State v. Galpin

• Decision Date: 25 November 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-445.,01-445.
• Citation: 2003 MT 324,80 P.3d 1207
• Parties: STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Farren Gene GALPIN, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

80 P.3d 1207

2003 MT 324

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Farren Gene GALPIN, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 01-445.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs July 2, 2002.

Decided November 25, 2003.

Rehearing Denied December 18, 2003.

For Appellant: William F. Hooks, Attorney at Law, Helena, Montana.

For Respondent: Honorable Mike McGrath, Attorney General; Mark Mattioli, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, George H. Corn, County Attorney; T. Geoffrey Mahar, Deputy County Attorney, Hamilton, Montana.

Justice JIM RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Farren Gene Galpin (Galpin) was charged in the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, Ravalli County, with possession of methamphetamine (two counts), possession of precursors (two counts), criminal endangerment (one count), and manufacture of dangerous drugs (two counts). Galpin moved to dismiss both possession charges for improper venue, arguing that Sanders County was the proper venue for the possession of methamphetamine charges and Missoula County the proper venue for one of the counts of possession of precursors. Galpin also moved to suppress evidence obtained from a search performed at the time of his arrest, arguing that the search exceeded the scope of the arrest warrant and any recognized exceptions. The District Court denied both motions after hearing, and Galpin proceeded to trial by jury. He was subsequently convicted of all charges except for one count of possession of methamphetamine, that charge having been dismissed by the court. Galpin appeals the District Court's denial of his motions. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

¶ 2 Galpin raises the following issues on appeal:

¶ 3 Did the District Court err in denying Galpin's motion to dismiss for improper venue?

¶ 4 Was sufficient evidence presented at trial from which the jury could determine that the offenses of criminal endangerment and production or manufacture of dangerous drugs were committed in Ravalli County?

¶ 5 Did the District Court err in denying Galpin's motion to suppress?

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 6 In the early part of March 2000, the Division of Criminal Investigation of the Montana Department of Justice (DCI) was contacted by a State of Washington detective regarding an outstanding warrant for the arrest of Farren G. Galpin. According to the detective, Galpin's arrest was sought in Washington for failing to appear in a case in which he was charged with criminal production or manufacture of dangerous drugs. The detective had received reliable information that Galpin was hiding in Montana and believed to be manufacturing methamphetamine. Accordingly, DCI commenced an investigation to determine Galpin's whereabouts.

¶ 7 On March 2, 2000, Mike Heaney (Heaney), a DCI agent, interviewed Kimberly Vert (Vert) at her mobile home in Stevensville, Montana, Ravalli County. Vert was Galpin's former girlfriend and the two had lived together in Vert's mobile home in Missoula County for several months before moving the home to Stevensville in August 1999. Once in Stevensville, Galpin resided with Vert on an intermittent basis. Although the couple's relationship had "deteriorated" by that time to friendship, they maintained frequent phone contact and Galpin continued to store many of his personal belongings at Vert's residence.

¶ 8 During Heaney's visit with Vert on March 2, 2000, Vert consented to a search of her home. While searching the back bedroom, DCI agents discovered a methamphetamine lab which Vert indicated Galpin used on several occasions to manufacture methamphetamine. Vert also told Heaney about two storage units—one in Missoula County and one in Ravalli County—in which Galpin allegedly stored methamphetamine lab equipment. Vert informed Heaney that Galpin might be staying at a residence occupied by Lance Grazier (Grazier) and Althea Liberty (Liberty) located just outside Dixon, Montana, in Sanders County. She agreed to wear a body wire, an electronic transmitting device, into the residence to determine whether Galpin was present.

¶ 9 At approximately 9:30 p.m. that evening, equipped with the body wire provided by DCI, Vert entered the small Dixon residence. Grazier, Liberty, and Galpin were present. DCI agents listened from a vehicle outside as Vert engaged Galpin in a brief discussion concerning the storage unit in Ravalli County. When Vert spoke to Galpin, she used his first name and Galpin responded. Vert then exited the residence and confirmed that Galpin was inside.

¶ 10 In the early morning hours of March 3, 2000, Heaney sought and received a warrant authorizing DCI to search for and arrest Galpin at the Dixon residence. In his application, Heaney noted that Galpin's presence at the residence had been confirmed by Vert, who had provided information the previous day leading to the discovery of a methamphetamine lab.

