S-18-0543 State (Appellant) v. Rudy Stanko
Sheridan County Court, Judge Paul G. Wess
Sheridan County District Court, Judge Travis P. O’Gorman
Attorneys: Aaron J. Conn (Office of the Sheridan County Attorney, for Appellant) --- Andrew M. Pope (Crites, Shaffer, Connealy, Watson, Patras & Watson PC, LLO, for Appellee)
Criminal: First degree criminal trespass, directed verdict; Prosecutorial appeal
Proceedings Below: Appellee was charged with first degree criminal trespass and a jury trial was held before the county court. At the close of the State’s case-in-chief, Appellee moved for a directed verdict. The county court granted Appellee’s motion and dismissed the case. The State appealed this dismissal to the district court which, in turn, dismissed the appeal.
Issues: Whether the district court erred in dismissing the State’s appeal finding the errors alleged were limited to the facts of the case and there were no issues of statutory interpretation presented upon which a decision would be helpful for future cases to provide an authoritative exposition of the law that would be sufficiently useful as precedent.