Fortner v. State

843 P.2d 1139, 1992 Wyo. LEXIS 177, 1992 WL 353116
Wyoming Supreme Court·Decided December 3, 1992·No. 91-256·Published·Cited by 21 cases

Opinions

JOFFE, District Judge (Retired).

Appellant challenges his conviction for delivery of a controlled substance in violation of Wyo.Stat. § 35-7-1031(a)(ii) (1988). Finding no error in the issues he presents, we affirm.

Appellant raises the following issues for our consideration:

ISSUE I
Did extensive pre-charging delay violate Appellant’s constitutional right to due process?
ISSUE II
Was Appellant denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial?
ISSUE III
Was Appellant denied his right to a fair trial by the improper remarks of the prosecutor in closing and rebuttal closing arguments?
ISSUE IV
Did the trial court err in allowing the introduction of evidence concerning prior bad acts of the Appellant?
ISSUE V
Was there sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction of the Appellant for delivery of a controlled substance?

The circumstances leading to Appellant’s conviction were started into motion in November 1988 when a confidential informant approached Roxy Jelle, a resident of Gillette and sometime seller of methamphetamine. The informant requested that Jelle obtain some methamphetamine. The informant requested that Jelle obtain some methamphetamine for one Louey Williams. Unknown to Jelle, Williams was a state narcotics agent. On November 17, Williams gave $1,800 of state buy money to Jelle to purchase an ounce of methamphetamine.

Jelle spoke with Katherine Vance about obtaining the methamphetamine. Vance said that she would check around and try to find a source. She spoke with Matthew MeGruder, who said he knew someone who might be able to obtain the drug for her. Vance and MeGruder went to Mark Myers’ residence and talked with him about getting the methamphetamine for them. Myers left his home, went to a liquor store, and made a telephone call to Appellant about obtaining the methamphetamine. Appellant told him to call back in a couple of hours.

Vance and MeGruder left Myers’ house and returned at about eight or nine o’clock that evening. Myers again called Appellant, and this time Appellant told him to “come on out” to his house. MeGruder went by Vance’s house and told her that the deal was on. Vance called Jelle and told her that they found someone to sell the methamphetamine to them. Jelle told Vance to stop by and pick up the money, which she did. Jelle kept $200 of the state buy money which was given to her by Williams and gave the remaining $1,600 to Vance to purchase the methamphetamine.

Vance picked up MeGruder in her car and took him back to Myers’ residence. She gave the money to Myers and MeGru-der, and they proceeded to Appellant’s residence in Myers’ pickup. Myers went into the residence and left MeGruder in the pickup. Inside, Myers traded Appellant the $1,600 for an ounce of methamphetamine.

Myers and MeGruder returned to Myers’ residence. There, Myers, MeGruder, and Vance all “sampled” the methamphetamine [1142] and weighed it. Vance took the methamphetamine to Jelle, who gave it to Williams.

Jelle, Vance, Myers, and McGruder were each convicted for their roles in the conspiracy which resulted in the delivery of the methamphetamine to Officer Williams. Each of them testified against Appellant at his trial for delivery of a controlled substance in exchange for a favorable consideration by the prosecution in their own cases. Appellant was convicted and received a sentence of not less than one year nor more than five years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary, along with a $1,000 fine and a $50 surcharge for “victims of crimes.” He took timely appeal from the court’s judgment and sentence.

Precharging Delay

In his first issue, Appellant contends that his right to due process was violated by the extensive delay between the date his crime was committed, November 17, 1988, and the date the criminal complaint was filed, December 17, 1990. Appellant contends that this twenty-five-month delay was an intentional device used by the prosecutor to gain tactical advantage over him. He further asserts that he was substantially prejudiced by the delay. Our review of the relevant law and the facts of this case convinces us that Appellant has not made a sufficient showing of either prejudice or tactical prosecutorial delay. Accordingly, we hold that his right to due process was not violated by precharging delay.

Wyoming is one of only two states which has no statute of limitations for any criminal offense. Story v. State, 721 P.2d 1020 (Wyo.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 962, 107 S.Ct. 459, 93 L.Ed.2d 405 (1986). When no statute of limitations pertaining to a criminal offense has been adopted, prosecution for such offense may be commenced at any time during the offender’s lifetime. Id. at 1026. We have recognized, however, that there are limits to the prosecution’s ability to bring charges at the end of a long interval after the charged offense has occurred. Excessive precharging delay may violate a defendant's right to due process under the United States and Wyoming Constitutions. Id. at 1027.

In Story, we adopted the rule in United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 323-26, 92 S.Ct. 455, 465-66, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971), and United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977), that a defendant is denied due process because of precharging delay where

the prosecutor delays filing charges to gain a tactical advantage, perhaps where the prosecutor acts in bad faith in delaying the filing of charges, and where substantial prejudice results from the delay.

Story, 721 P.2d at 1028 (emphasis in Story).

Wyoming has taken a conjunctive approach to the Marion rule which requires the defendant to establish both an improper prosecutorial motivation which caused the delay and substantial prejudice resulting from it. Cf. State v. Gonzales, 110 N.M. 218, 794 P.2d 361, 363-67 (Ct.App.1990), aff'd as modified, 111 N.M. 363, 805 P.2d 630 (1991) (discussing the “conjunctive” and “balancing” approaches to the Marion test.)

Appellant asserts that both of these elements are present in his case. We address first the issue of whether Appellant was substantially prejudiced by the delay. Appellant claims that he suffered prejudice because during the precharging delay period he lost a box of business records which would have helped him develop an alibi defense. He also claims to have lost contact with his roommate during this period, who was a potential alibi witness.

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Fortner v. State, 843 P.2d 1139, 1992 Wyo. LEXIS 177, 1992 WL 353116 (Wyo. 1992).

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Fortner v. State
843 P.2d 1139 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1992)