Leonard B. Panther v. Lloyd F. Hames, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Corrections

Leonard B. Panther appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (1988).

Panther seeks relief from his Alaska conviction for criminally negligent homicide in violation of Alaska Statute 11.41.130(a) (1989). He contends that (1) Alaska’s criminally negligent homicide statute is unconstitutionally vague; (2) the jury instruction defining the term “criminal negligence” violated due process because it relieved the jury of its duty to find the statutory elements of “criminal negligence” as defined in AS 11.81.900(a)(4); (3) the evidence of his criminal negligence was insufficient to support his conviction; and (4) prosecutorial misconduct through introduction of inadmissible evidence at the grand jury violated due process.

A. Vagueness Challenge to Alaska’s Criminally Negligent Homicide Statute

In Panther v. State, 780 P.2d 386, 391 (Alaska Ct.App.1989), the court held that the statutory definitions of recklessness and criminal negligence are not unconstitutionally vague. Panther renews his objection to the criminal negligence statute here. We agree with the Alaska Court of Appeals and the district court…