IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

STATE OF MONTANA, 

plaintiff and Respondent, 

-vsJAMES RILEY, 

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 supportRileyts conviction of 

failure to keep property clean under 5 8.08.090(A) of the ButteSilver 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 ButteSilver 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 supportRileyls conviction of 

failure to keep property clean under 5 8.08.090(A) of the ButteSilver 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 ButteSilver Bow Municipal Code. 
We concur: