State v. Paris

627 A.2d 582, 137 N.H. 322, 1993 N.H. LEXIS 78
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedJune 30, 1993
DocketNo. 91-310
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 627 A.2d 582 (State v. Paris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Paris, 627 A.2d 582, 137 N.H. 322, 1993 N.H. LEXIS 78 (N.H. 1993).

Opinion

Horton, J.

The defendant, Leo Paris, was convicted in Superior Court (Groff, J.) of felony criminal mischief, RSA 634:2,11(a) (Supp. 1992), and felonious use of a firearm, RSA 650-A:l (1986). On appeal, the defendant raises several arguments, which may be summarized as follows: that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of felony criminal mischief; that the trial court erred in allowing the State to amend its witness list; that the trial court erred in refusing his request for a jury nullification instruction; and that his convictions for felony criminal mischief and felonious use of a firearm subjected him to double jeopardy. We reject these arguments and affirm.

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on July 13, 1989, John Carroll was driving through Manchester when a car driven by the defendant came to a stop in the center of the road. The defendant, who had been returning home from a Manchester lounge, waited until Carroll pulled up behind him, and then proceeded for several blocks before again coming to a complete stop in the center of the road. Carroll again stopped his car, and the defendant again drove away.

After this sequence of events was repeated several more times, Carroll resolved to obtain the license plate number of the defendant’s car and report the incident to the police. He followed the car until it turned into the driveway of the defendant’s home on St. James Avenue in Manchester. As Carroll passed the driveway, the defendant got out of his car and aimed a .32 caliber pistol at Carroll’s car, a 1987 Ford Tempo. When Carroll ducked his head below his dashboard, he heard a bullet strike his car. The defendant fired six or [326]*326seven additional shots as Carroll drove away from the defendant’s home.

While attempting to return to the main roadway, Carroll, who was unfamiliar with the defendant’s neighborhood, inadvertently followed a street that brought him directly behind the defendant’s home. The defendant saw Carroll’s car and again opened fire, this time using a .25 caliber pistol that he had retrieved from his car after emptying the .32 caliber pistol. The defendant’s shooting left several bullet holes in Carroll’s car and flattened two tires. The defendant did not deny that he intended to fire at, and hit, Carroll’s car. He claimed, however, that he fired in self-defense, with the objective of “blowing] out [Carroll’s] tires ... so he wouldn’t come back.”

The defendant was arrested and indicted for felony criminal mischief and felonious use of a firearm. Under the criminal mischief statute, a party is guilty of a misdemeanor if he purposely or recklessly damages the property of another. See RSA 634:2, I & III (1986). The crime is treated as a class B felony if the party purposely causes or attempts to cause pecuniary loss exceeding $1,000. RSA 634:2,11(a) (Supp. 1992). At trial, the State, to establish the amount of pecuniary loss, called as a witness Leo Brosseau, an estimator of damaged vehicles who had inspected Carroll’s car two days after the shooting. At his insurance company’s request, Carroll had brought his car to Brosseau to obtain an independent estimate of the car’s damage. Brosseau estimated that the labor and materials required to repair the car would cost $1,771.36. This sum did not include the cost of replacing the two damaged tires. Carroll received an insurance benefit payment totaling $1,705.45. An acquaintance of Carroll’s performed the repair work at a discounted price, and Carroll did not spend the entire amount on repair work. He testified that he used the “majority” of the funds to pay for the repairs.

As further evidence of the damage to Carroll’s car, the State produced the detective and police officers who examined the car after the incident. The State also called a firearms expert, who testified that two of the car’s tires had sustained bullet holes. Finally, the State introduced photographs showing damage caused by the shooting to Carroll’s car. Based on this evidence, the jury convicted the defendant of felony criminal mischief and felonious use of a firearm.

7. Pecuniary Loss

On appeal, the defendant first argues that the State failed to prove that he caused or attempted to cause a pecuniary loss in excess of $1,000. According to the defendant, Carroll’s pecuniary loss within [327]*327the meaning of RSA 634:2, 11(a) (Supp. 1992) constituted only the net, out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a direct result of the shooting. The State’s evidence, the defendant contends, failed to establish that Carroll spent more than $1,000 to repair damage caused by the shooting.

To prevail on this argument, the defendant must demonstrate that no rational trier of fact, viewing the evidence most favorably to the State, could have found a pecuniary loss exceeding $1,000. See State v. Amell, 131 N.H. 309, 311, 553 A.2d 286, 288 (1988). Although the State must prove each element of its case beyond a reasonable doubt, it may fulfill its burden by relying on circumstantial evidence. See id.

RSA 634:2, 11(a) (Supp. 1992) does not define “pecuniary loss.” The term, however, generally has been defined as the “loss of money, or of something by which money or something of value may be acquired.” Black’s Law Dictionary 1131 (6th ed. 1990). When the State must prove the value of property in order “to bring a crime within the ambit of a particular criminal statute, any evidence from which the trier of fact can reasonably infer value is admissible.” State v. Hammell, 128 N.H. 787, 790, 519 A.2d 307,309 (1986) (quotation omitted); cf. RSA 637:2, V(a) (Supp. 1992) (term “value” under theft statute “means the highest amount determined by any reasonable standard of property or services”). The evidence need not be infallible, Hammell, 128 N.H. at 790, 519 A.2d at 309, since determining the weight given a particular piece of evidence “is the very essence of a jury’s function.” Id. (quotation omitted); see also State v. Pierce, 231 Neb. 966, 975, 439 N.W.2d 435, 442 (1989) (“there is no universal and comprehensive formula or method to determine the extent of pecuniary loss in relation to criminal mischief”).

To establish the value of the damage to Carroll’s car, the State introduced Brosseau’s estimate that repairing Carroll’s car would cost $1,771.36, well over the threshold amount for a felony conviction under RSA 634:2,11(a) (Supp. 1992). Insurance estimates have provided the basis for past felony convictions under this statute. See State v. Robidoux, 125 N.H. 169, 171, 480 A.2d 67, 69 (1984) (insurance adjuster’s estimate provided evidence of “pecuniary loss” over $1,000). Evidence that Carroll’s insurer paid $1,705.45, an amount exceptionally close to Brosseau’s estimate, lent credibility to the accuracy of the estimate. In addition, the jury saw photographs, and heard testimony, detailing the damage caused by the defendant. The defendant had ample opportunity to challenge the credibility of [328]*328the State’s evidence on cross-examination. We find that based on this evidence, the jurors reasonably could have concluded that the shooting caused pecuniary loss greater than $1,000.

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Bluebook (online)
627 A.2d 582, 137 N.H. 322, 1993 N.H. LEXIS 78, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-paris-nh-1993.