State v. Best

503 P.2d 997, 161 Mont. 20, 1972 Mont. LEXIS 341
Montana Supreme Court·Decided December 4, 1972·No. No. 12044·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

MR. JUSTICE HASWELL

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an appeal by defendant from a judgment of conviction of two counts of first degree burglary, entered upon a jury verdict in the district court of Pondera County, the Honorable R. D. McPhillips, District Judge. Subsequent to defendant’s conviction Judge McPhillips sentenced him to eleven years imprisonment in the state prison on each count to be served consecutively, or a total of 22 years imprisonment.

Late in the evening of June 14, 1970, John and Dawn Carver, of Conrad, Montana, heard the sound of breaking glass outside their apartment. Mrs. Carver looked out the window and saw what appeared to be a burglary being committed by two men [22] inside Baumann’s South Texaco service station. Thereupon, her husband left to find help.

A few minutes later Dennis Driscoll, of the Montana Highway-Patrol, and John YanDeKop, undersheriff of Pondera County, arrived at the service station on foot. Driscoll went around the back and heard Mrs. Carver shout that the burglars were leaving in a pickup truck. He chased the truck on foot, and took down its license number; then he and VanDeKop got into their respective patrol cars and started to hunt for the pickup truck.

Soon thereafter YanDeKop caught up with the pickup on the highway leading north of town and radioed for help. Before help arrived, however, the pickup turned into a biochemical plant north of town and eventually stalled. Fred Carmichael was arrested while still sitting in the cab of the truck; defendant Best fled on foot and was captured in a nearby field.

Both Carmichael and Best were subsequently charged with burglary in the district court of Pondera County. Defendant Best was charged with two counts of burglary, the one allegedly committed at Baumann’s Texaco station in Conrad and the other at Conrad Motor and Tire Company on the same night. He entered pleas of not guilty to each count, and was tried separately from Carmichael.

Defendant’s trial commenced on November 16, 1970. His defense was that Carmichael coerced him into committing the crimes. The jury found defendant guilty of both burglaries, the judge sentenced him, and he now appeals from the judgment of conviction.

Appellant cites three issues for review upon appeal:

(1) "Was the giving of court’s instruction 13-B reversible error ?
(2) Was the admission in evidence of certain tools reversible error ?
(3) Should a new trial have been granted on the grounds of newly discovered evidence?

[23] Directing onr attention to the first issue, court’s Instruction 13-B reads as follows:

“Under the laws of the State of Montana, as applied to this case, a person guilty of Burglary in the First Degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one year or more than fifteen years on each count, which sentences may be ordered by the Court to be served either coneurrenty or consecutively.
“Further, the Court has the discretion of releasing the defendant on probation, deferring the imposition of sentence for a period not to exceed three years, suspending the execution of the sentence up to the maximum sentence allowed for the particular offense or imposing any combination thereof.
“In the event you return a verdict of guilty of the crime of Burglary in the First Degree on either count, the Judge must assess and declare the punishment.
“In the event you return a verdict of not guilty, the defendant must be released and discharged. ’ ’

Upon settlement of jury instructions, defendant’s objection to this instruction was as follows:

“MR. KEIL: (Defendant’s attorney) I will object to the giving of Plaintiff’s Proposed Instruction No. 1.
“THE COURT: It will be given, and it is given as Court’s Instruction No. 13-B. ’ ’

Defendant contends that the giving of this instruction over his objection constitutes reversible error. He argues that this instruction “intimates to the jury that the impact of a jury verdict of guilty could be lessened by the Court’s imposition of a light sentence. ’ ’ and that this situation prejudices a possible verdict of acquittal because jurors who might otherwise find the defendant innocent may be more easily persuaded to change their position knowing that a suspended or deferred sentence may be imposed. Defendant cites State v. Zuidema, 157 Mont. 367, 485 P.2d 952, in support.

Defendant’s position cannot be sustained. In the first place, [24] no valid objection to the instruction was made in the trial court. Section 95-1910 (d), R.C.M.1947, requires the objecting party, on settlement of jury instructions, to “specify and state tbe particular ground on which an instruction is objected to” and expressly provides that “it shall not be sufficient to object generally that the instruction does not state the law, or is against the law, but the objection must specify particularly wherein the instruction is insufficient, or does not state the law, or what particular clause therein is objected to.” In the instant case defendant simply objected without assigning any grounds, either general or particular, therefor. Under such circumstances the alleged objection is equivalent to no objection at all, and the instruction is not reviewable on appeal.

More importantly, court’s Instruction 13-B correctly stated the law as it existed at the time of defendant’s trial. In State v. Metcalf, 153 Mont. 369, 457 P.2d 453, we held that a similar instruction on sentencing correctly stated the law and was not prejudicial to the defendant. However, some seven months after defendant’s trial in the instant case we held that an identical instruction to that used here (except for the crime and term of imprisonment) constituted prejudicial and reversible error. State v. Zuidema, 157 Mont. 367, 373, 374, 485 P.2d 952, 956. In Zuidema we explained our change of position in this language:

“The serious factor causing us to change our position from that of Metcalf is that an instruction of this type allows irrelevant matters to be considered by the jury which may influence its decision aside from the standard of proof by the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. We have held previously that in the giving of erroneous instructions it is not a ground for reversal where the instruction could not in any manner have prejudiced the accused. (Citing cases) Here, instruction No. 19 is clearly prejudicial in that it placed an undue emphasis on one factor which the jury, whether or not it should do so, was bound to take into account. All other factors come to the jury as evidence, or of its own experience and knowledge. By instructing the jury on [25] various possibilities of sentence, the court suggests that it should give weight to that possibility in reaching a verdict. ’ ’

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Best, 503 P.2d 997, 161 Mont. 20, 1972 Mont. LEXIS 341 (Mo. 1972).

503 P.2d 997 (State v. Best) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Morse
2015 MT 51 (Montana Supreme Court, 2015)
State v. Gollehon
906 P.2d 697 (Montana Supreme Court, 1995)
State v. Redcrow
790 P.2d 449 (Montana Supreme Court, 1990)
State v. Campbell
579 P.2d 1231 (Montana Supreme Court, 1978)
State v. Murphy
570 P.2d 1103 (Montana Supreme Court, 1977)
State v. Gallagher
509 P.2d 852 (Montana Supreme Court, 1973)