Martin v. State
| Citation | 2007 WY 2,149 P.3d 707 |
| Decision Date | 10 January 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-188.,05-188. |
| Parties | Jesse Matthew MARTIN, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming |
Representing Appellant: Ken Koski, State Public Defender, PDP; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel; Diane E. Courselle, Director, DAP; Christopher G. Humphrey, Student Intern; Eang M. Man, Student Director, DAP. Argument by Ms. Man.
Representing Appellee: Patrick J. Crank, Attorney General; Paul Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Kyle R. Smith, Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Mr. Smith.
Before VOIGT, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL, KITE, and BURKE, JJ.
[¶ 1] A jury found Jesse Matthew Martin guilty of escape in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-18-112 and § 6-5-206(a)(ii) (Lexis-Nexis 2006). On appeal, he claims the district court abused its discretion when it denied his motion for mistrial made after two witnesses for the State gave irrelevant and prejudicial testimony connecting him with methamphetamine use. He also claims the district court committed plain error in denying his motion for acquittal after the State allegedly failed to present sufficient evidence of escape. We hold the district court did not abuse its discretion or commit plain error and affirm the conviction.
[¶ 2] Mr. Martin asks this Court to address the following issues:
I. Abuse of discretion occurred when the district court refused to grant a mistrial after statements made by two of the State's witnesses purported to connect Mr. Martin with methamphetamine use and severely prejudiced the jury against the defendant.
II. The district court committed plain error when it failed to direct a verdict of acquittal after the State failed to present sufficient evidence that Mr. Martin had left his place of employment.
The State asserts the district court properly denied the motions for mistrial and judgment of acquittal.
[¶ 3] Mr. Martin pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to forty days in jail. He was held in jail until he was accepted into Community Alternatives of Casper (CAC) in Casper, Wyoming for service of the remainder of his sentence. He began his stay at CAC on July 9, 2004.
[¶ 4] CAC is a work release detention facility. Inmates accepted at CAC are required to obtain employment in the Casper area. They are also required to sign in and out of CAC, and to notify CAC of their whereabouts at all times.
[¶ 5] Mr. Martin obtained employment as a laborer with DLH, Inc. (DLH), a street repair company that performs seal coating, crack filling and striping. On July 19, 2004, DLH assigned Mr. Martin to work at the Pine Tree Condominiums. At approximately 9:30 a.m., he was instructed to take a spray tip used for striping parking lots to another DLH employee at a different work site. He drove a DLH truck to carry out this assignment.
[¶ 6] Don Humbree, the owner of DLH, arrived at the Pine Tree Condominiums work site at 10:00 a.m. on July 19. Mr. Martin and the DLH truck were gone. Mr. Humbree drove to the other work site where Mr. Martin had been sent and determined Mr. Martin had delivered the spray tip and left. Mr. Humbree returned to Pine Tree Condominiums around 10:30 a.m. and Mr. Martin had not returned. Mr. Humbree sent another worker out looking for him. The worker found the DLH truck parked along a street, but Mr. Martin was not with the truck.
[¶ 7] Mr. Humbree informed Maureen Humbree, his wife and co-owner of DLH, of Mr. Martin's absence. Between 12:30 and 1:00 p.m., Mrs. Humbree called CAC and reported Mr. Martin's absence. CAC placed Mr. Martin on escape status and reported the escape to the Natrona Country Sheriff's Office. When deputies arrived at the Pine Tree Condominiums later that afternoon, Mr. Martin had returned. He was arrested and charged with escape in violation of §§ 7-18-112 and 6-5-206(a)(ii).1
[¶ 8] On January 10, 2005, a jury trial commenced in the district court on the escape charge filed against Mr. Martin. The State called Helen Norcross, CAC case manager supervisor, to testify. During direct examination by the prosecutor, Ms. Norcross testified that Mr. Martin was sentenced to incarceration in CAC because of convictions for possession of controlled substances and a probation violation. Defense counsel objected to the testimony on relevancy grounds. The district court sustained the objection but did not instruct the jury to disregard the testimony. The prosecution then sought admission of the judgment and sentence reflecting the offenses for which Mr. Martin was convicted. Defense counsel again objected. The district court admitted the exhibit, but ordered the State to redact all references to the specific offenses before showing the document to the jury.
