State v. Dorsey

75 P.3d 203, 139 Idaho 149, 2003 Ida. App. LEXIS 65
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 2, 2003
DocketNo. 27373
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 75 P.3d 203 (State v. Dorsey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dorsey, 75 P.3d 203, 139 Idaho 149, 2003 Ida. App. LEXIS 65 (Idaho Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

GUTIERREZ, Judge.

John M. Dorsey appeals from his judgment of conviction and sentence for trafficking in methamphetamine by manufacturing. Dorsey argues that the information was insufficient to give him notice of the charge against him, and that charging both manúfác-ture and attempted manufacture of methamphetamine, in the same count of the information, was improper and constituted grounds for dismissal. We affirm.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

Dorsey was charged with trafficking in methamphetamine by manufacturing, I.C. § 37~2732B(a)(3). The second amended information alleged that Dorsey “on or about the 16th day of May, 2000, in the County of Shoshone, State of Idaho, did knowingly manufacture or attempt to manufacture a controlled substance, to-wit: methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance and/or any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.” Thus the information charged the language of the statute and limited facts specific to Dorsey. Before trial, defense counsel moved to have the action dismissed for insufficiency of the information. The state refused to further amend the information and argued that an information which charges the statutory language is sufficient to give proper notice to a defendant. The district court denied the motion to dismiss, holding that Idaho law does not require the state to lay out its evidence in the charging document. A jury trial followed and Dorsey was convicted of trafficking in methamphetamine by manufacturing. The district court imposed a unified sentence of twenty years of imprisonment, with five years determinate. Dorsey timely appeals.

II.

ANALYSIS

Dorsey argues the information filed in this ease was insufficient to give him notice of the charge against him, and that the information improperly charged two offenses within the same count. Whether an information conforms to the requirements of law is a question subject to free review on appeal. State v. Byington, 135 Idaho 621, 622-23, 21 P.3d 943, 944-45 (Ct.App.2001). State v. Robran, 119 Idaho 285, 287, 805 P.2d 491, 493 (Ct.App.1991).

A. Sufficiency of the Information

A legally sufficient information is a plain, concise, and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense [151]*151charged. I.C. §§ 19-1303, 19-1409 through 19-1418; I.C.R. 7(b); State v. Darbin, 109 Idaho 516, 519, 708 P.2d 921, 924 (Ct.App.1985). The sufficiency of an information ultimately depends on whether it fulfills the basic functions of the pleading instrument. State v. Windsor, 110 Idaho 410, 417, 716 P.2d 1182, 1189 (1985); Robran, 119 Idaho at 287, 805 P.2d at 493. The sufficiency of an information is tested by a functional analysis encompassing two inquiries: (1) whether the pleading contains the elements of the offense charged and fairly informs the defendant of the charge which must be defended against; and (2) whether the information enables the defendant to plead an acquittal or conviction in bar of future prosecutions for the same offense. Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 117, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 2907, 41 L.Ed.2d 590, 620 (1974). An information must be specific enough to advise a defendant as to the particular section of the statute he or she is being charged with having violated and, in addition, must set forth a concise statement of the facts constituting the alleged offense sufficient that the particular offense may be identified with certainty as to time, place and persons involved. State v. Grady, 89 Idaho 204, 211, 404 P.2d 347, 351 (1965).

The amended information in this case charged Dorsey with trafficking by manufacturing or attempting to manufacture methamphetamine. Every element made criminal by I.C. § 37-2732B(a)(3) was alleged in the amended information. Further, the amended information specified that the trafficking was accomplished by Dorsey knowingly manufacturing or attempting to manufacture methamphetamine on or about the 16th day of May 2000 in Shoshone County. Taken together, the elements of the offense charged, reference to the particular section of the trafficking statute, and the information regarding the person, place and time involved fairly informed Dorsey of the charge which he had to defend against. Thus, we conclude the information in Dorsey’s case fulfilled the basic functions of the pleading instrument as required by Idaho’s statutes, rules and case law.

Our determination that the information was adequate in this ease should not be interpreted as a holding that mere recitation of the statutory language will be sufficient regardless of the nature of the offense charged. Decisions of the appellate courts of this state have made it clear that for some types of offenses, such as manslaughter (see State v. McMahan, 57 Idaho 240, 65 P.2d 156 (1937)), and theft (see State v. Owen, 129 Idaho 920, 935 P.2d 183 (Ct.App.1997)), because the crime may be committed by a multitude of methods and conduct, mere repetition of the statutory language may not be sufficient to satisfy the pleading instrument function of notifying the defendant of the charge which must be defended against. Ordinarily, however, manufacturing methamphetamine is not such an offense which would require greater explication so long as the time and place of the offense are adequately set forth in the pleading instrument.

Dorsey further poses a due process challenge to the sufficiency of the information, alleging that he was prejudiced in his defense because of the vagueness of the information, and that this constitutes a denial of due process. A defendant, however, cannot legitimately claim that he was surprised to his substantial prejudice by the absence in the information of specific details relating to an offense where those details are already known to the defendant or provided to the defendant by a means other than through the language in the information. See State v. Gumm, 99 Idaho 549, 552, 585 P.2d 959, 962 (1978).

In Owen, the defendant was convicted of twenty-nine counts of grand theft and one count of attempted grand theft. On appeal, Owen claimed that she could not determine whether she was accused of committing theft of the specified property by physically stealing items from the victim’s residences or places of businesses, by embezzling goods entrusted to her by an employer or business associate, by possessing property stolen by someone else, or by any other of the multitude of means of committing theft that are contemplated within I.C. § 18-2403. Therefore, Owen asserted that the informations were insufficient because she did not know the alleged facts which she would need to refute at trial. This Court held that the [152]

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Bluebook (online)
75 P.3d 203, 139 Idaho 149, 2003 Ida. App. LEXIS 65, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dorsey-idahoctapp-2003.