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Dante enters Rule 11 plea |
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January 23, 2018 |
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Jesseka Musson and Eric Dante |
Eric Dante entered a "Rule 11" plea agreement
December 22, refusing an Alford plea in the May
1, 2017, murder of
38 year old Jesseka Musson at the home they
shared in Bonners Ferry, but pleading guilty to
second-degree murder in exchange for a five year
determinate prison sentence, with the
indeterminate portion of the sentence left open.
The Boundary County Sheriff's Office received a
911 call at about 10:45 a.m. Monday, May 1,
requesting law enforcement at the Cedar Court
Trailer Park on McCall Street in Bonners Ferry.
On arrival, they found
Dante on his knees in
the driveway, Musson dead in their bedroom of a
gunshot wound to the head.
Dante, 36 years old at the time, was charged
with first degree murder, defined at Idaho Code
18-4003, in part, as "(murder) which is
perpetrated by any kind of willful, deliberate
and premeditated killing," and bond was set at
$1-million.
While Rule 11 refers to the section of Idaho
Criminal Rules governing pleas, it is more
familiarly known, especially among savvy
defendants, as a binding plea with the
prosecution in which the judge is bound by the
agreement when it comes to sentencing.
The judge doesn't have to accept the
sentence agreed upon by defendant and prosecutor, but in a binding agreement,
must reject the plea, enabling the
defendant to withdraw the declaration of guilt and go to trial.
Under Idaho law, first degree murder is
punishable only by death or life in prison. If
the murder doesn't rise to many defined levels
in IC 18-4003, including that listed above, it
is second degree murder in the State of Idaho,
punishable by imprisonment not less than ten
years to life.
In Idaho, prison sentences can be divided into
two portions, determinate, which must be served
in prison, and indeterminate, a period which
may be served either in prison or on parole.
Dante has been ordered to undergo a mental
health evaluation, and a pre-sentence hearing
has been set for 10 a.m. Thursday, March 8.
Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit
guilt, but agrees that the evidence in the case
will likely result in a jury reaching a finding
of guilt. |
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