State v. Barrows

2018 MT 204, 424 P.3d 612, 392 Mont. 358
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 21, 2018
DocketDA 17-0061
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 2018 MT 204 (State v. Barrows) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Barrows, 2018 MT 204, 424 P.3d 612, 392 Mont. 358 (Mo. 2018).

Opinion

After discussion, the judge granted Smith's motion, finding the prosecution did not provide any evidence proving one of the elements of the firearm-possession charge. Smith , 543 U.S. at 465, 125 S.Ct. at 1132. Smith's co-defendant then presented evidence from one witness and both defendants rested. Before closing arguments, the trial judge, at the prosecutor's request, reversed her previous ruling and allowed the firearm-possession charge to go to the jury. Smith , 543 U.S. at 465, 125 S.Ct. at 1133. The jury convicted Smith of all three counts. Smith , 543 U.S. at 466, 125 S.Ct. at 1133. Smith appealed his conviction, arguing that the court's reconsideration and reversal of its not guilty finding subjected him to double jeopardy.

¶13 The U.S. Supreme Court considered the issue of "whether the Double Jeopardy Clause forbade the judge to reconsider that acquittal later in the trial." Smith , 543 U.S. at 464, 125 S.Ct. at 1132. The Court first determined that the judge's initial ruling on Smith's motion was a judgment of acquittal because the ruling was based on the judge's determination that the prosecution's evidence was legally insufficient to sustain a conviction. Smith , 543 U.S. at 468-69, 125 S.Ct. at 1134-35. The Court then determined that the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibited the judge from reconsidering the acquittal, holding:

If, after a facially unqualified midtrial dismissal of one count, the trial has proceeded to the defendant's introduction of evidence, the acquittal must be treated as final, unless the availability of reconsideration has been plainly established by pre-existing rule or case authority expressly applicable to midtrial rulings on the sufficiency of the evidence.

Smith , 543 U.S. at 473, 125 S.Ct. at 1137. The Court emphasized that the defendant had no reason to doubt the finality of the trial court's ruling. Smith , 543 U.S. at 470, 125 S.Ct. at 1135. The Court noted that, "as a general matter state law may prescribe that a judge's midtrial determination of the sufficiency of the State's proof can be reconsidered." Smith , 543 U.S. at 470, 125 S.Ct. at 1136. However, at the time of defendant's trial, Massachusetts did not have a nonfinality rule. Smith , 543 U.S. at 471, 125 S.Ct. at 1136. The Court reasoned that a defendant may alter the way he presents his defense in reliance on the trial judge's mid-trial final judgment of acquittal, so permitting the trial *617judge to later reverse a presumptively final decision may cause the defendant prejudice. Smith , 543 U.S. at 471-72, 125 S.Ct. at 1136-37.

¶14 Barrows and the State agree the pertinent Montana statutory authority lies in § 46-16-403, MCA (emphasis added):

When, at the close of the prosecution's evidence or at the close of ***364all the evidence, the evidence is insufficient to support a finding or verdict of guilty, the court may, on its own motion or on the motion of the defendant, dismiss the action and discharge the defendant. However, prior to dismissal, the court may allow the case to be reopened for good cause shown.

Barrows argues the statute permits a charge dismissed midtrial to be reopened only if the charge is reopened before the midtrial dismissal actually occurs. Thus, Barrows contends that § 46-16-403, MCA, "means a court may not reconsider its decision to dismiss a charge once a midtrial dismissal occurs." Barrows also argues that his trial represents the very situation Smith was explicitly aimed at avoiding as after the Lorazepam charge was dismissed Barrows chose to testify and made statements and admissions that he may not have otherwise made.

¶15 The State argues the plain language of § 46-16-403, MCA, "indicates that unless or until the court has dismissed the action or case and discharged the defendant, a trial court retains the authority to reconsider a determination on the sufficiency of the evidence." The State asserts the language "action" or "case" means the entire legal proceeding-not a single charge within such a proceeding. The State argues § 46-16-403, MCA, "means a decision acquitting a defendant of a single count in a multi-count information necessarily remains nonfinal and can be reconsidered until the completion of the action or case as a whole." Thus, the State urges this Court to hold that a judge-directed acquittal is only final and irreversible after the conclusion of the entire proceeding, and prior to that time, the judge retains the authority to reconsider that decision upon a showing of good cause. The State's argument is not persuasive, is inconsistent with this Court's interpretation of § 46-16-403, MCA, and is contradictory.

¶16 Dismissal of a charge for insufficiency of the evidence is an acquittal, even if the dismissal is in error. Evans v. Michigan , 568 U.S. 313, 320, 133 S.Ct. 1069, 1075, 185 L.Ed.2d 124 (2013).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2018 MT 204, 424 P.3d 612, 392 Mont. 358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-barrows-mont-2018.