State v. Michael Jay Freitas

335 P.3d 597, 157 Idaho 257, 2014 WL 3906469, 2014 Ida. App. LEXIS 80
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 12, 2014
Docket41378
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 335 P.3d 597 (State v. Michael Jay Freitas) 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. Michael Jay Freitas, 335 P.3d 597, 157 Idaho 257, 2014 WL 3906469, 2014 Ida. App. LEXIS 80 (Idaho Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

MELANSON, Judge.

Michael Jay Freitas appeals from the district court’s order, entered in its intermediate appellate capacity, affirming Freitas’s judgment of conviction for transferring water in violation of Spirit Lake City Ordinance 7-4-10. Freitas specifically alleges that the ordinance is unconstitutional and that the district court erred in affirming his judgment of conviction despite various asserted errors by the magistrate. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

Freitas was cited for providing water to a neighbor’s residence in violation of Spirit Lake City Ordinance 7-4-10. An officer observed that a hose had been connected to a spigot on the outside of Freitas’s home, that the hose was also connected to his neighbor’s home, and that water was leaking from the connections. The neighbor’s water service had been turned off due to nonpayment. The officer gave Freitas a verbal warning that he was violating the city ordinance by connecting city water to a third person for use in a residence that was not otherwise provided with city water service. The officer then gave Freitas a copy of the ordinance and left. The officer returned the next day and cited Freitas after finding that he was continuing to provide water to his neighbor in violation of the ordinance. Freitas told the officer that he did not think he was doing anything wrong since the water he was providing had gone through his meter and been paid for.

Freitas filed a motion to dismiss, asserting that the ordinance was unconstitutional on its face and as applied under various provisions of the federal and state constitutions. The magistrate denied the motion. Freitas went to trial before a jury. At the close of the state’s evidence, Freitas moved for judgment of acquittal under Idaho Criminal Rule 29(a) based on alleged insufficiency of the evidence, which the magistrate also denied. Freitas subsequently requested a jury instruction that restated the first line of the ordinance regarding the city’s ownership of the water system. The magistrate denied the requested instruction, finding that there was no factual dispute over ownership of the water system. The jury ultimately found Freitas guilty of violating the ordinance and the magistrate imposed a fine of $500, 1 but stayed imposition of the sentence pending appeal pursuant to I.C.R. 54.5(a). Freitas appealed to the district court, which affirmed Freitas’s judgment of conviction. Freitas again appeals.

II.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

For an appeal from the district court, sitting in its appellate capacity over a case from the magistrate division, this Court’s standard of review is the same as the Idaho Supreme Court’s. The Supreme *261 Court reviews the magistrate record to determine whether there is substantial and competent evidence to support the magistrate’s findings of fact and whether the magistrate’s conclusions of law follow from those findings. State v. Korn, 148 Idaho 413, 415, 224 P.3d 480, 482 (2009). If those findings are so supported and the conclusions follow therefrom, and if the district court affirmed the magistrate’s decision, we affirm the district court’s decision as a matter of procedure. Id. Thus, the appellate courts do not review the decision of the magistrate. State v. Trusdall, 155 Idaho 965, 968, 318 P.3d 955, 958 (Ct.App.2014). Rather, we are procedurally bound to affirm or dismiss the decisions of the district court. Id.

III.

ANALYSIS

Freitas alleges a number of errors on appeal. Primarily, he asserts that the ordinance is unconstitutional on its face because it is facially vague and because it exceeds the police power granted to municipalities under' the Idaho Constitution and the statutorily granted power to regulate domestic water systems. He also asserts that the ordinance is unconstitutional as applied because it criminalizes his charitable conduct in this case. Finally, Freitas asserts that the district court erred in affirming his judgment of conviction due to the magistrate’s error in giving an allegedly incorrect elements instruction to the jury, rejecting his proposed jury instruction, and denying his I.C.R. 29(a) motion for judgment of acquittal.

A. Facial Constitutionality

Freitas argues that the district court erred in holding that the ordinance is constitutional on its face. Where the constitutionality of a statute is challenged, we review the lower court’s decision de novo. State v. Cobb, 132 Idaho 195, 197, 969 P.2d 244, 246 (1998); State v. Martin, 148 Idaho 31, 34, 218 P.3d 10, 13 (Ct.App.2009). The party attacking a statute on constitutional grounds bears the burden of proof and must overcome a strong presumption of validity. State v. Korsen, 138 Idaho 706, 711, 69 P.3d 126, 131 (2003), abrogated on other grounds by Evans v. Michigan, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1069, 185 L.Ed.2d 124 (2013); State v. Cook, 146 Idaho 261, 262, 192 P.3d 1085, 1086 (Ct.App.2008). Appellate courts are obligated to seek an interpretation of a statute that upholds its constitutionality. State v. Manzanares, 152 Idaho 410, 418, 272 P.3d 382, 390 (2012); Martin, 148 Idaho at 34, 218 P.3d at 13. Rules for the construction of ordinances are the same as those applied to the construction of statutes. City of Lewiston v. Mathewson, 78 Idaho 347, 350, 303 P.2d 680, 681-82 (1956).

1. Facial vagueness

Freitas alleges that the statute is facially vague. Due process requires that all be informed as to what the state commands or forbids and that persons of ordinary intelligence not be forced to guess at the meaning of the law. Cobb, 132 Idaho at 197, 969 P.2d at 246. No one may be required at the peril of loss of liberty to speculate as to the meaning of penal statutes. Korsen, 138 Idaho at 711, 69 P.3d at 131. A void for vagueness challenge is more favorably acknowledged and a more stringent vagueness test will be applied where a statute imposes a criminal penalty. Cobb, 132 Idaho at 198, 969 P.2d at 247. As a result, criminal statutes must plainly and unmistakably provide fair notice of what is prohibited and what is allowed in language persons of ordinary intelligence will understand. State v. Kavajecz, 139 Idaho 482, 486, 80 P.3d 1083, 1087 (2003); State v. Bitt, 118 Idaho 584, 585, 798 P.2d 43, 44 (1990); Voyles v. City of Nampa, 97 Idaho 597, 599, 548 P.2d 1217, 1219 (1976). Additionally, a statute is void for vagueness if it invites arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Cobb, 132 Idaho at 197, 969 P.2d at 246; Bitt, 118 Idaho at 588, 798 P.2d at 47.

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

Related

State v. Bundy
566 P.3d 445 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2025)
State v. Wilson
Idaho Court of Appeals, 2024
State v. Heck
477 P.3d 258 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2020)
State v. Gutierrez
469 P.3d 643 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2020)
State v. Mendez
Idaho Court of Appeals, 2020
State v. Cook
Idaho Court of Appeals, 2018
State v. David John Harper
415 P.3d 948 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2018)
State v. Christopher T. Dean
Idaho Court of Appeals, 2017
State v. Lucas Darnell Francke
Idaho Court of Appeals, 2017
State v. Scott Alan Moore
384 P.3d 413 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2016)
State v. Thomas C. Kelley
361 P.3d 1280 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
335 P.3d 597, 157 Idaho 257, 2014 WL 3906469, 2014 Ida. App. LEXIS 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-michael-jay-freitas-idahoctapp-2014.