State v. Oldham

438 P.2d 275, 92 Idaho 124, 1968 Ida. LEXIS 260
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 4, 1968
Docket9970
StatusPublished
Cited by78 cases

This text of 438 P.2d 275 (State v. Oldham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho 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. Oldham, 438 P.2d 275, 92 Idaho 124, 1968 Ida. LEXIS 260 (Idaho 1968).

Opinion

SPEAR, Justice.

Appellants were jointly charged with having burglariously entered the Seven Mile Inn, near Boise, Idaho, on December 5, 1965, and robbing and kidnapping three individuals. After jury trial held in August, 1966, appellants were found guilty and convicted of one count of burglary, three counts of robbery and three counts of kidnapping. They were each sentenced September 6, 1966, to imprisonment in the Idaho State Penitentiary for ten years upon each count, for a total of seventy years. The sentences for burglary and kidnapping were subsequently suspended by the court on the condition that appellants serve the three sentences imposed for the robbery conviction. From the judgment of conviction and the order of the trial court denying appellants’ motion for new trial, appellants have appealed.

Appellants have raised sixteen assignments of error, all of which concern procedural and evidentiary matters which occurred subsequent to their arrest. We consider herein the specifications of error in the order charged by appellants.

Appellants argue that the court erred in denying their motion for discovery and inspection of certain evidence. They refer particularly to all written statements, admissions, or confessions made by either appellant and certain witnesses, all items of clothing belonging to appellants, one metal suitcase, one 22-caliber automatic pistol, a jacket and watch and cash taken from one victim, an automobile, certain photographs relating to the crime, and all items of cash and personal property taken from appellants by the prosecuting attorney. Their contention, based primarily on I.C. R19-1530, is that discovery should have been allowed because it aids appellants in preparation of their defense.

The trial court, in fact, refused discovery only of the statements and admissions of certain witnesses, the pistol, and the jacket and watch and $125.00.

I.C. R19-1530 states, in pertinent part:

“Upon motion of a defendant at any time after the filing of the indictment or information, the court may order the attorney for the state to permit the defendant to inspect and copy or photograph designated books, papers, documents, or tangible objects, obtained from *128 or belonging to the defendant or obtained from others by seizure or by process, upon a showing that the items sought may be material to the preparation of his defense and that the request is reasonable * * *.”

It is significant that our statute •does not refer specifically to statements by participants involved in the same crime as appellants. Further, I.C. R19-1530 gives the trial court broad discretion in granting or refusing discovery and inspection of books, papers, documents, or tangible ■objects. In the case at bar, appellants failed to allege any substantial prejudice resulting from the failure of the trial court to grant discovery of any of the items requested. It is generally held by courts that have ruled thereon that the grant or ■denial of criminal pretrial discovery and inspection is within the discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed unless there is a manifest abuse of discretion. State v. Mesaros, 62 Wash.2d 579 384 P.2d 372 (1963); State v. St. Peter, 63 Wash.2d 495, 387 P.2d 937 (1963); see also Mendelsohn v. People, 143 Colo. 397, 353 P.2d 587 (1960); Pinana v. State, 76 Nev. 274, 352 P.2d 824 (1960); State v. Colvin, 81 Ariz. 388, 307 P.2d 98 (1957); State ex rel. Mahoney v. Superior Ct., 78 Ariz. 74, 275 P.2d 887 (1954); State v. Leland, 190 Or. 598, 227 P.2d 785 (1951), affirmed 343 U.S. 790, 72 S.Ct. 1002, 96 L.Ed. 1302. Thus it was not error for the trial court to refuse discovery and inspection of the items designated by appellants, ■for no abuse of discretion was shown.

Appellants interposed a demurrer to the information on file against them, on the ground that the information did not conform with I.C. § 19-1703(2), which provides that the information must conform to the provisions of I.C. §§ 19-1409(2) and 19-1411(2) (3). The essence of the latter two code sections is that an indictment must contain a statement of the acts constituting the offense in ordinary and concise language, in a manner such as to enable a person of common understanding to know what is intended, and that it must be direct and certain regarding the offense charged and the particular circumstances of the offense, when such arc necessary to constitute a complete offense. Appellants object specifically to an alleged lack of precision in the information charging first degree burglary and the illegal acts committed, and to a failure to describe directly and certainly the property taken. They also contend that the Seven Mile Inn is not within the ambit of the buildings or edifices covered by I.C. § 18-1401.

Although I.C. § 18-1401 does not refer specifically to “inns” in listing the structures in which burglary may be committed, its reference to “or other building” is sufficiently broad to encompass the Seven Mile Inn. In State v. Marks, 45 Idaho 92, 260 P, 697 (1927), this court construed the word “building” to include an outhouse which was a small structure built against a larger building and used for housing a pump and gasoline. It consisted of three sides of shiplap, with a sloping roof, and the main building formed the fourth side. The court held that:

“The structure was walled in and had a roof and a door. It was erected and used for the purpose of protecting property placed therein. While small, it was more than a wooden box — it was a building, used in connection with a larger building, and subject to burglary.” (at p. 96, 260 P. at p. 698)

Certainly, the Seven Mile Inn is more of a “building” within the meaning of that word as used in § 18-1401 than the outhouse in the Marks case, supra. Colorado has adopted the rule that all stationary structures, no matter of what substance they may be constructed, are within the term building, so long as they are designed for use in the position in which they are fixed. A telephone booth, when set apart from any other structure, was held to be within the purview of the Colorado burglary statute citing some California cases that had reached the same conclusion. Sanchez v. State of Colorado, 142 *129 Colo. 58, 349 P.2d 561, 78 A.L.R.2d 775 (1960). That court further held:

“Rather than limiting the definition of a building to a structure with walls and a roof, which would include the telephone booth in question, we believe it was the legislative intent that a building is ‘a structure which has a capacity to contain, and is designed for the habitation of man or animals, or the sheltering of property,’ see People v. Miller, supra (95 Cal.App.2d 631, 213 P.2d 534, 536).” (at p. 562)

This is a proper definition of the legislative intent when I.C. § 18-1401 was adopted also. There is no merit, therefore, to appellants’ contention that the Seven Mile Inn is not a “building” within the scope of our burglary statute.

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

Related

State v. Damiani
496 P.3d 521 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2021)
State v. Jonathan Earl Folk
402 P.3d 1073 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2017)
State v. Derek Edward Moad
330 P.3d 400 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2014)
State v. Beebe
181 P.3d 496 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2007)
State v. Tarrant-Folsom
96 P.3d 657 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. Smith
77 P.3d 984 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2003)
State v. Hoffman
55 P.3d 890 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2002)
State v. Billings
54 P.3d 470 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2002)
State v. Crowe
13 P.3d 1256 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2000)
State v. Cheatham
6 P.3d 815 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2000)
State v. Belue
902 P.2d 489 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1995)
State v. Turner
864 P.2d 235 (Montana Supreme Court, 1993)
State v. McDougall
749 P.2d 1025 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1988)
State v. Sensenig
714 P.2d 52 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1985)
State v. Sivak
674 P.2d 396 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1983)
State v. McPhie
662 P.2d 233 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1983)
Stamper v. State
662 P.2d 82 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1983)
State v. Williams
651 P.2d 569 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1982)
Parkhurst v. State
628 P.2d 1369 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1981)
State v. Owens
619 P.2d 787 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
438 P.2d 275, 92 Idaho 124, 1968 Ida. LEXIS 260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-oldham-idaho-1968.