IN a joint trial brief submitted to the Superior Court, the parties in a child abuse case agree that based on the plain language of applicable statutes, defendant Stacey Laniyo is entitled to a jury trial.
Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho, in a recent order, directed the defense and prosecution to file a brief or memorandum on or before May 18, on whether the defendant is entitled to a jury trial or a bench trial based on the second amended information Count I: Child Abuse for violation of 6 CMC 5312(a)(1) and made punishable by 6 CMC 5312(c), and the right to a jury trial pursuant to 7 CMC 3101(a).
Laniyo, represented by attorney Mark Scoggins, and Assistant Attorney General Coleen St. Clair, who represented the government, noted in their joint trial brief that Laniyo was charged with one count of child abuse in alleged violation of 6 CMC §5312(a)(a).
The alleged violation is made punishable by 6 CMC §5312 (c) which in pertinent part reads, “A person convicted of child abuse may be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years, a fine of not more than $2,000, or both.”
The statute providing for jury trial, 7 CMC 3101(a), contains language that is slightly dissimilar and reads, “Any person accused by information of committing a criminal offense punishable by five years imprisonment or more, or by a fine of $2,000 or more, or both.”
According to Scoggins and St. Clair, to simplify the inquiry a bit, the question presented is whether the phrase “not more than five years” allows a person to demand jury trial under a statute that contains the phrase “five years imprisonment or more.”
The parties agree that it does.
“It is somewhat helpful to examine the recent legislative history of the statute providing for jury trials,” they added.
According to the trial brief, the current statute, 7 CMC §3101(a), was passed slightly less than four years ago as Public Law 20-12, and became effective on Sept. 26, 2017.
Just a few years earlier, in the 16th Legislature, a very similar bill had been proposed as House Bill 16-148.
“The bill contained a key difference in that under that version of the statute, defendants would have been able to demand jury trials when they were alleged to have committed a crime ‘punishable by more than five years imprisonment.’
“This would mean that under the plain language of H.B. 16-148, jury trials would be available for crimes punishable by at least five years and at least one day.
“Under 7 CMC §3101(a), the right to jury trial is available when the statute provides five years or more,” the lawyers said.
In examining this issue, they noted that the criminal code contains no definition of “year” or “five years” or “more than,” which might help to guide the parties and the court.
The lawyers said the common and approved usage of the word “year” is “the period of 365 days (or 366 days in leap years).”
Black’s Law Dictionary defines year as “12 calendar months beginning at any point.”
This compels the conclusion that whenever a statute provides for imprisonment of “not more than five years” or also “five years or more” as opposed to “more than five years,” a jury trial may be demanded as of right, the lawyers said.
“The jury demand in this matter, therefore, is appropriate,” they added.
Laniyo, 37, is one of the two women arrested for the death of a 3-year-old boy in March 2020.
The other defendant is Lyn Fitial, 44, the mother of the child.
The court previously granted the request of the two defendants to have separate trials.
The government charged Laniyo with one count of child abuse. The alleged abuse happened on or about March 12, 2020 when Laniyo “struck the child with a tree branch, a broom, or her hand or by biting him…resulting in injury clearly beyond the scope of reasonable corporal punishment and harming or threatening the child’s physical or mental health and well-being.”
Fitial was charged with child abuse in violation of 6 CMC 5312(a)(2), made punishable by 6 CMC 5312(c). On or about March 13, 2020, the prosecution said, Fitial failed to provide medical care for the child, resulting in his death.
The jury trial in Laniyo’s case is scheduled for June 14. The defendants are currently out of custody.
