State v. Scheffelman

733 P.2d 348, 225 Mont. 408, 1987 Mont. LEXIS 787
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 24, 1987
Docket86-465
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 733 P.2d 348 (State v. Scheffelman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana 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. Scheffelman, 733 P.2d 348, 225 Mont. 408, 1987 Mont. LEXIS 787 (Mo. 1987).

Opinion

MR. JUSTICE WEBER

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

The Scheffelmans appeal from their convictions of felony possession of dangerous drugs and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia in the District Court for the Thirteenth Judicial District, Yellowstone County. We affirm.

The issues are:

1. Was the State’s notice of intent to seek increased punishment properly allowed?

2. Were the defendant’s motions for mistrial properly denied?

3. Does the evidence support Terrie Scheffelman’s conviction of possession of drug paraphernalia?

*410 4. Should the defendants’ felony convictions have been reduced to misdemeanor convictions?

5. Are instructions Number 6 and 7 (on mental state) constitutional?

Ricky and Terrie Scheffelman are husband and wife. In January of 1986, the Scheffelmans hosted a New Year’s party which lasted several days. Marijuana was admittedly consumed at the party.

On January 9, 1986, the Billings police executed a search warrant on the Scheffelmans’ house. In the house, police officers found 3 bags of marijuana weighing 61.55 grams, 43.23 grams, and 7.69 grams. They also found pipes, scales, roaches and nonprescription drugs. Ricky, who was home at the time, was arrested as he fled from the back of the house. Terrie was working at the time of the search. She was later brought to her home and arrested. Ricky made a statement to the police shortly after his arrest. In the statement, he admitted possession of marijuana, but denied that all the drugs in the house belonged to him.

The Scheffelmans pled not guilty and a trial was scheduled for April 7, 1986. An omnibus hearing was held March 28, 1986. No mention was made at the hearing of an intent to seek increased punishment for Ricky Scheffelman. A notice of intent to seek increased punishment was filed by the State on April 1, 1986.

Defendants testified at trial that much of the marijuana and drug paraphernalia in their house had been left by friends after the New Year’s party. Terrie stated that the scales were used to weigh Christmas packages, although Rickie admitted using them to weigh marijuana. They each testified that they jointly purchased a quarter pound of marijuana every month or two for their personal use.

Defendants were convicted by a jury after a two-day trial. Ricky was sentenced to 5 years and is currently in the Montana State Prison. Terrie received a two year deferred sentence. They appeal.

I

Was the State’s notice of intent to seek increased punishment properly allowed?

The defendants challenge the timeliness of the State’s notice of intent to seek increased punishment for Ricky Scheffelman under the persistent offender statute, Section 46-18-503, MCA. Defendants argue that notice should have been given before or at the pretrial *411 omnibus hearing, which was held on March 28, 1986. Notice of intent to seek increased punishment was given April 1, 1986.

Section 46-18-503(1), MCA, requires:

“If the state seeks treatment of the accused as a persistent felony offender under 46-18-502, notice of that fact must be given in writing to the accused or his attorney before the entry of a plea of guilty by the accused or before the case is called for trial upon a plea of not guilty.”

This Court has held that the State can give notice to a defendant who has pled not guilty at any point prior to the moment trial begins. State v. Johnson (1978), 179 Mont. 61, 70, 585 P.2d 1328, 1333. Since trial of this case began on April 7, 1986, there has been no violation of the notice requirement on its face.

The defense nevertheless asserts that because the omnibus order did not refer to notice of intention to seek increased punishment, the State should be precluded from later issuing such a notice. However, as the State points out, the omnibus order form contained no place to record whether such notice was or was not intended to be given. Also, nothing in Section 46-18-503(1), MCA, precludes the State from giving notice after the omnibus hearing, as long as it is still before the trial. We conclude that the lower court properly allowed the State’s notice of intent to seek increased punishment.

II

Were the defendants’ motions for mistrial properly denied?

A mistrial is properly declared when, taking all the circumstances into consideration, there is a manifest necessity to do so. State v. Close (Mont. 1981), 623 P.2d 940, 945, 38 St.Rep. 177, 183, citing United States v. Perez (1824), 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 579, 580, 6 L.Ed. 165. This Court’s review of a denial of a mistrial is limited to whether the district court abused its discretion. Close, 623 P.2d at 946.

The defense contends that twice during trial its motions for mistrial should have been granted. The first time was during examination of a forensic scientist who conducted analyses of items seized at the Scheffelman home. At the close of direct examination, counsel for the State handed the witness a list of all of the items on which the witness had performed analysis reports. The list included several items on which evidence was inadmissible, because the analyses had shown the items (a syringe and its contents) were not controlled *412 substances. After having the witness identify the document, counsel for the State made the following statement to the court concerning the exhibit:

“Your Honor, I am not going to offer this. I wonder if the Defendant asks a number of questions from it, and I will let him, if he chooses to offer it, he certainly may.”

The defense says this was an impermissible reference to inadmissible evidence.

There is no indication that the exhibit was ever shown to the jury or that the test results on the inadmissible evidence were otherwise revealed to the jury. We conclude - that there is nothing whatever to indicate that the jury was informed of inadmissible evidence with the above statement. We hold that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defense’s motion for a mistrial.

The second time the defense claims it should have been granted a mistrial was during Terrie Scheffelman’s testimony. She testified under questioning by the State that she had been in possession of a quarter pound of marijuana two or three weeks before the date stated in the information. The State’s attorney then said:

“I guess I am kind of at a loss. I think the witness has just made a full confession to the offense. And all she said is that the time is not applied correctly on the information. And I will change the time on the information to reflect the actual fact and accept a plea at this point based on the confession.”

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

Related

Shepherd v. State
2021 MT 70 (Montana Supreme Court, 2021)
State v. Martin
2019 MT 44 (Montana Supreme Court, 2019)
State v. Sutton
2018 MT 143 (Montana Supreme Court, 2018)
State v. Long
2005 MT 130 (Montana Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Partin
951 P.2d 1002 (Montana Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Arthun
906 P.2d 216 (Montana Supreme Court, 1995)
State v. Hall
816 P.2d 438 (Montana Supreme Court, 1991)
State v. Seaman
771 P.2d 950 (Montana Supreme Court, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
733 P.2d 348, 225 Mont. 408, 1987 Mont. LEXIS 787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-scheffelman-mont-1987.