State v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 08 May 2012
• Docket Number: No. DA 11–0544.,DA 11–0544.
• Citation: 277 P.3d 1232,365 Mont. 56,2012 MT 101
• Parties: STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Tristeana JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

365 Mont. 56

277 P.3d 1232

2012 MT 101

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Appellee,

v.Tristeana JOHNSON, Defendant and Appellant.

No. DA 11–0544.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs March 7, 2012.

Decided May 8, 2012.

For Appellant: Kevin S. Brown, Paoli & Brown, P.C., Livingston, Montana.

For Appellee: Steve Bullock, Montana Attorney General, Matthew T. Cochenour, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, Brett Linneweber, Park County Attorney, Kathleen Carrick, Deputy, County Attorney, Livingston, Montana.

Justice JAMES C. NELSON delivered the Opinion of the Court.

[365 Mont. 57]¶ 1 Tristeana Johnson appeals a decision of the District Court for the Sixth Judicial District, Park County, finding her guilty of the charge of criminal possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor, in violation of § 45–9–102(2), MCA. We affirm.

¶ 2 Johnson raised one issue on appeal which we have separated into two issues and restated as follows:

¶ 3 1. Whether the District Court erred in denying Johnson's motion to dismiss the charge of criminal possession of marijuana.

¶ 4 2. Whether there was sufficient evidence for the District Court to convict Johnson of the charge of criminal possession of marijuana.

Factual and Procedural Background

¶ 5 On August 8, 2010, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Shawn Fowler was on East River Road south of Livingston when he observed Johnson's vehicle drift across the center line several times. Trooper Fowler pulled Johnson over in what turned out to be Johnson's driveway. Upon approaching Johnson's vehicle, Trooper Fowler noticed that there were numerous open beer containers in the vehicle, and he smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. Trooper Fowler later testified that he also observed other factors that led him to believe that Johnson had been smoking marijuana. When he asked Johnson if that was the case, she admitted to smoking a small amount of marijuana about an hour before she was stopped. Johnson stated that she had a valid Montana Medical Marijuana Card, which she showed Trooper Fowler. When Trooper Fowler asked Johnson if she had any marijuana on her, Johnson turned over a baggie containing less than one ounce of marijuana and a glass pipe.

¶ 6 Shortly after Johnson was pulled over, her stepfather, Dale Turner, arrived on the scene. From Johnson's Medical Marijuana Card, Trooper Fowler learned that Turner was Johnson's caregiver. When Trooper Fowler asked Turner if he had given Johnson any marijuana, Turner replied that he had not. Turner added that he had no marijuana to give Johnson because his grow operation was not yet up and running. Johnson refused to identify where she had obtained the marijuana.

¶ 7 Johnson was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in violation of § 61–8–401(1)(b), MCA; criminal possession of marijuana in violation of § 45–9–102(2), MCA; possessing an intoxicating substance while under the age of 21 in violation of § 45–5–624(1), MCA; possessing an open alcoholic beverage container in her vehicle in violation of § 61–8–460, MCA; and operating a vehicle without a valid motor vehicle liability insurance policy in violation of § 61–6–302, MCA, her second offense. Trooper Fowler did not charge Johnson with criminal possession of drug paraphernalia in violation of § 45–10–103, MCA, reasoning that Johnson was allowed to have the pipe due to her Medical Marijuana Card.

¶ 8 Johnson was tried in the Park County Justice Court on December 22, 2010. The Justice Court convicted her on all five counts. Johnson appealed her convictions de novo to the Sixth Judicial District Court.

¶ 9 On March 9, 2011, Johnson's counsel filed a motion to dismiss the charge of criminal possession of marijuana arguing that under § 50–46–201, MCA (2009), Johnson could not be arrested and prosecuted for possessing marijuana as long as the amount in her possession did not exceed one ounce. Counsel also filed a Notice of Affirmative Defense to the possession charge on the grounds that under Montana's Medical Marijuana Act (the MMA),¹ where the patient had a bona fide physician and medical records demonstrating that the potential benefits of medical marijuana outweighed the health risks to the person, she could not be charged with possession. The District Court subsequently denied Johnson's motion to dismiss and reserved the issue for trial.

¶ 10 A bench trial was conducted on July 29, 2011, wherein the District Court acquitted Johnson of the charge of possessing an intoxicating substance while under the age of 21. However, the court found Johnson guilty of the charges of criminal possession of marijuana,possessing an open alcoholic beverage container in her vehicle, and operating a motor vehicle without a valid liability insurance policy. In addition, the court ordered counsel to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the charge that Johnson was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. After reviewing those proposed findings and conclusions, the District Court determined that while the evidence demonstrated that Johnson did have marijuana in her system, the State failed to establish that Johnson's ability to safely operate a motor vehicle was diminished. Consequently, the court found Johnson not guilty on the charge of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

¶ 11 The court sentenced Johnson to pay fines of $300 on the possession charge, $25 on the open container charge, and $385 on the insurance charge. The court also ordered that the plates and registration on the vehicle she was driving at the time she committed these offenses be suspended for 90 days.

¶ 12 Johnson now appeals from the District Court's order denying her motion to dismiss the charge of criminal possession of marijuana, and the court's subsequent judgment and order convicting her of that charge.

Standard of Review

¶ 13 “ ‘The denial of a motion to dismiss in a criminal case presents a question of law which we review de novo.’ ” State v. LeMay, 2011 MT 323, ¶ 27, 363 Mont. 172, 266 P.3d 1278 (quoting State v. Roundstone, 2011 MT 227, ¶ 11, 362 Mont. 74, 261 P.3d 1009);see also State v. Knowles, 2010 MT 186, ¶ 23, 357 Mont. 272, 239 P.3d 129. We review a question on the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction to determine whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Booth, 2012 MT 40, ¶ 7, 364 Mont. 190, 272 P.3d 89 (citing State v. Azure, 2008 MT 211, ¶ 13, 344 Mont. 188, 186 P.3d 1269).

Issue 1.

¶ 14 Whether the District Court erred in denying Johnson's motion to dismiss the charge of criminal possession of marijuana.

¶ 15 Johnson argues on appeal that she should not have been charged with criminal possession of marijuana because she holds a valid Montana Medical Marijuana Card. She maintains that under § 50–46–201, MCA, she cannot be arrested, prosecuted or penalized in any manner for possessing less than one ounce of marijuana regardless of where she obtained it.

¶ 16 The State argues that Johnson's interpretation of § 50–46–201, MCA, fails to take into consideration the MMA as a whole. The State maintains that when viewed in its entirety, the MMA requires cardholders to obtain marijuana from a single, approved caregiver, and that the purchase of marijuana from anyone other than the cardholder's approved caregiver is illegal.

¶ 17 Section 50–46–201(1), MCA, provided as follows:

A person who possesses a registry identification card issued pursuant to 50–46–103 may not be arrested, prosecuted, or penalized in any manner or be denied any right or privilege, including but not limited to civil penalty or disciplinary action by a professional licensing board or the department of labor and industry, if:

(a) the qualifying patient or caregiver acquires, possesses, cultivates, manufactures, delivers, transfers, or transports marijuana not in excess of the amounts allowed in subsection (2); or

(b) the qualifying patient uses marijuana for medical use.

In addition, § 50–46–201(2), MCA, provided that “[a] qualifying patient and that qualifying patient's caregiver may not possess more than six marijuana plants and 1 ounce of usable marijuana each.”

¶ 18 Johnson contends that by convicting her of criminal possession of marijuana, the court effectively amended § 50–46–201, MCA, to insert the limitation that the ounce of marijuana a cardholder is allowed to possess may only be obtained from the cardholder's caregiver.

¶ 19 When interpreting statutes, this Court strives to implement the legislative objectives, and we are bound by a statute's plain language if we can glean the intent from the words used in the statute. State v. Merry, 2008 MT 288, ¶ 12, 345 Mont. 390, 191 P.3d 428 (citing Boettcher v. Montana Guar. Fund, 2007 MT 69, ¶ 19, 336 Mont. 393, 154 P.3d 629). Our task in interpreting statutes is simply to ascertain and declare what is in terms or in substance contained therein, not to insert what has been omitted, or to omit what has been inserted. State v. Ashmore, 2008 MT 14, ¶ 12, 341 Mont. 131, 176 P.3d 1022 (citing § 1–2–101, MCA).

¶ 20 In addition, when interpreting statutes within a legislative act, “ ‘[i]t is our duty to interpret individual sections of an act in such a manner as to ensure coordination with the other sections of the act.’ ” Zuazua v. Tibbles, 2006 MT 342, ¶ 25, 335 Mont. 181, 150 P.3d 361(quoting Howell v. State, 263 Mont. 275, 286, 868 P.2d 568, 575 (1994)). This Court operates under the presumption that the Legislature does not pass meaningless legislation, and we will harmonize statutes relating to the same subject in order to give effect to each statute. State v. Brendal, 2009 MT 236, ¶ 18, 351 Mont. 395, 213 P.3d 448 (citing Oster v. Valley Co., 2006 MT 180, ¶ 17, 333 Mont. 76, 140 P.3d 1079). We will read and construe the statute as a...