State v. Hill

189 P.3d 1201

2008 MT 260

345 Mont. 95

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Matthew HILL, Defendant and Appellant.

No. DA 07-0548.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs June 18, 2008.

Decided July 24, 2008.

For Appellant: Jami Rebsom, Karl Knuchel, P.C., Livingston, Montana.

For Appellee: Hon. Mike McGrath, Montana Attorney General, C. Mark Fowler, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, Brett Linneweber, Park County Attorney, Livingston, Montana.

Justice PATRICIA O. COTTER delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Matthew Hill (Hill) appeals his convictions for felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute and misdemeanor possession of dangerous drugs in the Sixth Judicial District, Park County. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On the night of August 16, 2006, Captain Corey Lussier, Officer John Mathias, and Officer John Leonard of the Livingston Police Department (LPD) responded to a dispatch concerning a domestic disturbance. The dispatch stated that the disturbance was occurring at a trailer with a fence and a truck in its yard at the corner of M and Lewis Streets in Livingston, Montana. When officers arrived on the scene, they were unable to locate a trailer at that location, but then noticed a trailer matching that description approximately one block away. When they approached the trailer, officers heard a female screaming. Officer Mathias later testified that upon arriving at the trailer, he recognized it as the home of Hill and a woman named Toni Culver (Culver), both of whom were believed to be using and distributing drugs based on complaints received by the Missouri River Drug Task Force (Task Force).

¶ 3 According to Captain Lussier's testimony, when he arrived at the trailer he announced the presence of law enforcement through a wide open door at the rear of the trailer. Through that door, Captain Lussier observed Hill inside the trailer passing by him in an aggressive manner towards the rear of the trailer. Captain Lussier ordered Hill to stop, but he did not respond. At that point, Captain Lussier could still hear a female screaming from inside the trailer, and then entered through the open door to intercept Hill. Hill continued to walk towards the rear of the trailer and put his hands behind a door, at which point Captain Lussier reached for his gun. At that point, Hill stopped and began responding to Captain Lussier. As Officer Mathias later testified, after Captain Lussier entered he heard him order a male subject to come out of a bedroom in the trailer. At that point the screaming and yelling was still continuing and officers continued to be concerned about safety within the house.

¶ 4 After Captain Lussier detained Hill, he handed him off to Officer Mathias who spoke with him outside the trailer. Captain Lussier then continued to the living room where the yelling was coming from. Once he arrived there, he found Culver yelling and attempted to calm her down. Officer Leonard was also present at the scene but he was outside of the trailer near the front door, which was closed. Previously, Officer Mathias had radioed Officer Leonard that they were both inside the trailer, that he had a male subject running towards the rear of the trailer, and that Officer Leonard should enter the trailer as soon as he could. When Officer Leonard entered the trailer he observed Captain Lussier speaking with Culver, who was familiar to Officer Leonard from previous contacts. Upon beginning a visual safety sweep of the area, Officer Leonard noticed two glass pipes in an ashtray directly in front of him. He immediately identified them as "crank pipes"—that is, pipes used to smoke methamphetamine. When asked about the pipes, Culver stated they were hers. In speaking with Culver, Officer Leonard noticed her mannerisms were consistent with someone under methamphetamine intoxication, including rapid speech, uncontrollable body movements, rapid mood changes, and dilated pupils. Officer Leonard then seized the crank pipes as evidence.

¶ 5 Subsequently, Officer Mathias conducted a security sweep of the trailer, bringing Hill back inside the trailer with him. In the course of this sweep, he observed drug paraphernalia. Moreover, when Officer Mathias conducted a pat down of Hill, he discovered that Hill had drug paraphernalia on his person. Officer Mathias observed that Hill appeared under the influence of methamphetamine as he was acting nervous, appeared gaunt and thin, and his jaw muscles were convulsing rapidly. During a conversation with Officer Mathias, Hill admitted he smoked methamphetamine. He also stated that there was marijuana in the trailer, and that Culver actively sells methamphetamine from the trailer. Hill also stated that he observed Culver smoking methamphetamine in the trailer earlier that day.

