State v. Major

BISTLINE, Justice.

Defendant-Appellant Melvina Hazel Major, an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe of Indians, was convicted of grand theft by possessing stolen property in violation of I.C. §§ 18-2403(4) and 18-2407(l)(b)l. The items allegedly stolen were recovered from a location within the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, and from a pawn shop in Lewiston, outside the reservation. The item recovered from the pawn shop was located after Major had been charged and after the district court had denied Major’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.

The Nez Perce Tribe previously had enacted a…