Opinion ID: 2509091
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Procedural Objections to a Decision on Statutory Grounds

Text: The applicants raise a procedural objection to the state's statutory argument. They maintain that the state cannot properly rely on this theory, since the superior court declined to decide it and since the theory is not raised in the applicant's statement of points on appeal. The applicants urge us to confine our review to the constitutional issue decided below. Alternatively, they ask us to allow supplemental briefing if we reach the statutory issue. But the trial court's choice of a particular legal theory does not define the scope of our appellate review. An appellate court may uphold the trial court's judgment on any legal theory supported by the recordeven one that the trial court expressly rejects. [11] Here, the state's brief discusses a statutory point that it properly raised in the superior court. Both parties briefed and argued the point below. Although the superior court elected to rest its ruling on constitutional grounds, we have often recognized that appeals should ordinarily not be decided on constitutional grounds when narrower grounds are available. [12] Given these circumstances, we reject the applicants' procedural objections. We thus turn to the statutory issues.