Morris v. State

2009 WY 88, 210 P.3d 1101, 2009 Wyo. LEXIS 96, 2009 WL 1980950
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 10, 2009
DocketS-08-0177
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 2009 WY 88 (Morris v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morris v. State, 2009 WY 88, 210 P.3d 1101, 2009 Wyo. LEXIS 96, 2009 WL 1980950 (Wyo. 2009).

Opinions

HILL, Justice.

[T1] A jury convicted Sandon W. Morris of felony property destruction. He appeals the conviction claiming: (1) the State pre[1103]*1103sented insufficient evidence that he "knowingly" damaged the property; (2) plain error occurred when the district court failed to instruct the jury concerning the meaning of "knowingly;" and (8) the prosecutor incorrectly defined the term "knowingly" in closing argument and such argument constituted misconduct requiring reversal of his convietion. His fourth contention is that the district court abused its discretion when it awarded restitution based upon the fair market value of the damaged property. We reverse and remand on the basis of the prosecutor's misconduct in closing argument.

ISSUES

[T2] Mr. Morris presents the following issues:

1. The State did not present sufficient evidence to prove that he "knowingly" damaged the property of another.
2. The trial court committed error in failing to instruct the jury on the element of "knowingly."
3. The trial court committed plain error in allowing the prosecutor to misdefine the element of "knowingly" to the jury.
4. The sentence improperly assessed restitution.

FACTS

[¶8] On the night of June 20, 2007, C.P., a high school student, parked her 1994 Toyota Tercel in the parking lot of a McDonald's Restaurant in Evanston, Wyoming, while she and her boyfriend went "cruising" in his car. When her boyfriend returned to the parking lot later, he found her vehicle had been damaged. C.P. reported the damage to the police department, and Patrol Sergeant Douglas Matthews investigated.

[¶4] Sergeant Matthews inspected the vehicle and observed that the top of the car was caved in, there were seratches all over the hood, there were seuff marks and scratches on the trunk, and one of the quarter panels was kicked in. Sergeant Matthews later spoke with Mr. Morris who said he could have been at McDonald's that night but did not damage any vehicles. Sergeant Matthews also spoke with Randy Stone who said he saw Mr. Morris jump on the vehicle. C.P. told Sergeant Matthews an automobile repair company estimated the cost of repairs at $2,894.98.

[T5] Based on the information Sergeant Matthews obtained, the State charged Mr. Morris with felony destruction of property in violation of the following statute:

§ 6-3-201. Property destruction and defacement; grading; penalties; aggregated costs or values.
(a) A person is guilty of property destruction and defacement if he knowingly defaces, injures or destroys property of another without the owner's consent.
(b) Property destruction and defacement is:
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(ii) A felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years, a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), or both, if the cost of restoring injured property or the value of the property if destroyed is one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or more.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-8-201 (LexisNexis 2009). Mr. Morris entered a plea of not guilty to the charge. A jury trial convened and concluded when the jury returned a guilty verdict. The district court sentenced Mr. Morris to serve two to four years, splitting the sentence so that he would serve one year in the Uinta County Detention Center and four years supervised probation. The district court further ordered Mr. Morris to pay restitution to C.P. in the amount of $1,400.00.

DISCUSSION

1. Sufficiency of the evidence that Mr. Morris "knowingly" destroyed property

[16] Mr. Morris claims that the State did not present sufficient evidence to prove the "knowingly" element of the crime. In determining whether there was sufficient trial evidence to sustain a conviction, we apply the following standard of review:

[Wle examine and accept as true the State's evidence and all reasonable inferences which can be drawn from it. We do [1104]*1104not consider conflicting evidence presented by the defendant. We do not substitute our judgment for that of the jury; rather, we determine whether a jury could have reasonably concluded each of the elements of the crime was proven beyond a reasonable doubt. This standard applies whether the supporting evidence is direct or circumstantial.

Butz v. State, 2007 WY 152, ¶ 10, 167 P.3d 650, 653 (Wyo.2007).

[T7] The district court instructed the jury on the elements of the offense as follows:

INSTRUCTION NO. 18
The elements of the crime of Property Destruction and Defacement, where the cost of restoring the property is $1,000.00 or more, as charged in this case are:
1. On or about the 20°" day of June, 2007
2. In Uinta County, Wyoming
3. The Defendant, Sandon W. Morris
4. Knowingly defaced a 1994 Toyota Tercel belonging to [C.P.].
5. Without the consent of the owner.
6. And the cost of restoring the defaced property is $1,000.00 or more.
If you find from your consideration of all the evidence that each of these elements has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, then you should find the defendant guilty of Property Destruction and Deface ment where the cost of restoring the property is $1,000.00 or more.
If, on the other hand, you find from your consideration of all the evidence that any of these elements has not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, then you should find the defendant not guilty of Property Destruction and Defacement where the cost of restoring the property is $1,000.00 or more.

The district court also instructed the jury on the elements of the lesser included offense of destruction or defacement of property where the cost of restoring the property is less than $1,000.00, which is a misdemeanor. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-3-201(a)() (LexisNexis 2009).

[¶8] The district court instructed the jury that the term "'property' means anything of value whether tangible or intangible, real or personal, public or private." The district court did not instruct the jury on the meaning of the term "knowingly" or how it was to be construed in the context of the remaining statutory language. Mr. Morris contends that in order to prove that he knowingly defaced the vehicle, the State had to prove that when he jumped on the car, he knew he would damage it, intended to damage it, or was aware that he would damage it. He asserts the State presented no evidence to show any of those things; rather, the State's evidence showed only that he was "goofing around," and the defacement was the unintended result of his horseplay. Given the absence of any proof that he knew his act would deface the vehicle or that he had any intent at all to damage it, Mr. Morris contends the conviction cannot stand.

[¶9] The State responds that the evidence showed Mr. Morris knowingly jumped on the vehicle, and that was all the evidence required to support a conviction under the statute. The State contends it did not have to show that Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 WY 88, 210 P.3d 1101, 2009 Wyo. LEXIS 96, 2009 WL 1980950, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morris-v-state-wyo-2009.