State v. PENTICO

265 P.3d 519, 151 Idaho 906, 2011 Ida. App. LEXIS 83
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 17, 2011
Docket37834
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 265 P.3d 519 (State v. PENTICO) 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. PENTICO, 265 P.3d 519, 151 Idaho 906, 2011 Ida. App. LEXIS 83 (Idaho Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

MELANSON, Judge.

Christopher A. Pentieo appeals from the district court’s intermediate appellate decision affirming the magistrate’s order withholding judgment for trespass. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

Beginning in 2007, the Idaho Capitol closed to the public for renovation and the Governor’s office was temporarily moved to the third floor of the nearby Borah Building. On March 25, 2008, an officer stopped Pentico on state property, in the vicinity of the Capitol Annex, and informed Pentieo that he was no longer authorized to be at the Capitol Annex, the third and fourth floors of the Borah Building, and the department of education. 1 On April 2, 2008, Pentieo visited the Governor’s office on the third floor of the Borah Building. After Pentieo left the Borah Building, he was cited for trespass in violation of I.C. § 18-7011. 2 Months later, the state filed an amended complaint charging Pentieo with trespass in violation of I.C. § 18-7008. Pentieo filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint and a motion in limine.

At the hearing on Pentico’s motion to dismiss, Pentieo argued the amended complaint should be dismissed because it did not recite all of the elements of trespass required by 1.C. § 18-7008(A)(8) because it alleged only that, on April 2, Pentieo willfully trespassed upon the property of the State of Idaho by entering the Governor’s office in the Borah Building. The state then moved to file a second amended complaint which provided that, on April 2, Pentieo willfully trespassed upon the property of the State of Idaho by returning and entering the Governor’s office in the Borah Building without permission or invitation, after being verbally notified within the previous year not to do so, by an authorized agent of the State. The magistrate granted the state’s motion to amend and *910 denied Pentieo’s motion to dismiss on that ground.

In further support of his motion to dismiss, however, Pentieo cited to a recent Idaho Supreme Court decision for the proposition that I.C. § 18-7008(A)(8) could be challenged as being unconstitutional as applied to a person on public property who is exercising his or her free speech rights. See State v. Korsen, 138 Idaho 706, 715-16, 69 P.3d 126, 135-36 (2003). After hearing argument on the constitutional issue, the magistrate denied Pentieo’s motion to dismiss, holding that I.C. § 18-7008(A)(8) placed reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner in which constitutional rights could be exercised and Pentieo was being prosecuted for his conduct and not the content of his communication. Following this determination, the magistrate addressed and granted Pentieo’s motion in limine which sought to limit any testimony regarding other crimes, wrongs, or acts of Pentieo. Based on the foregoing, the magistrate determined that the content of the communication and prior dealings Pentieo may have had with other government officials was not relevant to the case and limited testimony to what occurred on April 2 when Pentieo was cited for trespass. 3

The parties waived tidal by a jury. At trial before the magistrate, in accordance with its previous ruling, Pentieo was not allowed to present testimony regarding his communication and prior dealings with government officials or assert that his actions were justified under the First Amendment. At the conclusion of trial, the magistrate determined that the state proved all of the elements required by I.C. § 18-7008(A)(8) beyond a reasonable doubt — that Pentieo was properly notified he could not be present at certain locations and that he was thereafter physically present at those locations within a year of such notice. The magistrate found Pentieo guilty of trespass, entered a withheld judgment, and placed Pentieo on probation for thirty days. Pentieo appealed.

On appeal to the district court, Pentieo argued that the state did not prove all of the elements of trespass required by the statute. Specifically, Pentieo alleged that the state failed to prove that Pentieo had not been invited to return to the Borah Building and also failed to prove that he had been asked specifically to leave the Borah Building. Pentieo also argued that the statute was unconstitutional as applied to him. The district court concluded that the state proved all of the elements of trespass required by the statute. As to the constitutional challenges, the district court determined that the only issue preserved for appeal was whether Pentico engaged in constitutionally-protected activity on April 2 because Pentieo did not argue before the magistrate that he was engaged in constitutionally-protected conduct that was infringed by the notice banning him from government property on March 25. The district court concluded that the statute was not unconstitutional as applied to Pentieo on April 2 and affirmed the magistrate’s order withholding judgment. Pentieo again appeals, arguing that the state failed to prove all of the elements of trespass required by I.C. § 18-7008(A)(8), that the statute was unconstitutional as applied to him, and that that the magistrate erred by precluding evidence.

II.

ANALYSIS

On review of a decision of the district court, rendered in its appellate capacity, we review the decision of the district court directly. State v. DeWitt, 145 Idaho 709, 711, 184 P.3d 215, 217 (Ct.App.2008). We examine 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. Id. 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.

A. Statutory Interpretation

Pentieo argues that he could not be convicted of trespass because the state did not *911 prove all of the elements required by the statute. Idaho Code Section 18-7008(A) provides that every person is guilty of a misdemeanor who willfully commits any trespass by:

(8) ... being first notified in writing, or verbally by the owner or authorized agent of the owner of real property, to immediately depart from the same and who refuses to so depart, or who, without permission or invitation, returns and enters said property within a year, after being so notified ____

This Court exercises free review over the application and construction of statutes. State v. Reyes, 139 Idaho 502, 505, 80 P.3d 1103, 1106 (Ct.App.2003). Where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, this Court must give effect to the statute as written, without engaging in statutory construction. State v. Rhode, 133 Idaho 459, 462, 988 P.2d 685, 688 (1999); State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999);

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
265 P.3d 519, 151 Idaho 906, 2011 Ida. App. LEXIS 83, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pentico-idahoctapp-2011.