State v. Johnstone

798 P.2d 978, 244 Mont. 450, 47 State Rptr. 1715, 1990 Mont. LEXIS 288
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 13, 1990
Docket89-242
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 798 P.2d 978 (State v. Johnstone) 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. Johnstone, 798 P.2d 978, 244 Mont. 450, 47 State Rptr. 1715, 1990 Mont. LEXIS 288 (Mo. 1990).

Opinions

JUSTICE BARZ

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

Tommy Johnstone appeals his conviction of felony attempted theft and criminal trespass to vehicles by a jury empaneled in the District Court of the Sixth Judicial District, Sweet Grass County. We affirm.

On September 1, 1988, Carl Leader was fishing at a State access on the Boulder River off Highway 298 near McLeod, south of Big Timber, Montana. Mr. Leader arrived at the access at approximately 3:30 p.m. and fished for roughly one and one-half hours. Leader locked a pistol, fishing gear and a jacket inside his truck. There was no one else present at the access when Mr. Leader arrived and he saw only one other vehicle during this time. Mr. Leader did not have a clear view of the parking area at all times. Shortly before leaving, Mr. Leader heard another vehicle in the parking area. He proceeded up a bank and saw an older model Ford pickup bearing 23 license plates. Mr. Leader on that day described the vehicle as green but at trial stated it was bluish-green. The occupant of the vehicle smiled and waved at Mr. Leader before driving away. Leader at trial identified [453]*453defendant as the occupant of the truck. Upon entering his vehicle, Leader discovered the driver’s side ventilator window was broken and the main window was rolled down, however nothing was missing from the truck. Leader drove the fourteen and one-half miles into Big Timber to report the incident, arriving around 6:00 p.m.

George Ames, Sweet Grass County Undersheriff, observed a turquoise Ford pickup bearing 23-county license plates proceeding south on Highway 298 toward the McLeod fishing access the same afternoon. The driver of the pickup looked familiar to Undersheriff Ames. After stopping at the sheriff’s department in Big Timber, Ames went off duty. At his home, Ames later received a call from the sheriff’s department dispatcher describing the circumstances surrounding the damage to Carl Leader’s vehicle. At this time, Ames recalled the identity of the pickup driver and had reason to believe the driver may have been responsible for the damage to Leader’s vehicle. Ames arranged for lookouts on various routes leading from the McLeod area while he and a deputy drove up the Boulder River drainage several miles past the fishing access.

Ames’s son Dan, a Stillwater County Sheriff’s Deputy, then advised his father he was following a turquoise-colored pickup with 23-county license plates occupied by one male. Ames requested that his son make a felony stop. The driver of the turquoise pickup, the defendant, stopped approximately two miles east of Columbus, roughly 65 miles from the fishing access. Deputy Ames arrested the defendant, had him transported to Columbus and arranged for his pickup to be towed into town.

Carl Leader identified defendant’s vehicle as the one he had seen at the fishing access prior to discovering his window broken. Leader did not at that time identify defendant as the occupant of that vehicle. During an inventory of defendant’s personal possessions as part of the booking process, Stillwater County Deputy Albert Hust removed a quantity of glass particles from defendant’s shirt and pant pockets. Hust put the glass recovered into separate evidence bags. Defendant gave Undersheriff Ames permission to search his vehicle. Ames found leather gloves imbedded with glass and a pry bar with pieces of glass on it.

Defendant was charged by information with attempted theft, a felony, in violation of § 45-6-301, MCA, and criminal trespass to vehicles, a misdemeanor, in violation of § 45-6-202, MCA. Counsel was appointed for defendant and he pled not guilty to both charges. [454]*454The State gave notice to defendant of its intention to offer evidence of other crimes as follows:

“1. Evidence of a theft by the defendant of a tool box and tools from a motor vehicle belonging to Marvin Maxwell while the vehicle was parked at a Fishing Access site in Sweet Grass County, Montana, on August 23, 1986, including proof of defendant’s conviction of felony theft in such matter. Such evidence will be offered to establish motive, intent, plan and/or absence of mistake or accident with respect to defendant’s conduct at issue in these proceedings.
“2. Evidence of a theft by the defendant of a purse and cash from a motor vehicle belonging to Cora Nelson while it was parked at Carter’s Bridge, Park County, Montana, on August 7,1986, including proof of defendant’s conviction of felony theft in such matter. Such evidence will be offered to establish motive, intent, plan and/or absence of mistake or accident with respect to defendant’s conduct at issue in these proceedings.
“3. Evidence of a theft by defendant of binoculars, camera equipment and cash from a motor vehicle belonging to John Hewitt and JoAnne Rathbum while the vehicle was parked at Mallard’s Rest Fishing Access on August 9, 1986, including proof of defendant’s conviction of felony theft in such matter. Such evidence will be offered to establish motive, intent, plan and/or absence of mistake or accident with respect to defendant’s conduct at issue in these proceedings.
“4. Evidence of a theft of a rifle from a pickup tmck at Grey Cliff Fishing Access, Sweet Grass County, Montana, in August 1988 and possession thereof by defendant at his place of residence in Roundup, Montana. Such evidence will be offered by the State to establish a common scheme of thefts by the defendant as well as to establish motive and intent.”

Respondent then filed an amended information adding a third count (Count III) charging defendant with felony theft in violation of § 45-6-301, MCA, in connection with the rifle theft at Grey Cliff Fishing Access.

Counsel for defendant moved to dismiss the amended information arguing the State “attempted] to combine two or more misdemeanors under the concept of common scheme in order to establish a felony status against... defendant” and that the facts contained within the information were insufficient to establish criminal conduct. The District Court denied this motion as well as a second motion to dismiss based on an absence of probable cause. Counsel for defendant [455]*455filed briefs accompanied by exhibits in support of both motions. The court further denied the State’s motion to dismiss Count III of the information.

At trial, defendant testified that on September 1, 1988, he had driven from Roundup to Bozeman seeking work as a firefighter. At Reedpoint, the throttle bracket on defendant’s pickup broke and he lost power. Approximately two hours later, around 5:00 p.m., defendant turned back toward Billings. He testified to using his gears to pull his pickup over the hill where Deputy Sheriff Dan Ames eventually arrested him. Defendant denied breaking into Leader’s vehicle. The State called Dr. Larry B. Howard of the State crime lab who performed tests comparing the glass found in defendant’s pockets and imbedded in his gloves with glass taken from the broken window on Leader’s vehicle. Howard testified all the glass had the same refractive index and that the pant pocket glass and the glass from the window had similar densities while that from the shirt pockets had a higher density. Howard testified the probability was high that the glass samples originated from the same source. Howard further opined that the highly fragmented glass resulted from a blow from a heavy instrument as contrasted with “diced” glass which would result from an accident.

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2004 MT 393 (Montana Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Henry
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State v. Bradley
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State v. Cleland
803 P.2d 1093 (Montana Supreme Court, 1990)
State v. Johnstone
798 P.2d 978 (Montana Supreme Court, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
798 P.2d 978, 244 Mont. 450, 47 State Rptr. 1715, 1990 Mont. LEXIS 288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-johnstone-mont-1990.