Salt Lake City v. Miles

2014 UT 47, 342 P.3d 212, 772 Utah Adv. Rep. 61, 2014 Utah LEXIS 183, 2014 WL 5419729
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 24, 2014
DocketNo 20130475
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2014 UT 47 (Salt Lake City v. Miles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Salt Lake City v. Miles, 2014 UT 47, 342 P.3d 212, 772 Utah Adv. Rep. 61, 2014 Utah LEXIS 183, 2014 WL 5419729 (Utah 2014).

Opinions

Justice DURHAM,

opinion of the Court:

INTRODUCTION

€ 1 Wade John Miles was convicted under Utah Code section 76-10-5083 (2011)1 for having a pocketknife among his personal belongings, which he carried with him in a shopping cart. Section 76-10-5083 of the Utah Code criminalizes, among other things, possession of a "dangerous weapon" by a restricted person. The term "dangerous weapon," in turn, is defined in subsection 76-10-501(6). Mr. Miles appealed his conviction, arguing that his pocketknife did not qualify as a dangerous weapon under that statutory definition. He first argued that the statute permits consideration only of a knife's actual use, not its intended use. He then argued that because Salt Lake City failed to proffer evidence that the knife was [214]*214actually used, the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to establish that his knife was a "dangerous weapon." The court of appeals rejected Mr. Miles's interpretation of the statute and held that an object's intended use may always be considered in determining whether the object is a "dangerous weapon" as defined by statute. Salt Lake City v. Miles, 2013 UT App 77, ¶ 13, 299 P.3d 1163. Under this reading, the court held that the evidence presented at trial, including, importantly, Mr. Miles's verbal threats to kill someone with a knife, was sufficient to establish that the knife in Mr. Miles's shopping cart was a dangerous weapon. Id. ¶19.

2 We granted certiorari to determine two issues: first, whether the court of appeals correctly interpreted the statutory definition of "dangerous weapon" in subsection 76-10-501(6); and second, whether the jury had sufficient evidence to reasonably conclude that Mr. Miles's knife qualified as a "dangerous weapon" under that statute. We disagree with the court of appeals that the statute permits consideration of an item's intended use if the item is "a knife, or another item ... not commonly known as a dangerous weapon." Utah Code § 76-10-501(6)(b). For those objects, we hold that the statute permits consideration only of how the object was actually used, as outlined by the factors in subsection 76-10-501(6)(b). Based upon this interpretation of the statute, we hold that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to establish that the pocketknife lying in Mr. Miles's shopping cart was a dangerous weapon as defined by statute.

BACKGROUND

18 On the evening of October 4, 2011, Mr. Miles, who was homeless, attempted to board a light rail train in downtown Salt Lake City. The train operator prevented Mr. Miles from entering the train because Mr. Miles was attempting to board with a shopping cart containing his personal possessions. The train operator also believed Mr. Miles was intoxicated, so he radioed for assistance from the field supervisor on patrol that night. The supervisor arrived soon thereafter and found Mr. Miles sitting on a decorative rock on the train platform. Mr. Miles's shopping cart was located beside him. The supervisor asked Mr. Miles to move with him to the sidewalk for safety reasons, but Mr. Miles refused and became "vulgar and belligerent" toward the supervisor. The supervisor then informed Mr. Miles that if he did not calm down, the supervisor would need to call the police for help in removing Mr. Miles from the platform. In response, Mr. Miles, still sitting on the rock, made a statement about a knife and a gun, which was the subject of some conflicting evidence at trial. Shortly after the incident, the supervisor wrote in his witness statement that Mr. Miles said "if" he had a gun or a knife he would "shoot and kill" the supervisor if the supervisor did not get away from Mr. Miles. At trial, however, the supervisor testified that Mr. Miles said he did have a knife and a gun and that-here the supervisor couldn't recall, but he believed-Mr. Miles said he would either stab or shoot him.

14 A police officer arrived a few minutes later and handcuffed Mr. Miles as a safety precaution. The officer asked Mr. Miles if he had a weapon, and Mr. Miles replied that he did not. At this point the officer "felt that [Mr. Miles] gave [him] a straight answer," so he proceeded to administer a field sobriety test, which Mr. Miles failed. Based upon the officer's observations to this point, he arrested Mr. Miles for intoxication, threatening the supervisor, and trespass.

15 The officer next conducted a search incident to arrest. After finding "nothing of any significance" on Mr. Miles's person, the officer searched Mr. Miles's shopping cart. There, the officer found a folding pocketknife inside the left breast pocket of one of Mr. Miles's jackets. Mr. Miles was not wearing the jacket during the incident on the train platform. When the officer inquired about the knife, Mr. Miles said he forgot he had it, but that he had purchased the knife for a dollar at Wal-Mart and used it for camping. The knife's blade is approximately three-and-a-half inches long and has a one-inch serrated portion next to the handle. The blade also features a thumb stud, which allows the user to rotate the blade open with one hand. Onee rotated open, the blade locks back into a position parallel with the handle to prevent [215]*215the blade from swinging closed on the user's fingers. To close the blade from this locked position, the user must press the "safety switch" located along the top edge of the knife handle. At trial, the police officer testified that the knife was capable of causing "exaggerated" wounds, permanent disfigurement, or death, if used as a weapon. The officer agreed, however, that the "knife wouldn't inflict injury unless a person was intending to use it [as a weapon]." Moreover, the officer stated that the knife could be used as a tool for a variety of lawful purposes.

T6 Salt Lake City ultimately charged Mr. Miles with four crimes: (1) eriminal trespass; (2) threats against life or property; (8) intoxication; and (4) purchase, transfer, possession, or use of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person.2 The jury acquitted Mr. Miles of the first three charges but convicted him of the fourth-possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. Mr. Miles timely appealed to the Utah Court of Appeals, claiming the evidence presented at trial was "insufficient to establish that the knife he possessed on the train platform was a dangerous weapon as defined by statute." Salt Lake City v. Miles, 2013 UT App 77, ¶ 9, 299 P.3d 1163. Over Judge Davis's dissent, a majority of the court affirmed Mr. Miles's conviction. Id. ¶ 21.

T7 The court first addressed the parties' disagreement over how to interpret the statute defining "dangerous weapon." UraH Cope § 76-10-501(6). That statute begins in subsection 76-10-501(6)(a) by stating that the term "dangerous weapon" means "an item that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury." However, the statute's next subsection-subsection 501(6)(b)-sets out four factors that must be used to determine whether a knife, specifically, is a dangerous weapon:

The following factors shall be used in determining whether a knife, or another item, object, or thing not commonly known as a dangerous weapon is a dangerous weapon:
(1) the character of the instrument, object, or thing;
(ii) the character of the wound produced, if any;
(iii) the manner in which the ihstrument, object, or thing was used; and

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2014 UT 47, 342 P.3d 212, 772 Utah Adv. Rep. 61, 2014 Utah LEXIS 183, 2014 WL 5419729, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salt-lake-city-v-miles-utah-2014.