No. 90-591
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
1991
STATE OF MONTANA,
Plaintiff and Respondent,
-vs-
SCOTT ANTHONY WOLFE,
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Fourth Judicial District,
In and for the County of Missoula,
The Honorable Douglas G. Harkin, Judge presiding.
COUNSEL OF RECORD:
For Appellant:
J. Dirk Beccari and Marcia M. Jacobson; Public
Defender's Offices; Missoula, Montana.
For Respondent:
Hon. Marc Racicot, Attorney General, Helena,
Montana; Elizabeth Griffing, Assistant Attorney
General, Helena, Montana; Robert L Deschamps 111,
County Attorney, Missoula, Montana; Fred Van
Valkenberg, Deputy County Attorney, Missoula,
Montana.
submitted on briefs: May 31, 1991
~ecided: November 14. 1991
Filed:
Chief Justice J. A. Turnage delivered the Opinion of the Court.
Scott Anthony Wolfe (Wolfe) appeals his convictions of
possession of explosives and criminal mischief following a jury
trial in the Fourth Judicial District, Missoula County. We affirm.
Wolfe presents the following issues:
1. Did the District Court err when it denied Wolfe's motion
for dismissal under the 180-day speedy trial provision of the
Interstate Agreement on Detainers?
2. Did the District Court err by subjecting Wolfe to double
jeopardy when it entered judgment against him on possession of
explosives and criminal mischief?
3. Did the District Court err by prejudicing Wolfe when it
admitted evidence of Wolfets prior acts for the jury's considera-
tion?
4. Did the District Court err by denying Wolfets 1) motions
for mistrial and related objections, and 2) motion for a directed
verdict?
From 1981 to 1987, Wolfe worked for Montana Hearth Company,
a small company located in Missoula, Montana. Montana Hearth
Company quarried flagstone and manufactured stone hearth pads.
Wolfe worked mainly in the company's manufacturing shop in
Missoula, but occasionally worked at the quarry sites, where he
helped co-workers use blasting equipment to quarry the hearth
stone.
Montana Hearth Company purchased its blasting equipment from
various businesses in Montana. This blasting equipment included
Aisla llThistlell
brand fuses, a rare brand of safety fuse manufac-
tured in Scotland; blasting caps; and two types of dynamite, Atlas
Giant Gelatin Sticks and Ireco Iremite.
Generally, Montana Hearth Company used its blasting equipment
within two or three days of purchase. In January or February 1987,
however, Ireco Iremite dynamite, Aisla "~histlel~
brand fuses, and
blasting caps were taken from a quarry site to the Missoula shop
for storage. Around this time, Richard Bossard, a Montana Hearth
Company co-owner, realized that a large amount of blasting caps and
fuse were missing.
In the early morning hours of Easter Sunday on April 19,
1987, an unmarked and unoccupied police car parked by the City Hall
Building in Missoula was blown up by explosives. Following an
expert examination of the scene of the explosion, examiners
concluded that Aisla I1Thistlel1
brand safety fuse and Ireco Iremite
dynamite had been used to blow up the police car.
During the weekend of April 18-19, 1987, George Chaussee
(Chaussee), a co-owner of Montana Hearth Company, stayed with Wolfe
at an apartment rented by Darcy Estes Conover (Conover), Wolfefs
then-girlfriend. On the evening of April 18, 1987, Wolfe asked
Chaussee if he could borrow Chaussee's truck. Chaussee agreed.
Wolfe then departed from the apartment in Chaussee's truck.
Chaussee remained at the apartment that evening. Hours later, when
Wolfe returned to the apartment, Wolfe woke Chaussee up and told
Chaussee that he had blown up a police car. Because of their
friendship, Chaussee did not inform authorities of Wolfefs
admission until he was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury.
On the evening of April 18, 1987, Michael Watson (Watson) saw
and conversed with Wolfe at a b