State v. Krotzer

548 N.W.2d 252, 1996 Minn. LEXIS 612, 1996 WL 272585
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMay 23, 1996
DocketC4-94-2604
StatusPublished
Cited by63 cases

This text of 548 N.W.2d 252 (State v. Krotzer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Krotzer, 548 N.W.2d 252, 1996 Minn. LEXIS 612, 1996 WL 272585 (Mich. 1996).

Opinions

OPINION

KEITH, Chief Justice.

The State of Minnesota requests review of a court of appeals decision upholding a Carver County District Court’s stay of adjudication of criminal charges against Billy Jim Krotzer. Because we agree with Krotzer that the power to stay adjudication of Krot-zer’s case was within the district court’s inherent judicial authority, we affirm. However, we reverse that portion of the court of appeals’ opinion addressing the propriety of Krotzer’s probation order, and hold that the trial court could require Krotzer to serve a term of incarceration as a condition of his probation.

[253]*253I.

The facts of this case are undisputed. On three occasions in December 1993 and January 1994, Billy Jim Krotzer, aged 19 years, and his 14-year-old girlfriend, C.H.M., engaged in consensual sexual intercourse. Krotzer admits that he knew that C.H.M. was approximately 14 or 15 years old, but claims that he was “not sure” whether his actions were illegal. The couple ended their sexual relationship after C.H.M.’s mother, T.J.M., learned of their sexual activities, but they continued a nonsexual relationship with T.J.M.’s approval after she set forth strict dating guidelines.

Despite the parties’ amicable resolution of the situation, an unnamed person notified the Chaska Police Department of the past sexual contact between Krotzer and C.H.M. A Chas-ka police detective interviewed all three individuals in May 1994, and both Krotzer and C.H.M. disclosed the extent of their past sexual relationship to the detective. According to T.J.M., the detective assured them that there was “nothing to worry about.”

Despite this assurance, the Carver County Attorney’s Office charged Krotzer with one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 609.344, subd. 1(b) (1994). Unable to reach a plea agreement with the county prosecutor, Krotzer entered a guilty plea on July 28, 1994 but requested the court to stay adjudication of his criminal charge. The court did not formally accept Krotzer’s plea, but ordered a presentence investigation, and informed Krotzer that if “this matter does not conclude as we expect it will, then you have a right to withdraw the plea and the State would then have to prove the ease and you would be entitled to a jury trial.” The Department of Corrections performed the presentence investigation, and recommended that Krotzer “be placed on District Court probation for 0 — 5 years with a stay of adjudication. If a stay of imposition of sentence is pronounced, the law would require that this individual be registered as a predatory sex offender. This would not appear to be appropriate in this case because there is no history of aggressiveness, or any aggressiveness in the present offense.”1

At sentencing on September 30, 1994, the Carver County prosecutor voiced his opposition to the district court’s intention to stay adjudication of Krotzer’s charge: “We challenge [Krotzer’s trial attorney] to cite any legal authority to support the Court granting a stay of adjudication over the State’s objection.” The prosecutor urged the court to accept Krotzer’s guilty plea and follow the presumptive sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines: a stay of imposition of Krotzer’s sentence.2 Although entering a guilty plea to third-degree criminal sexual conduct would cause Krotzer to be convicted of a felony, the felony would revert to a misdemeanor under Minn.Stat. § 609.13, subd. 1(2) (1994) if Krotzer successfully served his probationary term. Nevertheless, the court, without accepting Krotzer’s guilty plea, stayed adjudication of his charge and placed Krotzer on probation for 60 months. As conditions of his probation, Krotzer was ordered to serve 60 days in jail, pay $200 to the public defender’s fund and $415 in fines and surcharges, and have no unsupervised contact with any other female adolescents under the age of 16. The district court judge expressed his uncertainty as to the propriety of his sentencing decision, and invited the State to appeal “so maybe we’ll get a decision on this and then we’ll all know where we’re going [but] I believe that in the context of this case, I have the authority to stay adjudication.”

[254]*254The State did appeal the district court’s order, arguing that there is no statutory justification or equal authority for the district court’s action in Krotzer’s case, and that the court violated separation of powers principles by overriding the prosecutor’s charging decision. The State asserted that the district court had exercised exclusively legislative and executive powers by manufacturing a punishment for Krotzer’s crime and by preventing prosecution of the felony charge. The court of appeals disagreed, and held that because a district court has the power to dismiss criminal charges at any time “in furtherance of justice,” the court can also stay the adjudication of a charge, an action less severe than outright dismissal. State v. Krotzer, 531 N.W.2d 862, 865 (Minn.App.1995). See Minn.Stat. § 631.21 (1994). The court of appeals also rejected the State’s separation of powers argument, stating that the “prosecution can recommend a sentence, but it cannot force the court to impose a sentence from a list the prosecution wants. Trial judges, not the prosecution, pronounce sentences.” Id. at 866 (citing State v. Olson, 325 N.W.2d 13, 18 (Minn.1982)).

II.

The State argues that the district court violated separation of powers principles. Specifically, the State maintains that the court’s stay of adjudication amounted to the exercise of a power solely reserved to the executive branch under Article III, Section 1 of the Minnesota Constitution: the power to decide whom to prosecute and what charge to file. See State v. Carriere, 290 N.W.2d 618, 620 n. 3 (Minn.1980). See also Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 364, 98 S.Ct. 663, 668-69, 54 L.Ed.2d 604 (1978) (decision whether or not to prosecute generally rests entirely with prosecutor); State v. Herme, 298 N.W.2d 454, 455 (Minn.1980). Under established separation of powers rules, absent evidence of selective or discriminatory prosecutorial intent, or an abuse of prosecu-torial discretion, the judiciary is powerless to interfere with the prosecutor’s charging authority. Bordenkircher, 434 U.S. at 364, 98 S.Ct. at 668-69 (citing Oyler v. Boles, 368 U.S. 448, 456, 82 S.Ct. 501, 505-506, 7 L.Ed.2d 446 (1962)).

However, the prosecutor’s power to file charges and prosecute an individual was not infringed upon here. As Krotzer states, the Carver County prosecutor investigated the allegations against Krotzer, filed criminal charges, obtained a guilty plea, and recommended a disposition and sentence to the court. The trial court then postponed acceptance of the plea and placed Krotzer on probation, but this did not affect the prosecutor’s carefully defined role. See Olson, 325 N.W.2d at 18. The final disposition of a criminal case is ultimately a matter for the presiding judge. As we stated in Olson,

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Bluebook (online)
548 N.W.2d 252, 1996 Minn. LEXIS 612, 1996 WL 272585, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-krotzer-minn-1996.