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State v. Stafford3/5/1984
Submitted January 10, 1984.
Defendant Michael Joseph Stafford was charged with violating Section 61-7-103(1), M.C.A. — leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injuries. The case was tried before a jury in the District Court of the Second Judicial District, Silver Bow County. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and defendant was sentenced by the trial court. We reverse.
While driving through an intersection of U.S. 10 and Ramsay Road in Silver Bow County, defendant broadsided another automobile, driven by Norwood Russell, which carried as passengers Russell's wife and son. Russell and his wife were both injured. Russell approached defendant's car to check his condition. Defendant told Russell that he was all right, but that he was leaving because the police would be coming. Defendant drove away, and Russell, who was in a weakened condition, passed out. A passing motorist saw defendant's car and recorded the license plate number before he left the scene.
A highway patrolman arrived shortly thereafter, and while inspecting the accident received a radio call that defendant was at a nearby residence. Defendant had driven to the home of a friend who called the Highway Patrol to report the incident. The patrolman went to the residence, where defendant admitted that he had been in an accident. The patrolman matched a grill found at the scene of the accident to the defendant's car. Defendant was thereupon arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injuries. Defendant, who was intoxicated at the time of the crash, was also charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Defendant pleaded guilty to the D.U.I. charge.
Defense counsel was advised by the court that if the defendant pleaded guilty he would receive a fine of $500 and ten days in jail. Defendant rejected the bargain and pleaded not guilty to the crime of leaving the scene of an accident. His main defense was that the mental state of "knowledge" was a key element of the crime, and that he lacked that mental state at the time of the accident. Defendant maintained that he could not remember causing the accident or leaving the scene with knowledge that people had been harmed. The jury found him guilty.
After the trial, defendant's counsel procured an affidavit from one of the jurors (Crippen) stating that another juror (Warren Stillings) had told the jury during deliberations that, because defendant was drunk while driving, he should be convicted of the other charge on that basis alone. That juror also passed out a letter to the jury addressing a jury's duty to resist judicial instructions and acquit defendants in tax resistance cases. Counsel alleged that these incidents were prejudicial and he moved for a new trial. The court denied the motion, and later sentenced defendant to thirty days in the county jail and a fine of $1,000.00.
The following issues are raised on appeal:
1. Whether the verdict of the jury is invalid because the presentation and endorsement of written material advocating abuse of the jurors' role amounted to extraneous prejudicial influence.
2. Whether defendant is entitled to a new trial because one of the jurors was prejudiced against drunk drivers and against following judicial instruction and the evidence.
3. Whether the judge's conduct during the trial was improper and prejudicial to the defense.
4. Whether the jury was improperly and prejudicially instructed on the effect that an intoxicated condition may have on the requisite mental state.
5. Whether the jury was improperly and prejudic
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