IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
STATE OF MONTANA,
plaintiff and Respondent,
-vs-
JAMES R I L E Y ,
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Second Judicial District,
In and for the County of Silver Bow,
The Honorable James E. Purcell, Judge presiding.
COUNSEL OF RECORD:
For Appellant:
Kevin E. Vainio, Butte, Montana
For Respondent:
Hon. Marc Racicot, Attorney General, Helena, Montana
Micheal S. Wellenstein, Assistant Attorney General
Robert M. McCarthy, County Attorney; Carlo Canty,
Deputy, Butte, Montana
Submitted on Briefs: April 2, 1992
Clerk
Chief Justice J. A. Turnage delivered the Opinion of the Court.
James Riley (Riley) appeals a judgment of the Second Judicial
District, silver Bow County, which convicted him of failure to keep
property clean under 9 8.08.090(A) of the Butte-Silver Bow
Municipal Code following a trial de novo. We affirm.
We rephrase the issues on appeal as follows:
Did sufficient evidence exist to supportRileytsconviction of
failure to keep property clean under 5 8.08.090(A) of the Butte-
Silver Bow Municipal Code?
On February 27, 1991, Riley was charged by complaint in
police court with one count of failing to keep property clean and
one count of permitting a disabled, wrecked, or abandoned vehicle
to remain on property in violation of the Butte-Silver Bow
Municipal Code. Following a trial in police court, the police
judge on July 15, 1991, found Riley guilty of both counts. Riley
timely appealed to District Court.
On September 5, 1991, a trial de novo was held in District
Court. Five witnesses testified regarding the extensive materials
Riley had accumulated and stored on his property, which included
wood, metal, glass, plastic containers, cardboard, paper and
machinery parts piled at depths ranging from six to twelve feet.
Photographs of Riley's property revealed a yard bursting at the
seams with junk.
The District Court, sitting without a jury, found Riley guilty
of failing to keep property clean and not guilty of permitting a
disabled, wrecked, or abandoned vehicle to remain on property. The
District Court ordered Riley to pay a $50 fine and clear his
property of all litter within thirty days. If he failed to clear
his property of the litter within thirty days, the District Court
ordered the Butte-Silver Bow Department of Public Works to clear
and clean Riley's property under the supervision of the Butte-
Silver Bow Health Department with all charges being billed to
Riley. Thereafter, the District Court by an amended order allowed
Riley an additional thirty days to remove the litter from his
property. From this judgment, Riley now appeals.
Did sufficient evidence exist to supportRileylsconviction of
failure to keep property clean under 5 8.08.090(A) of the Butte-
Silver Bow Municipal Code?
The standard for reviewing issues concerning sufficiency of
the evidence in criminal cases is "whether, after viewing the
evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, anv
rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of
the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." Jackson v. Virginia (1979),
443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, 573.
Section 8.08.090(A) of the Butte-Silver Bow Municipal Code
provides :
It shall be the duty of the owner, agent, or lessee to
keep exterior private property free of litter. This
requirement applies not only to removal of loose litter,
but to materials that already are, or become, trapped at
such locations as fence and wall bases, grassy and
planted areas, borders, embankments and other lodging
points.
Section 8.08.010(B) of the Butte-Silver Bow Municipal Code defines
litter as:
any quantity of uncontainerized paper, metal, plastic,
glass or miscellaneous solid waste which may be classed
as trash, debris, rubbish, refuse, garbage or junk.
We hold that after viewing the evidence in the light most
favorable to the State, any rational trier of fact could have found
the essential elements of failing to keep property clean under g
8.08.090(A) of the Butte-Silver Bow Municipal Code beyond a
reasonable doubt. We therefore affirm James Riley's conviction for
failing to keep property clean under 5 8.08.090(A) of the Butte-
Silver Bow Municipal Code.
We concur: