Mathewson v. State

• Decision Date: 27 March 2019
• Docket Number: S-18-0026
• Parties: Paul D. MATHEWSON, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

438 P.3d 189

Paul D. MATHEWSON, Appellant (Defendant),
v.
The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

S-18-0026

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

March 27, 2019

Representing Appellant: Thomas A. Fleener, Defender Aid Program, University of Wyoming College of Law; and Crystal Stewart, Student Intern. Argument by Mr. Fleener.

Representing Appellee: Peter K. Michael, Attorney General; Christyne M. Martens, Deputy Attorney General; Caitlin F. Harper, Senior Assistant Attorney General; John A. Brodie, Assistant Attorney General; Benjamin E. Fischer, Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Mr. Fischer.

Before DAVIS, C.J., and BURKE^* , FOX, KAUTZ and BOOMGAARDEN, JJ.

BOOMGAARDEN, Justice.

¶1] Paul D. Mathewson appeals his drug-related criminal convictions contending the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence and his motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. Mr. Mathewson also challenges his conviction for felony possession of a controlled substance, claiming the liquid contained in his water pipe (bong water), which tested positive for methamphetamine, does not constitute "a controlled substance in a liquid form" as contemplated

[438 P.3d 197

by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-7-1031 (LexisNexis 2017). Finding no error, we affirm.

ISSUES

¶2] Mr. Mathewson presents three issues, which we reorder and rephrase as follows:

1. Did the district court err when it denied Mr. Mathewson’s motion to suppress evidence, which challenged the validity of the search warrant?

2. Was Mr. Mathewson denied his right to a speedy trial?

3. Does sufficient evidence support Mr. Mathewson’s conviction of felony possession of methamphetamine in a liquid form as contemplated by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-7-1031 ?

FACTS

[¶3] Law enforcement executed a no-knock search warrant on Mr. Mathewson’s Thermopolis home on May 1, 2015. The officers suspected Mr. Mathewson of trafficking methamphetamine in Hot Springs County, Wyoming. Officers seized drugs and drug paraphernalia, including prescription pills, small quantities of marijuana and methamphetamine, syringes, and a water pipe filled with a colored liquid, which tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine. Officers arrested Mr. Mathewson on May 3, 2015. The State initially charged four counts: felony possession of methamphetamine, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-7-1031(c)(ii) ; misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-7-1031(c)(i)(C) ; misdemeanor possession of methadone, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-7-1031(c)(i)(D) ; and misdemeanor possession of marijuana, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-7-1031(c)(i)(A).

[¶4] From the beginning, the court proceedings were often continued and rescheduled, due in large part to Mr. Mathewson’s dissatisfaction with multiple, court-appointed counsel. Mr. Mathewson refused his first court-appointed attorney, the local public defender, and was reassigned an attorney from Park County. The circuit court attempted to timely hold the preliminary hearing, but Mr. Mathewson’s attorney did not appear. The circuit court refused to go forward without Mr. Mathewson’s attorney, and rescheduled the preliminary hearing after setting Mr. Mathewson’s bail. He posted bond the next day. The State amended the information to include an additional count of felony delivery of methamphetamine, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-7-1031(a)(i). Mr. Mathewson executed a waiver of speedy preliminary hearing and requested a further continuance of the preliminary hearing. The circuit court eventually held the preliminary hearing in June, after which it bound over the two felony charges to district court, while the misdemeanor charges remained in circuit court.

[¶5] The district court initially set Mr. Mathewson’s arraignment for August 2015, but his attorney did not appear due to a scheduling conflict. The district court reset the matter and arraigned Mr. Mathewson on September 14, 2015. He pled not guilty and the district court scheduled a jury trial commencing February 1, 2016. The following month, Mr. Mathewson requested and received a new public defender.

