State v. Caldwell, 98-075

• Decision Date: 05 November 1998
• Docket Number: No. 98-075,98-075
• Citation: 968 P.2d 711,291 Mont. 272
• Parties: , 1998 MT 261 STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Harvey CALDWELL, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

Page 711

968 P.2d 711

291 Mont. 272, 1998 MT 261

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Harvey CALDWELL, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 98-075.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Nov. 5, 1998.

Background

¶1 On May 24, 1997, Harvey Caldwell (Caldwell) pleaded guilty in Powell County Justice Court to driving under the influence of alcohol and was convicted of and sentenced for that offense. Caldwell reserved the right to appeal the Justice Court's denial of his motion to dismiss the charge pursuant to § 46-12-204(3), MCA. In this motion, Caldwell argued that the charge should be dismissed for two reasons. First, Caldwell argued that the arresting officer did not have enough information prior to the arrest to form a particularized or reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was taking or had taken place. Second, Caldwell argued that the officer violated his right to gather exculpatory evidence when the officer refused to administer a blood test. The Justice Court stayed imposition of Caldwell's sentence pending his appeal to District Court. Caldwell appealed the denial of his Motion to Dismiss to the District Court for the Third Judicial District, Powell County, pursuant to § 46-17-311(1), MCA.

¶2 The District Court held an evidentiary hearing on October 30, 1997, wherein the State and Caldwell presented testimony and evidence concerning the issues raised in Caldwell's Motion to Dismiss. On November 25, 1997, the District Court issued an Opinion and Order denying Caldwell's Motion to Dismiss and affirming the Justice Court. On December 18, 1997, the Justice Court lifted the stay of imposition of sentence.

¶3 Five days later, on December 23, 1997, Caldwell appealed to this Court from the District Court's Opinion and Order denying his motion to dismiss. On July 8, 1998, the State filed with this Court a motion to dismiss Caldwell's appeal. The State argues that we should dismiss Caldwell's appeal with prejudice because, under § 46-17-311(1), MCA, the District Court reviewed his appeal as an appellate court and not pursuant to its "de novo jurisdiction." Thus, the State contends that Caldwell does not have the statutory right to appeal the Justice Court's ruling a second time to this Court. Alternatively, the State argues that even if Caldwell is entitled to appeal to this Court, we should dismiss the appeal without prejudice on the basis that it is premature since the District Court did not enter a judgment of conviction against Caldwell or sentence him after it denied his Motion to Dismiss.

¶4 There are two issues before this Court. First, we are called upon to decide whether an appeal may be taken to this Court after a district court has ruled on an appeal from a justice court's ruling on a pretrial motion pursuant to §§ 46-17-311(1) and 46-12-204(3), MCA. This is an issue of first impression. We hold that a defendant may appeal to this Court from a district court's order on an issue reserved for appeal pursuant to §§ 46-17-311(1) and 46-12-204(3), MCA. Second, we are called upon to decide whether Caldwell may appeal from the District Court's Opinion and Order even though the District Court did not enter a judgment of conviction against Caldwell or sentence him. We hold that Caldwell's appeal to this Court is not premature because Caldwell is appealing from a district court order entered after final judgment of conviction that affects his substantial rights.

Discussion

¶5 Montana's district courts have both original and appellate jurisdiction. Section 3-5-301, MCA. The Montana Constitution provides that "[t]he district court shall hear appeals from inferior courts as trials anew unless otherwise provided by law." Art. VII, Sec. 4(2) Mont. Const. Likewise, we have stated that, as a general rule, district courts must try all appeals from justice courts as trials de novo and may not sit as courts of review. State ex rel. Wilson v. District Court (1995), 270 Mont. 449, 451, 893 P.2d 318, 319 (Wilson II) (citing City of Billings v. McCarvel (1993), 262 Mont. 96, 101, 863 P.2d 441, 444 and State v. Todd (1993), 262 Mont. 108, 113, 863 P.2d 423, 426). Moreover, we have stated that "[a] district court does not have appellate jurisdiction to review the correctness of legal conclusions made by a justice court." Todd, 262 Mont. at 113, 863 P.2d at 426 (citing State v. Kesler (1987), 228 Mont. 242, 246, 741 P.2d 791, 793).

¶6 Notwithstanding, we have judicially recognized two limited exceptions to this general rule for cases in which the defendant appeals from an error at the justice court level that cannot be cured by a trial de novo in the district court. Wilson II, 270 Mont. at 451-52, 893 P.2d at 319-20. See also State v. Barker (1993), 260 Mont. 85, 858 P.2d 360. Under these exceptions, the district court limits the scope of its review to the alleged error that cannot be cured by a trial de novo. See Wilson II, 270 Mont. at 452, 893 P.2d at 320. See also Barker, 260 Mont. at 89-92, 858 P.2d at 363-64.

¶7 In Barker, the defendant appealed to district court because he had been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol but convicted of reckless driving. The defendant then filed a motion with the district court to dismiss the case arguing that a retrial on the original driving-under-the-influence charge would violate his constitutional protection against double jeopardy. We held that even though the statutory remedy for appealing a justice court decision is a trial de novo in district court, the district court could not conduct a trial de novo since the trial would have violated the defendant's constitutional protection against double jeopardy. Barker, 260 Mont. at 90-92, 858 P.2d at 363-64. Implicit in our holding was that the district court had the appellate jurisdiction to consider the defendant's motion to dismiss the case without conducting a trial de novo of the entire case.

¶8 In Wilson II, the defendant appealed to district court the justice court's denial of her motion to dismiss for lack of speedy trial. We held that, since a trial de novo would not be an adequate remedy for a defendant who has appealed a justice court's denial of a motion to dismiss for lack of speedy trial, the district court could, on appeal, rule on the justice court's denial of the motion to dismiss. Wilson II, 270 Mont. at 452, 893 P.2d at 320.

¶9 Section 46-17-311(1), MCA, contains another exception to the general rule that district courts must try appeals from justice courts as trials de novo. This statute provides in pertinent part that "except for cases in which legal issues are preserved for appeal pursuant to 46-12-204, all cases on appeal from a justice's or city court must be tried anew in district court...." Section 46-12-204(3), MCA, in turn, states in pertinent part that "[w]ith the approval of the court and the consent of the prosecutor, a defendant may enter a plea of guilty, reserving the right, on appeal from the judgment, to review the adverse determination of any specified pretrial motion."

¶10 The State contends that, under the exception in § 46-17-311(1), MCA, the district court "assumes appellate jurisdiction of the preserved issues, not de novo jurisdiction of the entire case." Because the right to appeal a criminal conviction from justice court is purely statutory, the State contends that Caldwell has already had his appeal on the reserved issue and that he has no statutory right to appeal the Justice Court's ruling a second time in this Court.

¶11 In response, Caldwell argues that, on appeal, the district court tries de novo the issues that a defendant has reserved for appeal pursuant to § 46-12-204(3), MCA. Caldwell points out that justice courts are not courts of record and that, consequently, a district court does not have a record to review when a justice court ruling is appealed. Thus, Caldwell asserts that the district court must hold an evidentiary hearing to determine anew the facts concerning the issue raised in the defendant's appeal. Caldwell argues that the district court, after considering the testimony and evidence presented at the evidentiary hearing, issues an order that is appealable to this Court. We agree.

¶12 Under the exception in § 46-17-311(1), MCA, it is clear that a district court does not try a defendant's entire case de novo after a defendant pleads guilty in justice court and reserves the right to appeal a justice court's ruling on a pretrial motion pursuant to § 46-12-204(3), MCA. See also § 46-17-203(2), MCA ("A plea of guilty in a justice's court ... waives the right of a trial de novo in district court."). We agree with the State that the district court takes appellate jurisdiction when a defendant appeals pursuant to § 46-12-204(3), MCA. We disagree, however, with the State's analysis that because the district court takes appellate jurisdiction over the issues raised in the defendant's appeal that it does not review the appeal de novo. As Caldwell correctly points out, justice courts are not courts of record and, as such, there may not be a factual record for the district court to review on appeal. Consequently, the district court must conduct an evidentiary hearing to ascertain the facts concerning the issues reserved for appeal. ¹ Therefore, the exception in § 46-17-311(1), MCA, cannot be read to change the district court's de novo standard of review. Instead, the exception must be read as limiting the scope of the district court's appellate jurisdiction to a de novo review only of the reserved issue and not of the defendant's entire case. Thus, the exception in § 46-17-311(1), MCA, is simply the statutory counterpart to the exception that we recognized in Barker and Wilson II. That is, while the district court does not have appellate jurisdiction to try the entire case de novo, it does have appellate jurisdiction to try the limited issues appealed de novo.

¶13 Finally, we reject the State's argument that, in cases such as the one at bar, the district...