Case Title: Tietema v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: wyoming

Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Date: 1996-11-15T00:00:00Z

Document:
Tietema v. State1996 WY 149926 P.2d 952Case Number: 95-271Decided: 11/15/1996Supreme Court of Wyoming
John 
E. TIETEMA, Jr.,

Appellant 
(Defendant),

v.

The STATE of 
Wyoming,

 Appellee (Plaintiff).

Appeal from District 
Court, Park County, Hunter Patrick, J.

Sylvia Lee 
Hackl, State Public Defender; Kenneth M. Koski, Deputy Public Defender; and 
Deborah Cornia, Appellate Counsel, for appellant.

William U. Hill, 
Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, 
Senior Assistant Attorney General; Theodore E. Lauer, Director, Prosecution 
Assistance Program; and John D. Harjehausen, Student Director, Prosecution 
Assistance Program, for appellee.

Before 
TAYLOR, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN,* and LEHMAN, 
JJ.

* Chief Justice at time of 
oral argument.

LEHMAN, Justice.

[¶1]      In this case we 
are asked to answer the certified question of "[w]hether `possession' under WYO. 
STAT. § 12-6-101(b) (Supp. 1995) must occur on `any street or highway or in any 
public place'? In other words, whether `on any street or highway or in any 
public place' is an element of the offense of possession of alcoholic or malt 
beverages."

[¶2]      We answer the 
question in the negative.

FACTS

[¶3]      On December 17, 
1994, officers from the Park County Sheriff's Department responded to a report 
at a private residence where a party was being held. Outside the residence, an 
officer observed beer bottles and several plastic red cups on the ground by the 
garage. Inside the garage, officers observed several cups on the floor, a beer 
keg and an opened bottle of whiskey approximately half full. During questioning, 
appellant John E. Tietema, Jr. admitted to drinking beer, and alcohol smelled on 
his breath. An individual living at the residence admitted that he was having a 
"party" in the garage.

[¶4]      Tietema was 
issued a citation for underage possession of alcohol and being under the 
influence of alcohol in violation of W.S. 12-6-101(b). The county court 
dismissed the under-the-influence count, and a trial was held regarding the 
count charging Tietema with possession of alcohol. On March 20, 1995, the county 
court issued its order concluding that, as a matter of law, possession under 
W.S. 12-6-101(b) could occur on private property and that "on any street or 
highway or in any public place" was not an element of the offense of possession 
of alcoholic or malt beverages.

[¶5]      After sentencing 
on March 27, 1995, Tietema appealed the judgment and sentence to the district 
court. Pursuant to W.R.A.P. 11, the district court certified to this court the 
question of whether "possession" under W.S. 12-6-101(b) must occur on "any 
street or highway or in any public place." The district court reserved to itself 
the issues raised by Tietema concerning constructive possession of alcohol and 
sufficiency of the evidence.

DISCUSSION

[¶6]      Section 
12-6-101(b) provides:

(b) Any person under the 
age of twenty-one (21) years who has any alcoholic or malt beverage in his 
possession or who is drunk or under the influence of alcoholic liquor, malt 
beverages or a controlled substance on any street or highway or in any public 
place is guilty of a misdemeanor. This subsection does not apply to possession 
of alcoholic or malt beverages by a person under the age of twenty-one (21) 
years:

(i) When making a 
delivery of alcoholic or malt beverages pursuant to his employment;

(ii) Who is in the 
physical presence of his parent or legal guardian;

(iii) When dispensing or 
serving alcoholic or malt beverages or otherwise working in a dispensing room 
pursuant to his employment, if the person was at least nineteen (19) years of 
age on the effective date of this act. This paragraph does not apply to persons 
otherwise authorized to serve alcoholic or malt beverages under paragraph (v) of 
this subsection;

(iv) Who is a licensee 
under this title; or

(v) When serving 
alcoholic or malt beverages pursuant to his employment in a restaurant which 
holds a license to serve alcoholic or malt beverages, if the person is at least 
eighteen (18) years of age.

Tietema contends 
that the plain meaning of the language in the statute requires "possession" to 
occur on any street or highway or in any public place, i.e., "possession" cannot 
occur on private land. The State, on the other hand, asserts that possession of 
alcoholic or malt beverages by anyone under the age of twenty-one is prohibited 
regardless of location, public or private, except in those instances 
specifically exempted in subsections (i) through (v).