¶ 11 At approximately 4:30 a.m. on March 3, 2000, Ken Poteet (Poteet), the regional agent in charge of the Missoula, Montana, region for DCI, along with a team of specially trained agents, executed the search warrant at the Dixon residence. Grazier, for whom an arrest warrant from Sanders County had been issued on poaching charges, answered the door, and was handcuffed and placed on the small living room floor. Agents discovered Galpin sleeping on the living room couch, wearing only his pants, with a button-down shirt draped over the couch. Within seconds of their entry, agents forced Galpin to his knees on the living room floor and handcuffed him. They then placed his shirt over his shoulders and performed a pat-down search of Galpin's person, discovering two plastic baggies of methamphetamine, which they seized.

¶ 12 Galpin remained on the living room floor while agents secured the rest of the premises, which were also occupied by Liberty. In the process of securing the residence, Agent Poteet discovered a duffel bag and coat which Galpin identified as belonging to him. Although testimony presented at the suppression hearing conflicted as to the precise location of Galpin's coat and duffel bag, the District Court determined these possessions were located on a hutch approximately four to six feet from the couch where Galpin slept, with his coat either lying on top of the duffel bag or hanging just above it.

¶ 13 In the process of handcuffing Galpin, agents had placed him near the end of the couch closest to the hutch, putting Galpin in even closer proximity to his belongings. Knowing chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine to be easily mobile, highly toxic, and even explosive when mishandled, Agent Poteet performed a precautionary search of the duffel bag. He then searched Galpin's coat, discovering two sets of keys which he seized as possible evidence of the storage facilities in Missoula and Ravalli Counties. Galpin and his belongings were subsequently transported to the detention center where officers performed a search of his duffel bag pursuant to a separately issued search warrant.

¶ 14 Later that same morning, also pursuant to separately issued search warrants, DCI agents searched the storage facilities in Missoula and Ravalli Counties. As Poteet anticipated, the set of keys seized earlier that morning contained one key fitting padlocks to both storage units. Inside the Missoula County unit, agents discovered several mason jars filled with a suspicious looking liquid. In one jar, the liquid had separated into two layers, with a clear liquid on top. On another, the word "waste" was written. An analysis of samples obtained from the jars revealed traces of methamphetamine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, red phosphorous, and red iodine.

¶ 15 On April 17, 2000, the State of Montana filed an Information in the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, Ravalli County, charging Galpin with one count of criminal production or manufacture of methamphetamine (in Ravalli County), two counts of criminal possession of precursors to methamphetamine (in Ravalli and Missoula Counties), and three counts of criminal endangerment (in Ravalli County). The State also charged Galpin with one count of criminal possession of methamphetamine in Ravalli County. However, at trial, the State conceded that charging Galpin with this offense in Ravalli County was due to a typographical error and that the Information should have charged the offense as occurring in Sanders County. In response to the State's oversight, the District Court amended the Information as to form, pursuant to § 46-11-205(3), MCA (1999), so that it reflected Sanders County as the place where the offense allegedly occurred.

¶ 16 From the outset, Galpin had proceeded upon the assumption that the State's Information, charging him with possession of methamphetamine in Ravalli County, was simply an oversight and should have identified the offense as occurring in Sanders County. Shortly after the State filed its Information, Galpin moved to dismiss the charges of possession of methamphetamine in Sanders County (inadvertently alleged in the Information as Ravalli County) and possession of precursors in Missoula County for improper venue, arguing that the State failed to prove these offenses, or any element thereof, occurred in Ravalli County.

¶ 17 At the same time, Galpin moved to suppress evidence obtained from the search and seizure of his coat and duffel bag. Although conceding the agents were authorized to search and seize the methamphetamine found on his person, Galpin argued the warrantless search of his coat and duffel bag was unlawful, thereby violating his constitutional rights to be free from unlawful searches and seizures.

¶ 18 The District Court denied both motions after hearing, concluding that Ravalli County was the proper venue for all charges and that the search of Galpin's coat and duffel bag was a lawful search incident to arrest. In the alternative, the court found the search of Galpin's coat and duffel bag was lawful by virtue of the...