State v. Azure

Summary

The Supreme Court of Montana affirmed Brian James Azure’s conviction for failure to register as a violent offender. The court held that an erroneous jury instruction referring to release from “confinement and supervision” did not become the law of the case because the State had objected to it. The court disregarded the erroneous additional language and concluded that sufficient evidence supported the conviction under the applicable statutory requirements.

Holdings

1. An erroneous jury instruction does not become the law of the case when the State timely objected to the instruction before it was given to the jury.
2. The statutory duty to register is triggered upon release from confinement, not upon release from custody or from confinement and supervision.
3. The evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Azure knowingly failed to keep his violent-offender registration current.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a jury instruction stating that violent offenders must register upon release from confinement and supervision became the law of the case despite the State's objection.
2. Whether sufficient evidence supported Azure's conviction for knowingly failing to keep his violent-offender registration current.

Disposition

affirmed