Idaho v. Cox
Annotate this CaseKevin Cox was charged by information with attempted strangulation and intentional destruction of a telecommunication instrument stemming from the domestic abuse of his wife. The crime of attempted strangulation was a felony punishable by up to fifteen years imprisonment; intentional destruction of a telecommunication instrument was a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year imprisonment. Cox plead not guilty to both charges. The State then filed an Information Part II, alleging that Cox was a persistent violator under Idaho Code section 19-2514 because he had been convicted of three prior felonies. Conviction under section 19-2514 carried a sentence of not less than five years and up to life imprisonment, irrespective of the penalty prescribed for the underlying offense. Cox made no objection to the composition of the jury after it was selected. However, he was never asked if he passed the jury for cause, apparently due to an oversight by the district court after an interruption during voir dire. As a result, Cox never passed the panel for cause. The jury found Cox guilty on both charges and Cox admitted to being a persistent violator. The district court imposed a ten-year sentence with three years fixed for the attempted strangulation conviction, a concurrent sixty-day sentence for the destruction of a telecommunication instrument conviction, and retained jurisdiction. After a rider review hearing, the district court suspended Cox’s sentence and placed Cox on probation for ten years. Cox appealed. The Idaho Supreme Court found the district court erred in denying Cox ten peremptory challenges during voir dire. Idaho Criminal Rule 24 provided: “If the offense charged is punishable by death, or life imprisonment, each party . . . is entitled to 10 peremptory challenges. In all other felony cases each party. . . is entitled to six peremptory challenges.” Cox maintained he was entitled to ten challenges because this provision focused on the maximum possible punishment that a defendant could face if convicted, while the State maintained that the legislatively prescribed penalty for the underlying offense controlled, without regard to any potential enhancement. The Supreme Court concluded Cox was entitled to a new trial because, by this opinion, the Court adopted a new standard for demonstrating error from the denial of a peremptory challenge. Judgment was vacated and the case returned to the trial court for further proceedings.
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