¶ 6 In talking with Captain Lussier, Culver explained that she had been yelling at her daughter, Mistie Burks (Mistie), and that they had been in an argument. This alerted Captain Lussier that Mistie was possibly in the trailer, so he went to locate her. Captain Lussier found Mistie's room and knocked on her door. When she answered, she was crying, yelling and sobbing. While Captain Lussier was attempting to talk with Mistie, Culver was still yelling, screaming, and generally "out of control." At that point, Captain Lussier decided that Culver would have to be arrested since she continued to be disorderly. Culver was then arrested and taken to a detention center.

¶ 7 After Culver's arrest, officers requested a search warrant for the trailer and remained there to keep the trailer secure. During that time, Captain Lussier continued to speak with Mistie. Mistie told Captain Lussier that her mother, Culver, used to have a methamphetamine problem. Detective Steve Voss (Voss) of the Task Force soon arrived at the trailer with a search warrant. During the search, Detective Voss and Officer Leonard discovered another crank pipe in Mistie's room. She was subsequently detained and taken to a youth detention center in Galen, Montana. Officer Mathias accompanied Mistie to the detention center. While awaiting medical clearance for admission, Mistie told Officer Mathias that Culver had a severe drug and alcohol problem, that Hill had made some of the drug paraphernalia found in the home, and that Culver sold drugs from the trailer.

¶ 8 A search of the home by officers eventually turned up a total of twenty-three items of evidence relating to drug use and the distribution of drugs, including drug paraphernalia, a digital scale, baggies, suspected buds of marijuana, and a vial containing a white crystal substance. Detective Voss, a trained narcotics investigator, performed a narcotics identification kit (NIK) test on the white crystal substance at the sheriff's office and the test positively determined the substance was methamphetamine or MDMA (commonly referred to as ecstasy). According to Detective Voss's testimony, a NIK test will give a blue result for either methamphetamine or ecstasy. However, Detective Voss's visual examination of the substance, based on his training and experience, led him to conclude that it was methamphetamine and not ecstasy, because the substance was in a crystalline form which, in his opinion, was not consistent with the appearance of ecstasy. Detective Voss also tested the suspected marijuana buds, and that test came back positive.

¶ 9 The State subsequently charged Hill with one felony count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute based on the seized methamphetamine, and one misdemeanor possession of dangerous drugs based on the seized marijuana. Prior to trial, Hill filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him on the grounds that there was not probable cause to support them. In particular, Hill argued that no drugs were seized in the trailer and that no evidence was produced showing he was involved in selling drugs. The District Court denied the motion.

¶ 10 Hill also filed a motion to suppress the evidence from the trailer on the grounds that it was seized in violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, because officers failed to knock and announce their presence prior to entering the trailer. The District Court denied that motion as well, concluding that officers did announce their presence prior to entering, and that exigent circumstances justified their entry into the trailer. On March 14, 2007, Hill filed a motion in limine seeking to limit the presentation of evidence to events which occurred on August 16, 2006, and evidence which was seized from the trailer on that date. In particular, Hill argued that any evidence of possible drugs sales or other prior bad acts would be inadmissible under M.R. Evid. 404(b) and highly prejudicial to him. The State responded that Mistie's declarations to Officer Mathias about drug use and sales of drugs from the trailer should be admitted under the transaction rule, codified at § 26-1-103, MCA. The District Court agreed with the State that Mistie's declarations were admissible under the transaction rule, but otherwise granted Hill's motion. The case proceeded to trial on March 19, 2007.

¶ 11 During trial, there was testimony elicited from Mistie and the officers concerning Mistie's statements to police about the use and sale of methamphetamine in the trailer and Hill's knowledge of and involvement in those events. During trial, Hill registered objections to this testimony on the same grounds as set forth in his motion in limine. The District Court noted these objections for the record, but allowed the evidence to be presented.

¶ 12 At the conclusion of the first day of trial, after the jury was excused for the day, the State, Hill, and the District Court set about resolving some of the proposed jury instructions. Hill proposed a cautionary instruction which would have prevented the jury from speculating...