State v. Brown

CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 25, 1976
Docket13152
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Brown (State v. Brown) 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. Brown, (Mo. 1976).

Opinion

No. 13152

I N THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF M N A A OTN

197 6

STATE OF MONTANA,

P l a i n t i f f and Respondent,

-vs - DAVID OTTLEY BROWN,

Defendant and A p p e l l a n t .

Appeal from: D i s t r i c t Court o f t h e E i g h t e e n t h J u d i c i a l D i s t r i c t , Honorable W. W. L e s s l e y , Judge p r e s i d i n g .

Counsel o f Record:

For A p p e l l a n t :

Robert J. R i c e a r g u e d , Bozeman, Montana

F o r Respondent :

Hon. Robert L. Woodahl, A t t o r n e y General, Helena, Montana Donald White, County A t t o r n e y , a r g u e d , Bozeman, Montana

Submitted: May 26, 1976

Decided : AUG 2 1976 Filed : AuG 2 5 197F Mr. J u s t i c e Gene B. Daly d e l i v e r e d t h e Opinion of t h e C o u r t .

Defendant David O t t l e y Brown a p p e a l s from a c o n v i c t i o n

i n t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t , G a l l a t i n County. Defendant was c o n v i c t e d

of o n e c o u n t of a g g r a v a t e d a s s a u l t and o n e c o u n t of s i m p l e a s s a u l t .

He a p p e a l s from t h e c o n v i c t i o n of a g g r a v a t e d a s s a u l t .

The r e l e v a n t f a c t s a r e : On t h e e v e n i n g of March 1 3 ,

1 9 7 5 , one Ann Docksey, a s t u d e n t a t Montana S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y ,

was walking back t o h e r d o r m i t o r y from work i n downtown Bozeman.

A t a n i n t e r s e c t i o n n e a r t h e campus s h e approached a man s t a n d -

ing a t the corner. She t e s t i f i e d t h a t a s s h e passed him, t h e

man grabbed h e r , p r e s s e d what was a p p a r e n t l y a s c r e w d r i v e r t o h e r

t h r o a t and a t t e m p t e d t o f o r c e h e r i n t o a c a r . A s she w a s being

p r e s s e d a g a i n s t t h e c a r , a n o t h e r c a r d r o v e by, f r i g h t e n i n g h e r

attacker. She t h e n t o l d him s h e w a s e x p e c t e d soon a t a n e a r b y

house t o b a b y s i t ; and a t t h a t p o i n t t h e man l e t h e r go.

About 1 0 : O O p.m. t h a t same n i g h t Ann Docksey w a s shown

a set of p h o t o g r a p h s by t h e p o l i c e . She f a i l e d t o i d e n t i f y h e r

attacker. L a t e r , a t 12:30 a.m., March 1 4 , d e f e n d a n t who had been

t a k e n i n t o c u s t o d y a s a r e s u l t of a s e p a r a t e d i s t u r b a n c e i n

a n o t h e r p a r t of town, w a s shown t o h e r i n a two-man l i n e u p . At

t h i s t i m e , Ann Docksey i d e n t i f i e d d e f e n d a n t as h e r a t t a c k e r . De-

f e n d a n t w a s t h e n on p a r o l e f o r a r a p e c o n v i c t i o n which o c c u r r e d

i n 1972.

On March 1 7 , 1975, based i n p a r t on Ann Docksey's i d e n t i -

f i c a t i o n , a n I n f o r m a t i o n was f i l e d a g a i n s t d e f e n d a n t . Count I

of t h a t I n f o r m a t i o n c h a r g e d him w i t h a g g r a v a t e d a s s a u l t a g a i n s t

Ann Docksey. It read, i n p e r t i n e n t p a r t , t h a t defendant, i n

v i o l a t i o n o f s e c t i o n 94-5-202 (1)( a ) , R.C.M. 1947 :

" * * * p u r p o s e l y o r knowingly c a u s e d s e r i o u s b o d i l y i n j u r y t o Ann Docksey by g r a b b i n g h e r by t h e s h o u l d e r and p u t t i n g h i s arm around h e r t h r o a t and t r y i n g t o f o r c e her i n t o a c a r " .

O March 24, 1975, d e f e n d a n t w a s a r r a i g n e d and p l e a d n o t n g u i l t y t o Count I and o n e a d d i t i o n a l c o u n t r e l a t e d t o a s e p a r a t e

incident. On A p r i l 2 t h e s t a t e moved t o amend Count I o f t h e

Information t o charge defendant with v i o l a t i o n of s e c t i o n

9 4 - 5 - 2 0 2 ( 1 ) ( c ) , R.C.M. 1947, by p u r p o s e l y o r knowingly c a u s i n g

" r e a s o n a b l e a p p r e h e n s i o n o f s e r i o u s b o d i l y i n j u r y i n Ann Docksey

by u s e of a weapon * * *." The d i s t r i c t c o u r t g r a n t e d t h i s m o t i o n

o v e r t h e o b j e c t i o n o f d e f e n d a n t , and t h e amended I n f o r m a t i o n was

f i l e d t h e same day. Defendant p l e a d n o t g u i l t y t o t h e amended

Information. T r i a l was had on May 6 , 1975, a p p r o x i m a t e l y 34 d a y s

a f t e r f i l i n g of t h e amended ~ n f o r m a t i o n .

The j u r y r e t u r n e d a v e r d i c t f i n d i n g d e f e n d a n t g u i l t y o f

a g g r a v a t e d a s s a u l t a s s p e c i f i e d i n Count I and g u i l t y o f s i m p l e

a s s a u l t on t h e u n r e l a t e d second c o u n t . H e received concurrent

s e n t e n c e s o f 20 y e a r s and 6 months r e s p e c t i v e l y . I t i s from t h e

judgment and s e n t e n c e a s t o a g g r a v a t e d a s s a u l t t h a t d e f e n d a n t

appeals.

Defendant p r e s e n t s s e v e r a l i s s u e s f o r r e v i e w , b u t w e need

d i s c u s s o n l y one a s it i s d i s p o s i t i v e o f t h i s a p p e a l .

T h a t i s s u e i s whether t h e t r i a l c o u r t e r r e d i n a l l o w i n g

t h e p r o s e c u t i o n t o amend Count I o f t h e I n f o r m a t i o n a f t e r d e f e n d -

a n t had p l e a d t o t h e o r i g i n a l i n f o r m a t i o n .

S e c t i o n 95-1505, R.C.M. 1947, reads:

" ( a ) A c h a r g e may be amended i n m a t t e r s o f sub- s t a n c e a t any t i m e before t h e defendant pleads, w i t h o u t l e a v e of c o u r t .

" ( b ) The c o u r t may p e r m i t a n y c h a r g e t o be amended a s t o form a t a n y t i m e b e f o r e verdict o r finding i f no a d d i t i o n a l o r d i f f e r e n t o f f e n s e i s charqed and i f t h e s u b s t a n t i a l rights of the defendant a r e not prejudiced.

" ( c ) N c h a r g e s h a l l be d i s m i s s e d b e c a u s e o f a o f o r m a l d e f e c t which d o e s n o t t e n d t o p r e j u d i c e a s u b s t a n t i a l r i g h t of t h e defendant." (Emphasis supplied. )

Defendant c o n t e n d s t h e amendment t o Count I a f t e r p l e a d i n g ,

w a s a s t o matters o f s u b s t a n c e , and p r e j u d i c e d s u b s t a n t i a l r i g h t s o f d e f e n d a n t and t h e r e f o r e s h o u l d n o t have been g r a n t e d by t h e

d i s t r i c t court. The s t a t e c o u n t e r s a s s e r t i n g t h e amendment

of Count I t o be o n e o f form r a t h e r t h a n s u b s t a n c e . In the

a l t e r n a t i v e , t h e s t a t e a r g u e s t h a t e v e n i f t h e amendment was

one o f s u b s t a n c e , i t d i d n o t p r e j u d i c e a s u b s t a n t i a l r i g h t of

t h e defendant.

B e l i e v i n g d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e s t a t e ' s two-pronged argument

t o be t h e b e s t method o f r e s o l v i n g t h e i s s u e , w e w i l l d i s c u s s

the s t a t e ' s contentions i n turn, c i t i n g t h e recent decision i n

S t a t e v. S t e w a r t , 1 6 1 Mont. 501, 504, 507 P.2d 1050, a s t h e b a s i s .

I n Stewart, t h i s Court discussed t h e general test f o r

d e t e r m i n i n g whether a n amendment t o a n i n f o r m a t i o n w a s v a l i d :

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Brown, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-brown-mont-1976.