Court Opinion

ID: 9701413
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 22:19:10.371945+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:23.568468
License: Public Domain

SAND, Justice
(specially concurring).
I agree with the opinion authored by Justice Paulson that defendant Mehralian did not receive a fair trial. Nevertheless, I believe it is appropriate to make additional comments lest certain matters be deemed to have been given tacit approval.
The complaint, in part, states that defendant “did enter ... the home of Darwin Swett at 611 2nd Avenue West, Dickinson, North Dakota. That said acts of the Defendant are in violation of Section 12.1-22-03 of the North Dakota Century Code and constitute a Class A Misdemeanor.”
The key language “knowing that he is not licensed or privileged to do so” is not and was not part of the complaint. If it can be successfully contended by stating “in violation of Section 12.1-22-03 of the North Dakota Century Code” that the defendant is then adequately informed, it would be permissible to simply state that on a certain day and place the defendant violated § 12.-1-22-03, N.D.C.C. I think it would be apparent to anyone that this would not be adequate and would not satisfy due process. Such a procedure would not comport or comply with the sixth amendment to the United States Constitution which states in part that the defendant is “to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation” or § 13 of the North Dakota Constitution or Rules 3 and 4 of the North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure. While it is true that the defendant could ask for a bill of particulars, but that in effect would be asking the defendant to help draft the complaint against himself, which I do not believe is contemplated under any concept of our due process.
The complaint should have been dismissed on the grounds that it did not adequately inform the defendant of the charge against him as required by the United States Constitution, sixth amendment; the North Dakota Constitution § 13; and the North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rules 3 and 4.
In addition, the defendant erroneously attempted to set up a defense upon the *420grounds of “privilege” as found in the Rules of Evidence relating to confidential communications between husband and wife but did not establish how such “privilege” was involved in this trial. Somehow the terms “privilege” and “privileged” became intertwined. The statute defining the crime of criminal trespass uses the words “not licensed or privileged.” These terms, in the context in which they would have been found in this case, if the complaint had been drawn properly, simply would have meant that the defendant impliedly or expressly did not have permission or authority from a proper person to enter the building or premises. The term “privilege” is not the equivalent of a right even though in a general sense it can be a right if certain conditions are first met, but initially “privilege” is not the equivalent of a right. In this respect there is a shade of difference between the word “privilege” and the word “privileged.” The term “privileged” should be defined, and not the term “privilege.” It is a commonly accepted principle that words take on their full and true meaning from the context in which they are used.