State v. Sorensen

792 P.2d 363, 243 Mont. 321
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 3, 1990
Docket89-491
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 792 P.2d 363 (State v. Sorensen) 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. Sorensen, 792 P.2d 363, 243 Mont. 321 (Mo. 1990).

Opinion

792 P.2d 363 (1990)

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Robert A. SORENSEN, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 89-491.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs March 22, 1990.
Decided May 3, 1990.

*364 David W. Harman, Libby, for defendant and appellant.

Marc Racicot, Atty. Gen., Helena, Scott B. Spencer, Lincoln Co. Atty., Libby, for plaintiff and respondent.

TURNAGE, Chief Justice.

A jury in the District Court for the Nineteenth Judicial District, Lincoln County, found Robert A. Sorensen guilty of multiple counts of criminal possession, possession with intent to sell, conspiracy to sell, and sale of marijuana. He appeals. We affirm.

The issues are:

1. Did the District Court err in denying Sorensen's pretrial motions to suppress evidence on grounds of illegal arrest and search and violation of Sorensen's right of privacy?

2. Did the court err in allowing Wayne Wagner to testify?

3. Did the court err in allowing into evidence the photograph of a person in a marijuana patch?

4. Did the court err in denying Sorensen's severance motion?

5. Did the court err in denying Sorensen's motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence?

6. Was Sorensen denied his right to speedy trial?

7. Was Sorensen denied his right to a fair trial because of cumulative error?

During the summer of 1988, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office received information from a confidential informant that marijuana was growing in a field in a remote area near Troy, Montana. Upon investigating, officers found other marijuana patches in the same area. The marijuana plants were growing in a mixture of peat and potting soil. The smaller plants were in Grodan brand starter cubes. Nursery *365 stakes, styrofoam cups, plastic five-gallon buckets, chicken wire, and "twisty ties" (used to secure garbage bags) were found in the fields. All of the marijuana patches were located on United States Forest Service land, and United States Forest Service and United States Fish and Wildlife agents joined in the investigation. Surveillance cameras were set up in several of the marijuana patches.

Later that summer, an informant told Officer Bernall of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office that defendant Sorensen was growing the marijuana on the Forest Service property and storing it at his land, and that Sorensen was a "major dealer" in marijuana. Sorensen owned and lived on one of eight twenty-acre parcels in a subdivision near the marijuana patches. Law enforcement personnel began watching Sorensen's property. They observed a padlocked bunker with ventilation vents, several other out-buildings, and two gardens in which nothing was planted. Photographs from the surveillance cameras in the marijuana patches showed two people believed to be tending the marijuana, a man, believed to be Sorensen, and a woman.

On the afternoon of August 17, 1988, Wayne Wagner was observed entering Sorensen's house. When he left the house, he carried a duffel bag which appeared to be full. The same afternoon, Sorensen discovered one of the officers doing surveillance on his property. Afterward, other officers doing surveillance saw Sorensen jump onto his motorcycle, go to where Wagner was camping on nearby Forest Service land, yell and whistle for Wagner, and engage in an animated conversation with Wagner. Sorensen and Wagner then returned to Sorensen's house. The officers immediately initiated proceedings to obtain a search warrant and, about an hour later, arrested Sorensen.

When the search warrant arrived, the officers searched Sorensen's property. Among the items discovered were loaded weapons and books on growing marijuana. One book described in detail how to grow wild marijuana without getting caught. The officers also found plastic five-gallon buckets, 251 styrofoam cups, 141 Grodan starter cubes, peat, chicken wire, 47 bags of potting soil, and "twisty ties." A plastic bucket found in one of Sorensen's vehicles was the same bucket on which, days before, an officer had scratched his initials in one of the marijuana patches. The officers also found notebooks which contained what they believed were coded watering schedules for the marijuana patches. Wagner's duffel bag was seized from his camp. It contained a waterproof bag of marijuana.

Also seized from Sorensen's house was a power bill from a home he owned in Spokane, Washington. The officers felt that the amount of the bill was suspiciously high. Pursuant to a Washington search warrant, the home was searched. Grow lights, Grodan starter cubes, drying racks, many marijuana plants, and packaged marijuana were found.

The information filed against Sorensen in Montana District Court included nine counts of felony possession of dangerous drugs with intent to sell, one count for each of nine marijuana patches. Sorensen was also charged with one count of sale of a dangerous drug to Wayne Wagner and one count of conspiring with Wagner to commit the sale of dangerous drugs. After a five-day jury trial, Sorensen was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana, six counts of felony possession with intent to sell, and the counts of felony sale and conspiracy. He appeals.

I

Did the District Court err in denying Sorensen's pretrial motions to suppress evidence on grounds of illegal arrest and search and violation of Sorensen's right of privacy?

Montana's Constitution provides, at Article II, Section 10, that "[t]he right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest." Sorensen contends that this provision protected him from trespass on his property by law enforcement officers. While the officers have not acknowledged *366 that they trespassed on his property, Sorensen maintains that they must have, in order to see his buildings in the detail in which they were described in the search warrant.

The protection afforded under Montana's constitutional right of privacy is broader than the right of privacy guaranteed under the United States Constitution. State v. Sierra (1985), 214 Mont. 472, 692 P.2d 1273. However, it is not boundless. The "open fields" doctrine, providing that the right of privacy in one's home does not extend to open fields within the view of the public, has been recognized under Montana's right of privacy. State v. Charvat (1978), 175 Mont. 267, 269, 573 P.2d 660, 661. Sorensen argues that because his property is heavily wooded, the open fields doctrine does not apply. But we hold that Sorensen did not have a legitimate expectation of privacy which would prevent law enforcement officers from observing the buildings on his unfenced twenty acres of land.

Sorensen further contends that he was illegally arrested at his home at night without a warrant. Section 46-6-401, MCA, sets forth the circumstances under which a police officer may make an arrest. Sorensen argues that none of the listed circumstances were present in this case.

We disagree.

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Bluebook (online)
792 P.2d 363, 243 Mont. 321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sorensen-mont-1990.