A criminal judgment for conspiracy to possess with intent to manufacture or deliver methamphetamine and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia is summarily affirmed under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3) and (4).
State of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee
v.
Joshua Michael Scully, Defendant and Appellant
No. 20240018
Appeal from the District Court of Cass County, East Central Judicial District, the
Honorable Constance L. Cleveland, Judge.
AFFIRMED.
Per Curiam.
Derek K. Steiner, Assistant State’s Attorney, and Sarah Belliston, under the Rule on
Limited Practice of Law by Law Students, Fargo, ND, for plaintiff and appellee; submitted
on brief.
Samuel A. Gereszek, Grand Forks, ND, for defendant and appellant; submitted on brief.
State v. Scully
No. 20240018
Per Curiam.
[¶1] Joshua Scully appeals from a criminal judgment entered after a jury found him
guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to manufacture or deliver methamphetamine and
unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. He argues the district court erred when it
admitted text messages because they constituted improper character evidence. He further
argues there was insufficient evidence for a conviction.
[¶2] We conclude the district court did not abuse its discretion admitting the evidence
because the text messages constitute direct evidence of the crimes alleged by the State. See
State v. Salou,
(“Rule 404(b)
only excludes evidence of other acts and crimes committed by the defendant when they are
independent of the charged crime.” (quoting State v. Christensen,
(“In reviewing challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, the defendant ‘bears
the burden of showing the evidence reveals no reasonable inference of guilt when viewed
in the light most favorable to the verdict.’” (quoting State v. Eggleston,
)). We summarily affirm under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(3) and (4).
[¶3] Jon J. Jensen, C.J.
Daniel J. Crothers
Lisa Fair McEvers
Jerod E. Tufte
Douglas A. Bahr
1
