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.MarcRacicot,AttorneyGeneral,Helena,Montana Micheal S. Wellenstein,Assistant Attorney General Robert M. McCarthy, County Attorney; Carlo Canty, Deputy,Butte, Montana

Submitted on Briefs: April 2, 1992

ClerkChief JusticeJ. A. Turnage delivered the Opinion of the Court. JamesRiley (Riley)appealsa judgment of the Second Judicial District,silverBowCounty, which convicted him of failuretokeep 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 sufficientevidenceexisttosupportRileyts convictionof 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 keepproperty 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 extensivematerials 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.TheDistrictCourt, sitting without a jury, found Riley guilty of failing to keep property clean and not guilty of permitting a disabled, wrecked, or abandoned vehicle toremainonproperty. 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 sufficientevidence exist to supportRileylsconvictionof 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 crimebeyond a reasonabledoubt." 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 tomaterials that already are, orbecome, 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 BowMunicipal 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 favorableto the State,any rational trierof 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 reasonabledoubt. We therefore affirmJamesRiley's conviction for failing to keep property clean under 5 8.08.090(A) of the ButteSilver Bow Municipal Code.We concur: