State v. Cook
| Decision Date | 02 June 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 31642.,31642. |
| Citation | 144 P.3d 28,143 Idaho 323 |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Guy Michael COOK, Defendant-Appellant. |
Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender; Diane M. Walker, Deputy Appellate
Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Diane M. Walker argued.
Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Rebekah A. Cudé, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Rebekah A. Cudé argued.
Guy Michael Cook appeals from his judgment of conviction for unlawful purchase of a firearm. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
On May 7, 2004, Cook pled guilty to possession of methamphetamine. On May 11, the county sent Cook a certified letter informing him that his concealed weapons permit had been revoked. On June 14, 2004, before he was sentenced on the methamphetamine charge, Cook purchased a semiautomatic handgun, shotgun, knife, battle-axe, and air pistol from a pawn shop.
While Cook awaited sentencing, he moved to withdraw his previous guilty plea to possession of methamphetamine, but the district court denied his motion. The state charged Cook with unlawful purchase of a firearm. I.C. § 18-3316. The information was thereafter amended to include a separate charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. I.C. § 18-3316.
Cook waived his right to a jury trial. At the conclusion of a bench trial, the district court granted a motion to suppress evidence that effectively disposed of the unlawful possession of a firearm charge. The district court then found Cook guilty of unlawful purchase of a firearm. Cook appeals, asserting that the charging information was jurisdictionally deficient and challenging the sufficiency of the evidence.1
Cook asserts that the amended information filed by the state was jurisdictionally defective. Cook argues that, because the information failed to specify the general intent element, the information was insufficient to confer subject matter jurisdiction to the court. Cook also contends that, because the intent element was absent, it lowered the state's burden of proof at trial. Cook did not object to the information before or at trial and raises this issue for the first time on appeal.
Idaho Code Section 18-3316(1) provides:
A person who previously has been convicted of a felony who purchases, owns, possesses, or has under his custody or control any firearm shall be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a period of time not to exceed five (5) years and by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
The relevant portion of the amended information filed in the instant case charged Cook as follows:
COUNT I, UNLAWFUL PURCHASE OF A FIREARM, Idaho Code § 18-3316 ...
That the defendant GUY MICHAEL COOK, on or about the 14th day of June, 2004, in the County of Kootenai, State of Idaho, did purchase a firearm, to-wit: a shotgun and/or a semi-automatic pistol, knowing that he had been convicted of Possession of Methamphetamine on May 7, 2004, in Kootenai County, Idaho, a felony crime[.]
Whether a court lacks jurisdiction is a question of law, over which this Court exercises free review. State v. Jones, 140 Idaho 755, 757, 101 P.3d 699, 701 (2004). In a criminal case, the filing of an information alleging that an offense was committed within the State of Idaho confers subject matter jurisdiction. Id. at 757-58, 101 P.3d at 701-02. Because the information provides subject matter jurisdiction to the district court, the district court's jurisdictional power depends on the charging document being legally sufficient to survive challenge. Id. at 758, 101 P.3d at 702. Whether a charging document conforms to the requirements of law and is legally sufficient is also a question of law subject to free review. Id.
A challenge asserting the charging information is jurisdictionally deficient is never waived and may be raised at any time, including for the first time on appeal. Id. at 758, 101 P.3d at 702. If an alleged deficiency is raised by a defendant before trial or entry of a guilty plea, the charging document must be found to set forth all facts essential to establish the charged offense to survive the challenge. State v. Halbesleben, 139 Idaho 165, 168, 75 P.3d 219, 222 (Ct.App.2003). When the information's jurisdictional sufficiency is challenged after trial, it will be upheld unless it is so defective that it does not, by any fair or reasonable construction, charge the offense for which the defendant was convicted. Jones, 140 at 759, 101 P.3d at 703; State v. Robran, 119 Idaho 285, 287, 805 P.2d 491, 493 (Ct.App.1991). A reviewing court has considerable leeway to imply the necessary allegations from the language of the information. Jones, 140 at 759, 101 P.3d at 703; Robran, 119 Idaho at 287, 805 P.2d at 493. In short, when considering a post-trial challenge to the jurisdictional sufficiency of the information, a reviewing court need only determine that, at a minimum, the information contains a statement of the territorial jurisdiction of the court below and a citation to the applicable section of the Idaho Code. State v. Quintero, 141 Idaho 619, 622, 115 P.3d 710, 713 (2005).
