State v. West

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE v. STANLEY R. WEST, II

No. 2013-812

SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Argued: September 18, 2014

February 25, 2015

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to motions for rehearing under Rule 22 as well as formal revision before publication in the New Hampshire Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter, Supreme Court of New Hampshire, One Charles Doe Drive, Concord, New Hampshire 03301, of any editorial errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion goes to press. Errors may be reported by E-mail at the following address: reporter@courts.state.nh.us. Opinions are available on the Internet by 9:00 a.m. on the morning of their release. The direct address of the court's home page is: http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme.

Rockingham

Joseph A. Foster, attorney general (Nicholas Cort, assistant attorney general, on the brief and orally), for the State.

Hoefle, Phoenix, Gormley & Roberts, P.A., of Portsmouth (Terence M. O'Rourke on the brief and orally), for the defendant.

BASSETT, J. Following a jury trial in Superior Court (Delker, J.), the defendant, Stanley R. West, II, was convicted on three counts of simple assault and one count of resisting arrest or detention. RSA 631:2-a (2007); RSA 642:2 (Supp. 2014). During trial, the defendant objected to the trial court's proposed jury instruction on the defense of premises, RSA 627:7 (2007). The trial court overruled the defendant's objection. Additionally, at the close of the State's case, the defendant moved to dismiss the resisting arrest or detention charge, arguing that the State presented no evidence that the police officer attempted to arrest or detain the defendant. The trial court denied the motion. Onappeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred: (1) by instructing the jury that the defendant must exhaust all non-violent alternatives before using force in defense of premises; and (2) by denying his motion to dismiss the resisting arrest or detention charge for insufficient evidence. We affirm.

The jury could have found, or the record establishes, the following facts. Shortly after midnight on December 19, 2012, Officer St. Onge of the Deerfield Police Department was dispatched to the defendant's house in response to a 9-1-1 call and hang-up that the dispatcher had received from the defendant's address. After ringing the doorbell, St. Onge knocked and announced himself as a police officer. After a short period, the defendant came to the door. St. Onge shined his flashlight on his uniform and badge to show that he was a police officer. St. Onge told the defendant that the dispatcher had received a 9-1-1 call, and the defendant stated that he did not call 9-1-1. St. Onge asked if he could come inside the residence and the defendant declined. The defendant then closed the storm door. As the defendant was closing the interior door, St. Onge reached for the handle of the storm door. The defendant then charged at St. Onge, knocking him off the landing by the front door, down five or six steps, and onto the walkway. The defendant landed on top of St. Onge and punched him in the face several times.

The altercation continued for a few minutes, with St. Onge and the defendant exchanging punches. At one point, St. Onge was able to get out from under the defendant. However, St. Onge then fell backward onto the walkway. The defendant again charged at St. Onge and then sat astride St. Onge while striking him. As the defendant began to tire, St. Onge was able to grab hold of the defendant's hair. St. Onge stated, "If you let go of me, I'll let go of you." The defendant responded, "You first," to which St. Onge replied, "no." The defendant released St. Onge, who then rolled the defendant off and handcuffed him. The charges against the defendant stemmed from this incident.

At trial, the defendant moved to dismiss the resisting arrest or detention charge, arguing that there was no evidence that St. Onge attempted to arrest or detain him. The trial court denied the motion, finding sufficient evidence for a reasonable juror to conclude that St. Onge was attempting to detain the defendant during the fight.

At the conclusion of the trial, the trial court, over the defendant's objection, instructed the jury that the defendant could use force in defense of premises under RSA 627:7 "if he actually believed there was an imminent danger of . . . St. Onge entering into the Defendant's dwelling without the Defendant's permission, and that the use of force was the only reasonable means of preventing that criminal trespass." The court further instructed that the defendant's belief must be reasonable, explaining "there must be reasonable grounds for the Defendant to believe that . . . St. Onge was about tocommit a criminal trespass into the dwelling, and that there were no reasonable alternatives to using force to prevent that criminal trespass." The court also instructed the jury that under RSA 627:7, "the [defendant] must reasonably believe that the criminal trespass is immediately forthcoming so that he has no opportunity to resort to the law for his protection." The jury convicted the defendant on all charges, and this appeal followed.