[¶ 9] The State also called Calvin Piper, an employee of DLH, to testify. Mr. Piper testified that Mr. Martin did not come to the Pine Tree Condominiums work site on the morning of the escape. Mr. Piper testified he heard that Mr. Martin went to a pharmacy and picked up syringes that morning. Defense counsel objected to the testimony as inadmissible hearsay and moved for a mistrial. The district court instructed the jury to disregard the testimony and proceeded with the trial, intending to hear argument on the mistrial motion later in the day.
[¶ 10] At the end of the day, the district court excused the jury and heard argument on the mistrial motion. The district court denied the motion, concluding the objectionable testimony was not sufficiently prejudicial to warrant a mistrial and the corrective measures taken adequately addressed the improper testimony. The trial continued, and at the close of the State's case, defense counsel moved for a judgment of acquittal on the grounds the State presented no evidence that Mr. Martin left his place of employment, proof of which was necessary for conviction of the crime of escape. The district court denied the motion, and the trial continued with presentation of evidence by the defense. The defense did not renew the motion for acquittal at the close of all of the evidence. The jury returned a verdict of guilty. The defense also did not renew its motion for acquittal after the verdict. The district court sentenced Mr. Martin to serve thirteen to twenty-four months in the Wyoming State Penitentiary with twenty-three days credit for time served.
[¶ 11] We review claimed error in the denial of a motion for mistrial for abuse of discretion. Thomas v. State, 2006 WY 34, ¶ 10, 131 P.3d 348, 352 (Wyo.2006). In the present case, we review the claim of error in the denial of the motion for acquittal for plain error. Farbotnik v. State, 850 P.2d 594, 604 (Wyo.1993).2
[¶ 12] Mr. Martin claims the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion for mistrial after the two witnesses gave irrelevant, prejudicial testimony. The State contends there was no abuse of discretion because the testimony was not sufficiently prejudicial to warrant a mistrial and, in any event, the trial court took appropriate steps to cure any error. The State also asserts defense counsel approved the measures the district court took to correct any error and, having done so, cannot be heard to complain now. Additionally, the State contends Mr. Martin has failed to show the jury likely would have reached a different result but for the improper testimony.
[¶ 13] As stated above, the testimony that was the basis for the mistrial motion came from two witnesses: Ms. Norcross and Mr. Piper. During the prosecution's direct examination of Ms. Norcross, the following exchange occurred:
Q. [W]as Mr. Martin sentenced to CAC?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. And do you recall for what sentence?
A. He was sentenced—let me look here. It was for a—it was a misdemeanor on the county.
Q. And do you know which county that is?
A. Natrona County.
Q. And do you know what he was sentenced for?
A. Possession of controlled substance.
Q. Was there any other convictions?
A. Probation violation.
At this point, defense counsel objected on the grounds of relevancy and the district court sustained the objection.
[¶ 14] The prosecutor then asked Ms. Norcross to identify State's exhibit 3. Ms. Norcross identified the document as a certified copy of the judgment and sentence leading to Mr. Martin's incarceration at CAC. The State offered the exhibit into evidence and defense counsel objected, again on the basis of relevancy. The State asserted that evidence of Mr. Martin's misdemeanor conviction was necessary to prove the elements of escape. The district court agreed that evidence of the misdemeanor conviction was necessary, but concluded evidence of the specific offenses was not relevant. The court ruled the exhibit would be admitted into evidence with all references to the offenses redacted. Defense counsel reiterated his concern. The district court stated:
Well, I'm going to redact the nature of the offense. I don't think the nature of the offense other than it was a misdemeanor is relevant. He was sentenced on a misdemeanor to CAC. That's the extent of the relevance.
Unless you can—unless there's some other reason for that to come in, I don't want to have any—obviously, the jury would be instructed they are to disregard the underlying violation other than to the extent that he was sentenced there for that. But the nature of that violation is not relevant. And I find that the probative value outweighs the undue prejudice that it could cause.
[¶ 15] The district court directed that certain lines be redacted from the judgment and sentence and asked defense counsel whether anything else needed to be redacted. Defense counsel responded, "I don't believe so, your honor." The district court stated it would admit the document subject to the redaction, but it could not be published to the jury...
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