State v. Richard Turner Kerr
State v. Richard Turner Kerr
Opinion
Richard Turner Kerr appeals from his judgment of conviction and sentence for grand theft by possession of stolen property. Kerr asserts that the district court violated his Fifth Amendment right during the sentencing hearing, rising to the level of fundamental error. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
I.
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Kerr pled guilty to grand theft by possession of stolen property, I.C. § 18-2403(4), in exchange for the dismissal of an allegation that he is a persistent violator. The parties stipulated to recommend a period of retained jurisdiction. There was no stipulation as to an underlying sentence. During the presentence investigation, Kerr admitted knowing the name of the individual Kerr bought the stolen property from but said he preferred not to disclose the name. At sentencing, the district court informed Kerr it would only consider retaining jurisdiction if Kerr provided the name of the individual who sold him the stolen property. The following exchange occurred between the district court and Kerr.
[COURT]: So I'm going to give you one chance and one chance only to be honest, and you'll either tell me who you bought this from or you won't. If you tell me who you bought it from, I will consider a retained jurisdiction. I'm not overly thrilled about a retained jurisdiction given your criminal history, but I won't consider a retained jurisdiction unless you're honest about who you got it from.
[KERR]: Honestly I don't know, Your Honor.
[COURT]: Then you lied in your pre-sentence report where it says on Page 4, "Mr. Kerr admitted he knows the individual's name but prefers not to say."
[KERR]: I-
[COURT]: So I am imposing that prison sentence and remanding you to the custody of the Idaho State Board of Correction today, and give you credit for 182 days time served on that sentence.
*984 Kerr did not object to the district court's question during sentencing. The district court sentenced Kerr to a unified term of fourteen years, with a minimum period of confinement of five years. Kerr appeals.
II.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Generally, issues not raised below may not be considered for the first time on appeal.
State v. Fodge
,
III.
ANALYSIS
Kerr argues, for the first time on appeal, that the district court violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by refusing to consider retaining jurisdiction unless Kerr named the individual who sold him the stolen property. Under prong one of the Perry analysis, we must determine whether Kerr's Fifth Amendment right was implicated when the district court asked Kerr to reveal the name of the individual who sold Kerr the stolen property as a predicate to considering retained jurisdiction. We conclude Kerr has failed to show a Fifth Amendment violation.
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that no person "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." This privilege applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment and it applies beyond the context of the criminal trial to proceedings where the answers might incriminate the individual in future criminal proceedings.
Lefkowitz v. Turley
,
Kerr argues that the district court questioned him in violation of the Fifth
*985
Amendment by asking him about the identity of the seller of stolen property Kerr pled guilty to possessing. This was not a Fifth Amendment violation. First, asking a question does not violate the Fifth Amendment. A Fifth Amendment violation results from compelling an answer, not from asking a question. Second, Kerr did not invoke the privilege when talking to the presentence investigator and, as a result, he waived any privilege he may have had with respect to the factual information he disclosed. Kerr has not cited to anything in the record that suggests the presentence investigator compelled Kerr to make the statements he made regarding the source of the stolen property, nor has he argued that his statements to the presentence investigator were compelled. Rather, the record shows that Kerr told the presentence investigator that he knew the name of the individual who sold him the stolen property but preferred not to disclose it. The district court could properly inquire into that same subject at sentencing.
See
Hanson
,
Even if Kerr could meet his burden of showing a constitutional violation under prong one of the
Perry
analysis, he has failed to meet his burden under prong two. The second prong requires Kerr to show the error was clear or obvious, without the need for any additional information not contained in the appellate record, including information as to whether the failure to object was a tactical decision.
See
Perry
,
IV.
CONCLUSION
Because Kerr failed to show a clear violation of an unwaived constitutional right in relation to sentencing, Kerr's fundamental error argument fails. Kerr's judgment of conviction and sentence for grand theft by possession of stolen property is affirmed.
Chief Judge GRATTON and Judge HUSKEY concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.