[¶6] At the pretrial conference in January 2016, the district court informed the parties it vacated the trial date to accommodate another criminal matter. During the conference, the court acknowledged Mr. Mathewson’s pro se motion to dismiss, filed the same day, alleging problems with his prior counsel, violations of his speedy preliminary hearing and speedy trial rights, and malicious prosecution.¹ In light of Mr. Mathewson’s motion and his continued dissatisfaction with his appointed counsel, the district court left the pretrial conference open until it could be rescheduled along with a new trial date.²

[¶7] On the State’s request, the district court reset trial for the end of February. Mr. Mathewson’s counsel moved to continue this

[438 P.3d 198

setting to permit more time to file pretrial motions, subpoena witnesses, and designate exhibits. He also moved to consolidate all of Mr. Mathewson’s pending felony and misdemeanor charges and filed speedy trial waivers in the district and circuit court cases.³ The district court granted both motions and reset the jury trial for the end of May.

¶8] The new trial date created a conflict for Mr. Mathewson’s counsel, resulting in another request to continue the trial. The district court heard arguments on the motion in April 2016 and asked Mr. Mathewson directly whether he opposed the motion. Mr. Mathewson favored the motion and the court reset the trial for October 2016.

[¶9] A few months ahead of the October trial date, Mr. Mathewson’s counsel filed a motion for substitution of counsel citing conflicts of interest and professional considerations. The district court held a hearing in August 2016 and granted the motion after receiving substitute counsel’s assurances he could proceed to trial as scheduled. On August 4, 2016, Mr. Mathewson filed a demand for speedy trial and another pro se motion to dismiss, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, speedy trial and discovery violations, and expressing his overall disagreement with the charges pursued by the State.

[¶10] Mr. Mathewson’s counsel moved to suppress evidence a few weeks before trial, contending the search warrant was based on unreliable and uncorroborated information from confidential informants, and a neutral and detached magistrate did not issue it. His counsel also filed a pretrial memorandum and raised concerns about the timing for resolution of outstanding motions in advance of trial. Mr. Mathewson’s counsel acknowledged the court’s concern with another continuance in light of the speedy trial demand, but stated Mr. Mathewson recognized "that any and all continuances related to obtaining new counsel and filing of motions to suppress ... would not count toward his speedy trial date, and would waive any argument, now or in the future, that these continuances should be counted when calculating the speedy trial date." Mr. Mathewson disagreed with his attorney’s statement regarding his calculation of the speedy trial deadline and filed a pro se "Supplement/Amendment of Pretrial Memorandum" stating his objection.

[¶11] Notwithstanding Mr. Mathewson’s pro se speedy trial demand and the imminent trial date, Mr. Mathewson’s counsel requested assignment of a new judge after discovering a potential conflict during trial preparation. The district court granted the motion, vacated all deadlines, including the trial date, and reassigned the case. After reassignment, the district court set a hearing in November 2016 to resolve all pending motions and reserved stacked trial dates in January and February in an effort to comply with the speedy trial demand.

[¶12] Near the end of November, Mr. Mathewson filed another pro se motion to dismiss, again asserting a speedy trial violation and claiming discovery violations. The same day, the court conducted a motions hearing, including the motion to suppress, the pro se motion to dismiss for a speedy trial violation, and other motions Mr. Mathewson filed pro se. After hearing the parties’ arguments and receiving evidence pertaining to the suppression motion, the district court took all motions under advisement. A week later, the district court reset Mr. Mathewson’s jury trial for January 23, 2017, sua sponte, due to an opening for a first stacked setting on its docket.

[¶13] In its written order, the district court denied Mr. Mathewson’s motion to suppress, finding sufficient reliability and veracity to support the information provided by three of the confidential informants and further finding Mr. Mathewson failed to provide any evidence substantiating his claim that the issuing judge was biased and not impartial. The district court also struck Mr. Mathewson’s pro se filings, sua sponte, including the

[438 P.3d 199

motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds and the "Supplement/Amendment of Pretrial Memorandum."⁴ As a result, Mr. Mathewson’s counsel filed a motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial and moved to sever the trespassing and driving with a suspended license charges because they were unrelated to the pending drug charges. The district court denied both motions after a hearing, finding the delays in the case were attributable to the defense, Mr. Mathewson was not "substantially prejudiced" in getting his case tried, and the...