State v. Fuller
| Decision Date | 13 October 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-113,94-113 |
| Citation | 880 P.2d 1340,266 Mont. 420 |
| Parties | STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Matthew C. FULLER, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Gary E. Wilcox, Chief Deputy Public Defender, Billings, for appellant.
Joseph P. Mazurek, Atty. Gen., Jennifer Anders, Asst. Atty. Gen., Helena, Dennis Paxinos, Yellowstone County Atty., Billings, for respondent.
Matthew C. Fuller (Fuller) appeals his conviction of three counts of attempted sexual assault, and the judgment entered thereon, following a bench trial conducted in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County. We reverse, concluding that the conviction is contrary to law.
The State of Montana (State) charged Fuller by information with three counts of felony attempted sexual assault pursuant to §§ 45-4-103 and 45-5-502, MCA. He subsequently was tried by the District Court.
Testimony regarding the underlying facts was largely undisputed. On November 25, 1992, Fuller drove from his home in Roundup and parked outside an elementary school in Billings. At approximately 3:00 p.m., as the school day ended, he followed three young girls down Nutter Boulevard in his vehicle. Two of the girls, L.S. and P.M., testified that Fuller first honked his horn and made the comment "nice butt" in their general direction as he drove by. A few minutes later he approached again, this time driving on the wrong side of the street. According to L.S. and P.M., Fuller then pulled up on the sidewalk directly alongside them and stated "let's do it" while sticking out his tongue and licking his lips.
The third girl, T.R., testified she heard a horn honk as the three girls left the school area together. She first noticed Fuller when he pulled up onto the Nutter Boulevard sidewalk; at that point, T.R. started running and did not hear the comments about which the other girls testified. Contrary to the testimony of L.S. and P.M., T.R. testified that Fuller's passenger, as opposed to driver's, side wheels were pulled up on the sidewalk. None of the girls testified that Fuller ever stopped the car, opened his door, or reached out for them in any way.
Billings Police Detective Dave Hinkel also testified. Hinkel related that, during a post-arrest interview, Fuller admitted that "he was on the very edge of having a significant problem sexually with children" and that he believed himself to be a pedophile.
The District Court announced its decision and findings orally after the trial and adopted the State's Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. It found Fuller guilty of the offenses as charged. The court subsequently imposed sentence and entered judgment. Fuller appeals.
The dispositive issue before us is whether the District Court's finding that there was insufficient evidence to establish a necessary element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt renders the conviction invalid as a matter of law.
Our usual standard of review following a criminal conviction is whether, viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Riley (1992), 252 Mont. 469, 470, 830 P.2d 549, 550; citing Jackson v. Virginia (1979), 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, 573. This case presents an issue relating to the fundamental principle subsumed in this standard: that the prosecution must establish each and every element of the charged offense by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson, 443 U.S. at 316, 99 S.Ct. at 2787.
Fuller was convicted of attempted sexual assault. To be guilty of the underlying offense of sexual assault, a person must knowingly subject another person to "sexual contact" without consent. Section 45-5-502, MCA. Sexual contact requires a touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of the victim for the purpose of arousing or...
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State v. Fuller
...Court reversed the attempt convictions for lack of evidence, and ordered Fuller to be acquitted of the charges. See State v. Fuller (1994), 266 Mont. 420, 880 P.2d 1340. After his 1992 conviction but prior to the 1994 reversal, Fuller was accepted into a treatment program in Billings. Patie......
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State v. Colburn
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U.S. v. Wiles
...of committing the underlying offense, took any act toward commission of the offense. Section 45–4–103(1), MCA.State v. Fuller, 266 Mont. 420, 880 P.2d 1340, 1342 (1994) (reversing conviction where there was no evidence that the defendant, after volleying sexual comments at three girls from ......
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