On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court's jury instruction on defense of premises, requiring that no reasonable lawful alternatives to the use of force existed, was an improper interpretation of RSA 627:7. He contends that, in violation of his due process rights, the instruction effectively relieved the State of having to disprove his defense beyond a reasonable doubt. The State counters that the defendant was not entitled to a defense of premises instruction in the first instance. Alternatively, the State maintains that the trial court's instruction accurately paraphrased RSA 627:7. The defendant also argues that the trial court erred in failing to dismiss the resisting arrest or detention charge because there was no evidence that St. Onge was attempting to arrest or detain him. The State contends that the evidence at trial was sufficient to support the jury's verdict.

As an initial matter, we note that the State argues that, because St. Onge was a police officer, the defendant was not entitled to a defense of premises instruction. See State v. Haas, 134 N.H. 480, 484-85 (1991) (affirming trial court's refusal to instruct jury on defense of property where charged offense involved assault on police officer). However, we decline to consider the argument because the State failed to object to the instruction at trial. See, e.g., State v. Cheney, 165 N.H. 677, 679 (2013).

We next turn to the substance of the jury instruction. "The purpose of the trial court's charge is to state and explain to the jury, in clear and intelligible language, the rules of law applicable to the case." State v. Etienne, 163 N.H. 57, 70 (2011) (quotation omitted). "When reviewing jury instructions, we evaluate allegations of error by interpreting the disputed instructions in their entirety, as a reasonable juror would have understood them, and in light of all the evidence in the case." Id. (quotation omitted). "We determine whether the jury instructions adequately and accurately explain each element of the offense and reverse only if the instructions did not fairly cover the issues of law in the case." Id. (quotation omitted). "Whether a particular jury instruction is necessary, and the scope and wording of jury instructions, are within the sound discretion of the trial court, and we review the trial court's decisions on these matters for an unsustainable exercise of discretion." Id. (quotation omitted). "To show that the trial court's decision is not sustainable, the defendant must demonstrate that the court's ruling was clearly untenable or unreasonable to the prejudice of his case." Id. (quotation omitted). "However, the interpretation of a statute is a question of law, which we review de novo." Id. (quotation and brackets omitted).

The jury instruction at issue stated:

The Defendant must have actually believed that [St. Onge] was about to commit a criminal trespass in the Defendant's dwelling. In other words, the Defendant could use force if he actually believed there was an imminent danger of [St. Onge] entering into the Defendant's dwelling without the Defendant's permission, and that the use of force was the only reasonable means of preventing that criminal trespass.

Even if the Defendant actually believed that such a danger existed, his belief must be reasonable. In other words, there must be reasonable grounds for the Defendant to believe that [St. Onge] was about to commit a criminal trespass into the dwelling, and that there were no reasonable alternatives to using force to prevent that criminal trespass.

. . . .

So for use of force in defense of dwelling to be justified, the person must have a reasonable belief that the danger presented is imminent and in the present. That is, the person must reasonably believe that the criminal trespass is immediately forthcoming so that he has no opportunity to resort to the law for his protection.

(Emphases added.)

The defendant argues that the trial court incorrectly instructed the jury when it added "a prerequisite to the exercise of the Defense of Premises . . . that the defendant must exhaust all non-violent remedies before resorting to force." The State counters that the instruction was an accurate statement of the law.

The relevant portion of RSA 627:7 states:

A person in possession or control of premises or a person who is licensed or privileged to be thereon is justified in using non-deadly force upon another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes it necessary to prevent or terminate the commission of a criminal trespass by such other in or upon such premises . . . .

At issue is the trial court's instruction as it relates to the phrase "reasonably believes it necessary."

Contrary to the defendant's assertion, the trial court did not require that, in order...