State v. Oliver

820 P.2d 474, 170 Utah Adv. Rep. 44, 1991 Utah App. LEXIS 139, 1991 WL 193150
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedSeptember 26, 1991
Docket890625-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 820 P.2d 474 (State v. Oliver) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Oliver, 820 P.2d 474, 170 Utah Adv. Rep. 44, 1991 Utah App. LEXIS 139, 1991 WL 193150 (Utah Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION

GREENWOOD, Judge:

Appellant Greg N. Oliver appeals his conviction of burglary, a second degree felony, in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-202 (1989) and theft, a third degree felony, in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-404 (1989) on the bases that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a continuance and that admissible evidence supports only a misdemeanor theft conviction. We affirm in part, and reverse and remand in part.

BACKGROUND

At 2:30 p.m. on January 7, 1989, John Spielmans returned home from a basketball game with his son. He noticed that the side door to his garage, which was usually locked, was open. Spielmans went into the garage to investigate. He then saw a man dressed in a dark cap and dark jacket jump over a chain link fence ten to twelve feet away and run north. Spielmans began chasing the man, but lost sight of him. Spielmans returned home and noticed that the front door to his house was dented and that it appeared someone had been inside the house. He called 911 and waited outside for the police to arrive. While he was waiting, one of Spielmans’s neighbors called his attention to a man who was leaning against a wooden fence across the street. Noting the similarity of that person’s clothing to that of the man he had observed running away, Spielmans concluded it was the same person. Spielmans walked toward the man, who began running toward a car parked nearby. The man got into the car and looked over his left shoulder as Spielmans approached him and said, “It wasn’t me, man” before driving off. Spielmans again called 911 and described the car, including the license plate number and the direction of travel.

When Deputy Matthews arrived to investigate, Spielmans told him that a watch, a gold ring, four one-dollar bills and four or five gold Canadian coins were missing from his house. Deputy Matthews also spoke with Spielmans’s neighbor who saw the man run across his front yard, climb into the parked car and speed away when Spiel-mans approached him.

Deputy Matthews ran a computer check on the license plate of the car and obtained the vehicle owner’s name and address. He then went to the vicinity of that address to investigate further. He saw a man fitting the description that Spielmans had given, exit the vehicle owner’s residence.

Based on his own observations, the license plate number of the car and the descriptions given by both Spielmans and his neighbor, Deputy Matthews obtained a picture of defendant, Greg N. Oliver, from the police records division. The next day, he returned to Spielmans’s home with the photo of Oliver and showed it to Spielmans, advising him that he had reason to believe that Oliver was the same person Spielmans described. Spielmans identified Oliver as the man he had seen.

Three days after the incident, Deputy Matthews assembled a photo spread, including the picture of Oliver and pictures of five other men. He showed the photo spread to Spielmans, who again identified Oliver as the suspect. Deputy Matthews also showed the photo spread to three of Spielmans’s neighbors, two of whom identified Oliver as the person they had observed the day of the incident.

Oliver was arrested and charged with one count of burglary, a second degree felony and one count of theft, a third degree felony.

*476 The trial judge granted two continuances prior to the case actually being tried. At the final pretrial conference, on August 28, 1989, Oliver’s attorney told the trial judge that he was ready to proceed to trial and agreed to a trial date of September 5, 1989.

After the pretrial conference, Oliver entered into plea negotiations with the State. The trial judge’s clerk told both the State and Oliver’s attorney, however, to prepare as if they were going to trial as scheduled. The night before trial, Oliver agreed to the State’s plea proposal and decided that he would enter a guilty plea in the morning rather than go to trial. The next morning, however, Oliver changed his mind and decided that he wanted to go to trial. Oliver’s attorney moved for a one day continuance, stating that he needed more time to formally prepare for trial. The trial judge denied this motion. Oliver was convicted by a jury of one count of second degree burglary and one count of third degree theft.

ISSUES

On appeal Oliver argues that: (1) the trial court’s denial of his motion for a continuance denied him due process of law; (2) the trial court’s denial of his motion for a continuance denied him effective assistance of counsel; and (3) admissible evidence supports only a class A misdemeanor theft conviction.

ANALYSIS

Due Process

Oliver argues that the trial court’s denial of his motion for a one day continuance violated his right to due process because it forced his counsel to proceed to trial without being adequately prepared. Oliver asserts that his attorney did not conduct any formal trial preparation after Oliver decided to plead guilty. Consequently, when he changed his mind the next morning and decided he wanted to go to trial, Oliver’s counsel was not sufficiently prepared. Oliver claims that had his attorney had one more day to prepare for trial, he would have been better prepared to: (1) support Oliver’s testimony regarding his prior conviction based on misidentification; (2) expose weaknesses in the eyewitness identification testimony; and (3) support Oliver’s assertions concerning possible police misconduct involved in the photo show up.

The grant or denial of a continuance is within the discretion of the trial court. State v. Humpherys, 707 P.2d 109, 109 (Utah 1985) (per curiam); State v. Creviston, 646 P.2d 750, 752 (Utah 1982); State v. Moosman, 542 P.2d 1093, 1094 (Utah 1975). This court will not reverse the trial court’s decision absent a clear abuse of discretion. Id.

When moving for a continuance, a party must show that denial of the motion will prevent the party from obtaining material and admissible evidence, that any additional witnesses it seeks can be produced within a reasonable time, and that it has exercised due diligence in preparing for the case before requesting the continuance. State v. Linden, 761 P.2d 1386, 1387 (Utah 1988). Absent such showing, the trial court does not abuse its discretion if it denies the motion. Id. We are also persuaded by Washington precedent, that on appeal, the moving party must show that it was materially prejudiced by the court’s denial of the continuance or that the trial result would have been different had the continuance been granted. State v. Barker, 35 Wash.App. 388, 667 P.2d 108, 114 (1983).

Oliver has failed to make the necessary showing required by these cases.

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Bluebook (online)
820 P.2d 474, 170 Utah Adv. Rep. 44, 1991 Utah App. LEXIS 139, 1991 WL 193150, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-oliver-utahctapp-1991.