he was taking the prescription drug Zoloft at the time, the medicine did not prevent him from knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entering the plea.
Mr. Merrill was informed by the court that he had thirty days after the date of disposition to move to withdraw the plea. The district court then conducted a plea colloquy with Mr. Merrill and entered a plea of guilty to aggravated murder pursuant to Utah Code section 77-13-2(3).
Nancy Beth Cohn, Ph.D., performed a psychological assessment of Mr. Merrill. She concluded that Mr. Merrill was mentally ill, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, possibly bipolar type. Dr. Cohn indicated that Mr. Merrill had been "floridly psychotic" prior to the crime. At the plea and sentencing hearing, Dr. Cohn testified that Mr. Merrill was competent to enter into the plea agreement because the "symptoms of his mental illness" were "in substantial remission."
In November 2000, Mr. Merrill filed a petition for post-conviction relief. As grounds for his petition, Mr. Merrill alleged ineffective assistance of counsel and that his psychiatric medicine, Zoloft, had caused him to experience rel
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