[¶7]      This court's 
primary focus when interpreting a statute is the determination of the 
legislature's intent upon enactment. In re Honeycutt, 908 P.2d 976, 978 (Wyo. 
1995); Coones v. F.D.I.C., 894 P.2d 613, 616 (Wyo. 1995); Halpern v. Wheeldon, 
890 P.2d 562, 564 (Wyo. 1995). We construe a statute as a whole with ordinary 
and obvious meaning applied to words as they are arranged in paragraphs, 
sentences, clauses and phrases to express the intent of the legislature. In re 
Honeycutt, at 978; Wyoming Ins. Guar. Ass'n v. Woods, 888 P.2d 192, 197 (Wyo. 
1994). If a statute is clear and unambiguous, we will give effect to the plain 
and ordinary meaning of the words and will not resort to rules of statutory 
construction. In re Honeycutt, at 978; Lancto v. City of Rawlins, 892 P.2d 800, 
802 (Wyo. 1995). We will resort to extrinsic aids of statutory interpretation to 
determine the legislature's intent only if we find the statute to be ambiguous. 
In re Honeycutt, at 978; Lancto, at 803.

[¶8]      In construing the 
language

[a]ny person under the 
age of twenty-one (21) years who has any alcoholic or malt beverage in his 
possession or who is drunk or under the influence of alcoholic liquor, malt 
beverages or a controlled substance on any street or highway or in any public 
place is guilty of a misdemeanor[,]

we find that two 
independent misdemeanor offenses are included: 1) any person under twenty-one 
years of age is prohibited from possessing alcoholic or malt beverages, 
regardless of location; and 2) any person under twenty-one years of age is 
prohibited from being drunk or under the influence of alcoholic liquor, malt 
beverages or a controlled substance on any street or highway or in any public 
place.

[¶9]      The bases for 
this conclusion are threefold. First, the prohibition against possession of 
alcoholic or malt beverages is set apart from the prohibition against being 
drunk or under the influence of alcoholic liquor, malt beverages or a controlled 
substance by the disjunctive use of the word "or." We have addressed the effect 
of the use of the word "or" previously, stating:

Webster defines "or" as a 
function word to indicate (1) an alternative between different or unlike things, 
states or actions; (2) choice between alternative things, states or courses. The 
word "or" is ordinarily used as a disjunctive generally corresponding to 
"either" as "either this or that." Where two clauses or phrases are expressed in 
the disjunctive, they are coordinate and either is applicable to any situation 
to which its terms relate. Generally, use of the disjunctive indicates 
alternatives and requires separate treatment of those alternatives, hence a 
clause following a disjunction is considered inapplicable to the subject matter 
of the preceding clause.

Olsten Staffing 
Serv., Inc. v. D.A. Stinger Serv., Inc., 921 P.2d 596, 600 (Wyo. 1996) (quoting 
Matter of Voss' Adoption, 550 P.2d 481, 485 (Wyo. 1976)). Because the 
misdemeanor possession clause is set apart from the misdemeanor of being drunk 
or under the influence clause by a disjunctive "or," the language "on any street 
or highway or in any public place" only concerns the misdemeanor under the 
influence clause. The plain meaning of the language concerning possession is 
that no one under the age of twenty-one may possess alcoholic or malt beverages, 
regardless of location.

[¶10]   The second basis for our conclusion 
rests upon the fact that no comma precedes the prepositional phrase "on any 
street or highway or in any public place." In accordance with traditional rules 
of grammatical construction, a comma preceding a prepositional phrase denotes 
that the phrase pertains to all antecedents; the corollary of such rule is that 
when a comma does not precede a prepositional phrase, the phrase applies only to 
the immediately preceding antecedent and to no others. See 2A Sutherland 
Statutory Construction § 47.33 (Supp. 1982). The absence of a comma, combined 
with the use of the disjunctive "or," leads us to the conclusion that the 
legislature intended the phrase "on any street or highway or in any public 
place" to apply only to the antecedent "or who is drunk or under the influence 
of alcoholic liquor, malt beverages or a controlled substance."

[¶11]   Further, we note that from 1953 to 
1979, a comma did indeed precede the prepositional phrase at issue. By removal 
of the comma in 1979, the legislature intended to clarify that the prepositional 
phrase applied only to the antecedent immediately preceding. Wetering v. Eisele, 
682 P.2d 1055, 1061 (Wyo. 1984) (we assume legislature does not intend futile 
acts and that its amendment of a statute indicates some change in existing law 
was intended); see Op. Wyo. Att'y Gen. No. 91-003 (June 27, 1991) (analyzing the 
interplay between the grammatical structure and legislative history of the 
statute).

[¶12]   The third basis for our conclusion 
is that the legislature enunciated specific exemptions to the misdemeanor of 
possession in subsections (i) through (v). These five exemptions are the only 
qualifiers for possession of alcoholic or malt beverages by a person under the 
age of twenty-one. If the legislature had intended possession on private 
property to be exempted, it would have so stated.

CONCLUSION

[¶13]   We answer the certified question in 
the negative; possession of alcoholic or malt beverages by any person under the 
age of twenty-one is antithetical to W.S. 12-6-101(b), regardless of location. 
Accordingly, "on any street or highway or in any public place" is not an element 
of the misdemeanor offense of possession.