State v. Ranstrom
| Decision Date | 03 August 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 10689,10689 |
| Citation | 487 P.2d 942,94 Idaho 348 |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Terry RANSTROM, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Kerr & Williams, Blackfoot, for defendant-appellant.
W. Anthony Park, Atty. Gen., Martin R. Ward, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, and Thomas E. Moss, Pros. Atty., Blackfoot, for plaintiff-respondent.
Terry Ranstrom has appealed from the judgment of conviction in the District Court of Bingham County of the crime of burglary in the first degree. He was convicted subsequent to the following events.
On the night of September 22, 1969 the Highway Store in Aberdeen, Bingham County, Idaho, was broken into. Two Aberdeen policemen, Officers Vargeson and Horsch, began the investigation of the burglary and found a car belonging to Darlene La Chappellee behind the store. The next day, Boyd Summers, a detective for Bingham County, resumed the investigation. Summers went to Mrs. La Chappelle's home in Pocatello and learned that her nephew, Terry Ranstrom, had been using her car the previous night.
On Summers' request, Mrs. La Chappelle helped search for Ranstrom, and they found him at the Whitman Hotel in Pocatello. Summers began questioning appellant and there is some disagreement as to whether any Miranda warnings were given. Summers, however, testified that he gave the warnings using a card he carried as a refresher.
Summers drove appellant to Aberdeen. In the police station appellant signed a form upon which was printed the Miranda warning and gave a statement confessing to the burglary. Appellant contends that the waiver he signed was not read to him, but testimony given by the state's witnesses indicates that it was and that Ranstrom read the printed form.
The principal issue in the case is whether appellant's waiver of his Miranda rights was understandingly given. In support of his argument that there was no knowledgeable waiver, appellant argues that he was under the influence of drugs at the time of his arrest and comprehended little of what transpired. The appellant had a history of use of several drugs, and he allegedly took a capsule containing LSD the evening of September 22 (the night of the alleged burglary), the effects of which remained when he was arrested. Also, appellant testified that he had taken pills containing phenaphen and tenuate dosepan on September 23 (the next day) before he was taken into custody by Summers. A preliminary hearing was held October 9, 1969, appellant was bound over to the district court, and an information was issued October 24, 1969 charging Ranstrom with first degree burglary. A motion by appellant to suppress evidence was heard November 25, 1969 and denied.
The trial in district court began on March 17, 1970. After the jury was impaneled and prior to reading the information, defense counsel moved to amend the information by striking the words 'crime of first degree burglary' because the information failed to allege that the crime occurred in the night time. The court dened appellant's motion and granted the prosecution the right to amend the information by adding the words 'in the night time.'
At the conclusion of the testimony, the district court instructed the jury that to find appellant guilty, the prosecution must have proven 'each and every' of the state's material allegations. Ranstrom was found guilty of first degree burglary and sentenced to not more than five years in the Idaho State Penitentiary.
Appellant raises the following issues on appeal:
1. Error was committed by allowing the prosecution to introduce in evidence statements made by appellant when he was not properly given the Miranda warnings. Even if the warnings were given, appellant did not knowingly waive his rights since he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the interrogation.
2. The district court erred by allowing the prosecution to amend the information and add the words 'in the night time,' thereby changing the issues to be tried.
3. Further error resulted when the information was amended in that appellant was not arraigned on the charge as amended and was thus not given an opportunity to plead to it.
4. Appellant argues that the previously-mentioned instruction was erroneous since it might have left the jury with the impression that they could acquit only if the state failed to prove all its material allegations.
5. After the trial, defense counsel learned that a prosecution witness, Jerry Glassman, also a suspect in the crime, was not going to be prosecuted. Appellant believes that a 'deal' was made for Glassman to testify against Ranstrom. Based upon this belief, defense counsel moved for a new trial arguing that new evidence had been discovered which might have affected the verdict. The motion was denied by the district court. This denial is assigned as error.
We have reviewed the record and issues which appellant has raised on appeal and conclude that the trial court committed no error. There can be no doubt that one actually subject to the adverse effects of drugs so as to substantially impair his consciousness or judgment can not validly waive his Miranda rights. However, we do not believe that the record in this case establishes that appellant's consciousness or judgment were adversely affected by any drugs to the extent that the admissions, written statement or waiver which he made or executed can be found invalid because they were not voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently given as required by Miranda. Testimony given by several of the state's witnesses was quite consistent and conclusive that appellant exhibited no irrationality or incoherence or other debilitating effects of drugs at this time. A full evidentiary hearing was held five months prior to trial on appellant's motion to suppress evidence of appellant's statements and confession, and briefs were submitted by the parties in which this very issue was discussed. In denying appellant's motion to suprress the district court stated:
'The record contains extensive and substantial evidence concerning the advice to the defendant of his constitutional rights and to the extent that there is no reasonable doubt but what defendant was advised of, and had independent knowledge of, his constitutional rights prior to any of the eliciting of evidence sought herein to be suppressed.
'The Court finds: Acts, admissions, and confessions made by defendant to officers of the State of Idaho which were self-incriminatory in nature and might be used in evidence against the defendant were elicited...
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State v. Wyman
...as to the Miranda requirements are supported by substantial competent evidence. Thus, the assignment is rejected. State v. Ranstrom, 94 Idaho 348, 487 P.2d 942 (1971); State v. Thomas, 94 Idaho 430, 489 P.2d 1310 [97 Idaho 491] found that appellant was given the appropriate warnings, the ap......
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State v. O'Neill
...one of form only and not substance. State v. McKeehan, 91 Idaho at 817-18, 430 P.2d at 895-96 (footnote omitted). In State v. Ranstrom, 94 Idaho 348, 487 P.2d 942 (1971), the Court again dealt with the issue of amending an Information and an analysis of I.C. § 19-1420. The Court In this cas......
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State v. Sepulveda
...that he would have been able to impeach her testimony about her drug use is purely speculation and conjecture. State v. Ranstrom , 94 Idaho 348, 352, 487 P.2d 942, 946 (1971) ("Appellant points out no facts to support this contention and it is based on nothing but conjecture and speculation......
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...does not prejudice the defendant's rights. I.C. § 19-1420; State v. LaMere, 103 Idaho 839, 655 P.2d 46 (1982); State v. Ranstrom, 94 Idaho 348, 487 P.2d 942 (1971). In particular, the information must be specific so the defendant may prepare a proper defense and protect himself against subs......