The North Dakota Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a Bismarck man's manslaughter conviction in the death of a Mandan girl.

Mark Streeper, 28, was convicted by a 12-member jury on March 2, 2006, of manslaughter and two counts of delivery of alcohol to a minor for recklessly causing the November 2004 death of Ashley Berge, 16.

South Central District Court Judge Bruce Haskell sentenced Streeper on May 5 to the maximum sentence allowed by law for the charges: 10 years in prison for manslaughter and one year for each of the counts of delivery of alcohol to a minor, with the three terms served consecutively. The sentences also will be served consecutively to a two-year sentence Streeper is currently serving for probation violations.

The case was appealed to the North Dakota Supreme Court on May 24 and the court heard arguments Nov. 13. The high court released an opinion Wednesday upholding Streeper's convictions.

Berge attended a gathering at Streeper's residence on Nov. 28, 2004. Witnesses saw Streeper crush up pills, combine them with water and inject them into Berge's arm. Streeper's mother called 911 around 12:15 p.m. when she and Streeper could not wake Berge. Emergency responders ruled that she was dead when they arrived.

After an autopsy and toxicological examination, the state medical examiner ruled Berge died of a mixed drug intoxication. The drugs in her system were methadone, alprazolam and oxycodone.

Streeper's appointed defense attorney, Kent Morrow, argued at the November appeal that the jury should not have heard evidence regarding Streeper's failure to come to Berge's aid. But Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Cynthia Feland argued that Streeper's failure to render aid was a continuation of the conduct that caused the girl's death.

Justice Dale Sandstrom wrote the high court's opinion, which said Streeper's contention that there is no legal duty to render aid under North Dakota law was "an imprecise statement of law" in regard to the case. The jury heard testimony about Streeper once coming to the aid of a friend who had overdosed on drugs.

"A jury could have reasonably concluded that he was familiar with overdose symptoms and was awake when (Berge) was in a medical crisis," Sandstrom wrote.

Morrow also argued at the appeal hearing that the prosecution should not have been allowed to show the jury photographs Streeper took of Berge lying on his bed early on the morning she died. He said the photographs forced Streeper to testify in order to justify his actions, thus violating his Fifth Amendment right to not testify against himself.

The argument was faulty, justices decided.

"Following his logic, every criminal defendant would be 'forced' to testify, because the state must produce evidence obviously adverse to the defendant to prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt,"Sandstrom wrote.

The photographs also backed up the prosecution's theory that Streeper was awake and aware that Berge was suffering from an overdose, the opinion said.

The Supreme Court also ruled that the prosecution had proved links connecting Streeper to Berge's death, that a detective did not wrongly testify as an expert witness during trial and that the court properly instructed jurors of lesser offenses than manslaughter of which they could have found Streeper guilty.

Morrow and Feland were not available for comment on the Supreme Court's decision.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)