Estrada-Sanchez v. State, No. 01-154.

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
• Writing for the Court: GOLDEN, Justice.
• Citation: 2003 WY 45,66 P.3d 703
• Decision Date: 09 April 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-154.
• Parties: Jorge ESTRADA-SANCHEZ, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Defendant).

66 P.3d 703
2003 WY 45

Jorge ESTRADA-SANCHEZ, Appellant (Defendant),
v.
The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Defendant)

No. 01-154.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

April 9, 2003.

66 P.3d 705

Thomas B. Jubin of Jubin & Zerga LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Representing Appellant

Hoke MacMillan, Wyoming Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; T. Alan Elrod, Assistant Attorney General; Theodore E. Lauer, Director, and Carrie Dawn Tate-Meyer, Student Intern, and Meri Ramsey, Student Intern, of the Prosecution Assistance Program, Representing Appellee. Argument by Ms. Ramsey.

Before HILL, C.J., and GOLDEN, LEHMAN¹, KITE, and VOIGT, JJ.

GOLDEN, Justice.

[¶ 1] Jorge Estrada-Sanchez appeals his convictions on two counts of conspiracy with intent to deliver methamphetamine.² He

66 P.3d 706

challenges subject matter jurisdiction and the sufficiency of the evidence that permitted his conduct in California to form the basis of a Wyoming prosecution; he contends that the Information improperly varied from the evidence at trial; and he complains of prosecutorial misconduct and trial errors

[¶ 2] We reject the State's assertion that a detailed affidavit cured a constitutionally defective Information, or that the failure to obtain a bill of particulars waived it. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

ISSUES

[¶ 3] The parties agree that the issues are:

1. Was the evidence insufficient to support the convictions because there was no evidence of the Defendant's specific intent agreement that the controlled substances be further distributed by anyone in Park County, Wyoming?

2. Did the Court permit an improper variance from the Information filed, because the Defendant was charged with conspiring in Park County, but the Court instructed the jury that it could convict the defendant for conspiring elsewhere with intent to have an effect in Park County, Wyoming?

3. Did the prosecutor's misconduct of seeking and obtaining an instruction to the jury that a witness had refused to testify for the state and was held in contempt therefore require reversal?

4. Did the prosecutor's misconduct of falsely stating to the jury that there were no deals, when, in fact, the Court had ordered immunity for 14 witnesses—every non-law enforcement witness in the case, require reversal?

5. Were the Defendant's constitutional due process and confrontation rights were [sic] violated because the Court failed to swear the interpreter?

FACTS

[¶ 4] Between March 1997 and February 1998, two women, Chandel Smith and Lisa Lee, both of whom were romantically involved with Sanchez, made seven trips to California to see him. On two of those trips, the women returned to Wyoming with methamphetamine supplied to them by Sanchez, and they were later arrested for that possession. Those two trips formed the basis of two counts of conspiracy charged against Sanchez for which he was tried before a Park County, Wyoming, jury. Another five trips were admitted into evidence as W.R.E. 404(b) evidence to show a course of conduct. The first two trips occurred in March 1997 and June 1997. On the third trip, in September 1997, Chandel Smith was arrested with two pounds of methamphetamine, outside of Meeteetse, Wyoming, and this trip formed the basis for the first charge against Sanchez. The fourth, fifth and sixth trips involved Lisa Lee and occurred between November of 1997 and January of 1998. On her seventh trip in February 1998, which formed the basis of Count II, Lee testified that Sanchez sold her one pound of methamphetamine for $8,000.00, and gave her two weeks to pay him for the drug. She used about a half-pound, and weighed out some quantity to sell in Cody, but got arrested. The half-pound was retrieved by friends, sold in Montana, and money sent back to Sanchez in California.

[¶ 5] Sanchez was tried by jury, testified on his own behalf, but was convicted and sentenced to eight to ten years in the Wyoming state penitentiary. On appeal, Sanchez contends that insufficient evidence exists to show that he conspired to distribute drugs in Wyoming; a fatal variance exists between the Information and the evidence adduced at

66 P.3d 707

trial; and prosecutorial misconduct occurred, all errors that require reversal

DISCUSSION

Insufficient Evidence

[¶ 6] In his first issue, Sanchez contends that when the evidence is insufficient to prove that Sanchez intended for any purchasers to possess and deliver methamphetamine in Wyoming, then Wyoming does not have subject matter jurisdiction over a crime committed in California. The standard of review for sufficiency of the evidence issues is well established. We assess whether all the evidence presented is adequate to form the basis for an inference of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to be drawn by a finder of fact when that evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the State. We leave out of consideration the evidence presented by the unsuccessful party which conflicts with the successful party's evidence, and afford every favorable inference to the successful party's evidence which may be reasonably and fairly drawn from that evidence. Even though it is possible to draw other inferences from the evidence presented, the jury has the responsibility to resolve conflicts in the evidence. We will not substitute our judgment for that of the jury when we are applying this rule; our only duty is to determine whether a quorum of reasonable and rational individuals would, or even could, have come to the same result as the jury actually did. Black v. State, 2002 WY 72, ¶ 4, 46 P.3d 298, ¶ 4 (Wyo.2002); Vanvorst v. State, 1 P.3d 1223, 1228 (Wyo.2000); Harris v. State, 933 P.2d 1114, 1123 (Wyo.1997); Blake v. State, 933 P.2d 474, 480 (Wyo.1997).

[¶ 7] The trial courts of Wyoming have subject matter jurisdiction over drug conspiracies when the conspirators intend for the conspiracy to have an effect within the State of Wyoming. Marquez v. State, 12 P.3d 711, 715 (Wyo.2000). While in New Mexico, Marquez agreed with a person there to deliver drugs to someone in Wyoming in exchange for cash. Marquez was arrested in Colorado before reaching Wyoming. In this case, Sanchez sold drugs to a purchaser in California, and that purchaser then drove the drugs back to Wyoming and sold them. Sanchez first contends that the Information does not charge him with extraterritorial conduct that caused a result in Wyoming and, therefore, Wyoming lacks subject matter jurisdiction. At trial, however, the jury was instructed to convict if the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Sanchez had entered into a conspiracy specifically intended to have an effect in Park County, Wyoming. He contends, however, that this evidence demonstrated only that a sale occurred in California, and, without evidence of any specific intent to sell in Park County, insufficient evidence exists to support a conviction under the jury instructions.

[¶ 8] "When determining whether sufficient evidence exists to support a verdict, it is not our function to assess the facts or reweigh the evidence. We must assume that the jurors...