Cook challenges the sufficiency of the information by arguing it did not include the general intent element of the offense charged. Idaho Code Section 18-114 requires that, for every crime, "there must exist a union, or joint operation, of act and intent, or criminal negligence." The intent required by I.C. § 18-114 is general intent, and this requirement is satisfied if it is demonstrated that the defendant knowingly performed the proscribed act, without regard to whether he or she intended to commit a crime. See State v. Fox, 124 Idaho 924, 926, 866 P.2d 181, 183 (1993). When a criminal statute does not express a particular mental state or specific intent as an element of the crime, then the offense only requires general intent on the part of the perpetrator to conform to I.C. § 18-114. See id.
Idaho Code Section 18-3316(1) makes it a crime for a person who has been previously convicted of a felony to purchase a firearm. The purchase of a firearm is therefore unambiguously one of the elements of the crime. I.C. § 18-3316(1). Because the statute requires no specific intent, the offense only requires general intent—namely, that the defendant knowingly purchased a firearm, not that he or she intended to commit a criminal violation of I.C. § 18-3316(1). See Fox, 124 Idaho at 926, 866 P.2d at 183.
The term "purchase" implies a knowing act. Unlike a situation where an individual could be in possession of an item and be unaware of the possession or unaware of the nature of the item he or she possessed, to purchase requires actively seeking out and acquiring a known item. An individual could not purchase a firearm without the general intent to do so by knowing what item he or she set out to acquire. We conclude the "purchase of a firearm" element of I.C. § 18-3316(1) implicitly requires the state to prove the defendant intentionally sought to acquire a firearm through the exchange of funds, goods, or services.
Here, Cook's challenge to the jurisdictional sufficiency was raised after trial and need only meet the minimal standards set out in Jones and Quintero. The information charging Cook lists the territorial jurisdiction of Idaho and cites to the applicable statute Cook was charged under, which together were sufficient for the district court to imply the necessary allegations against Cook. Moreover, the element "purchase of a firearm" was included in the information. Because the term "purchase" implies a knowing act, the word "knowing" was not required for the element to be completely expressed in the written information. Additionally, it was not necessary for the information to cite to I.C. § 18-114 to confer jurisdiction. Because the element was complete as written, the state's burden of proof at trial was not lowered as the state had to prove Cook engaged in an intentional act in order to meet the purchase element. Therefore, the information was sufficient to convey subject matter jurisdiction upon the district court and did not lower the state's burden of proof.
Cook challenges the definition of what constitutes a "convicted felon" as an element of the crime of unlawful purchase of a firearm in I.C. § 18-3316(2) and the sufficiency of the state's factual evidence establishing that he is a convicted felon. Cook argues that the language of I.C. § 18-3316 requires the prosecution prove Cook received a formal judgment of conviction and sentence, prior to the time he purchased the firearms, in order to satisfy that element of the crime. Cook also asserts the prosecution failed to present substantial and competent evidence that Cook had been "previously convicted of a felony" at the time he purchased two firearms under his suggested interpretation of I.C. § 18-3316(2).
This Court exercises free review over the application and construction of statutes. State v. Reyes, 139 Idaho 502, 505, 80 P.3d 1103, 1106 (Ct.App.2003). Where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, this Court must give effect to the statute as written, without engaging in statutory construction. State v. Rhode, 133 Idaho 459, 462, 988 P.2d 685, 688 (1999); State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 659, 978 P.2d 214, 219 (1999); State v. Escobar, 134 Idaho 387, 389, 3 P.3d 65, 67 (Ct.App.2000). The language of the statute is to be given its plain, obvious, and rational meaning. Burnight, 132 Idaho at 659, 978 P.2d at 219. If the language is clear and unambiguous, there is no occasion for the court to resort to legislative history or rules of statutory interpretation. Escobar, 134 Idaho at 389, 3 P.3d at 67.
It is a crime for a person who has been previously convicted of a felony to purchase...
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State v. Murray
...allegations could fairly be construed to include elements that were claimed by defendants to have been omitted. See State v. Cook, 143 Idaho 323, 144 P.3d 28 (Ct.App. 2006) (The word "purchase" implies a knowing act.); McNair, 141 Idaho at 268, 108 P.3d at 415 (Terms "carelessly," "impruden......
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...to have been omitted." State v. Murray, 143 Idaho 532, 536, 148 P.3d 1278, 1282 (Ct.App.2006) ; see also State v. Cook, 143 Idaho 323, 326, 144 P.3d 28, 32 (Ct.App.2006) (implying the element of "knowing" from the word "purchase" in the indictment to find jurisdiction); State v. McNair, 141......
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