U.S. v. Soundingsides

• Decision Date: 15 May 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-1239,86-1239
• Citation: 820 F.2d 1232
• Parties: 23 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 98 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Reno SOUNDINGSIDES, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 1232

820 F.2d 1232

23 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 98

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Reno SOUNDINGSIDES, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 86-1239.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

May 15, 1987.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Aug. 17, 1987.

*

Louis Edward Epps of Woodard & Epps (Rhonda Sigrist Woodard of Woodard & Epps, Cheyenne, Wyo., was also on brief), for defendant-appellant.

David A. Kern, Asst. U.S. Atty. (Richard Stacy, U.S. Atty., Cheyenne, Wyo., was also on brief), for plaintiff-appellee.

Before HOLLOWAY, Chief Judge, SEYMOUR, Circuit Judge, and SAFFELS, District Judge ^*.

HOLLOWAY, Chief Judge.

Defendant-appellant Reno Murray Soundingsides, also known as Robert Murray Willow, was convicted on a jury verdict of guilty of the second degree murder of a young Arapahoe Indian Woman, Valerie K. Quiver, on or about December 12, 1980, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1111 and 1153. Defendant appeals. We conclude that because of several items of prejudicial evidence improperly admitted, the conviction must be reversed and the case must be remanded for a new trial.

I

Viewed most favorably to the verdict as required, the evidence at trial showed that on December 11, 1980, Soundingsides, of Mixed Sioux-Arapahoe descent, was living with Valerie Quiver in a cabin adjacent to the Willow family residence about one quarter mile north of Elethe, Wyoming on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The Willow residence borders on a forty to sixty acre alfalfa field. On the east side of the field is the residence of the Louella Goggles family. II R. 64-70, 86-87.

When found initially on December 12 by Officer Ridely, the patrolman who answered the initial call on the matter, and Frank Adakai, an investigator with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Valerie was dead and her badly beaten body was lying on a bed inside the Soundingsides-Quiver cabin, wrapped in a green blanket. II R. 63-64, 87-90. Soundingsides told Ridely he found Valerie's body in the alfalfa field early that morning, brought her back to the cabin, and built a fire for her. He said he thought Willard Goggles might have beaten her up, but in fact Willard Goggles was at his father-in-law's house in Montana at the time and did not find out about Quiver's death until 3 months later. Ridely and Adakai both said at trial that they noticed bruises on Soundingsides' right hand and that Soundingsides smelled of alcohol. II R. 63-66, 99-102, 155-56. Adakai and the county coroner, who arrived later, took some photographs of the badly beaten body and the inside of the cabin. These photographs were later admitted in evidence without objection and the prosecution showed slides corresponding to the photographs on a screen for the jury. II R. 87-90, 93.

The next day, December 13, Adakai, Officer Ridely, and an F.B.I. agent canvassed the premises where Valerie's body lay and the field. They found sled tracks leading south to the Willow residence, several areas where blood was visible on the ground, and the victim's coat. There were signs of a struggle at one location in the field. The F.B.I. agent found a shoe in the field which matched the one on Valerie's foot. II R. 102-03, 106.

At trial Dr. John Harris, the pathologist who performed an autopsy on Valerie's body, showed the jury slides and photographs taken during the autopsy which, like the photos admitted in connection with Investigator Adakai's testimony, depicted the severe injuries to her body in graphic detail. II R. 127-29. In describing one photograph showing the position of Valerie's head as it was on her pillow in the cabin where her body was found, Dr. Harris pointed out that the head was "in a relatively flexed position." He said this was important for "understanding the scene" because "[t]he first thing you do with someone who's unconscious is extend the head so the airway isn't obstructed." II R. 131-32. He said the primary cause of death was blunt force injury to the head, although Valerie's condition had been aggravated by her high blood alcohol content and her exposure to the cold. II R. 141-42. He said the time of death was somewhere in the early morning hours of December 12.

Before he started his relationship with Valerie, Soundingsides had lived with Gloria Goggles. Gloria testified that she first met and started dating Soundingsides when she was fourteen or fifteen, and that during their two and a half to three year relationship Soundingsides slapped, hit and kicked her "[p]ractically everyday." II R. 172. This testimony is detailed below.

Gloria also testified that on the evening of December 11, 1980, she, Melvin Goggles, and some friends were sitting in the friends' pickup truck outside her home drinking beer when Valerie showed up alone. Gloria testified that Valerie was uninjured but appeared scared. Valerie jumped into the truck and locked the door. Shortly thereafter Soundingsides showed up, wanting to talk to Valerie. One of Gloria's friends unlocked the door to the truck and Soundingsides opened it. Valerie got out; she and Soundingsides went behind the truck and talked for about five minutes and then walked off together. II R. 174-178.

George Willow, Soundingsides' cousin, testified that on the afternoon of December 11 he and Soundingsides met at the Willow house and went into the alfalfa field to drink beer. Roger Brown was already in the field and the three of them drank for about an hour and a half. He said Valerie was not there. He and Soundingsides got into a fight, and after the fight he left to go home. Soundingsides and Brown were "pretty drunk," having had about twelve beers. He said Soundingsides was already drunk when he came to see Willow that evening. II R. 199-201, 203-04.

Kevin Jenkins is related to Valerie by marriage and at the time of trial was being detained in the Fremont County jail in Lander, Wyoming on burglary and assault charges. II R. 206, 216. He testified he and Ed Soundingsides, Reno's brother, escaped in 1982 from the Fort Washakie, Wyoming jail and that while hiding out he came in contact with Reno Soundingsides for about four days. II R. 207-09.

Jenkins denied on the stand that Reno mentioned anything about Valerie. II R. 209. However, the prosecuting attorney read a pretrial statement in which Jenkins admitted telling a police investigator on May 2, 1985 that Reno told him he wanted to "tag along" with Ed Soundingsides and Jenkins because the police were after him for the killing of Valerie Quiver. In the statement, Jenkins said Reno Soundingsides admitted killing Valerie but said he did not ask Soundingsides for details. II R. 210. On the stand, Jenkins denied making the statement, saying "it's not written down the same way, exact same way." II R. 211. Jenkins did, however, admit making a similar statement to Special Agent Mark Safarik of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. II R. 211-213.

The prosecution called Agent Safarik who met with Jenkins at the Fremont County Jail in April 1985, II R. 219-222, and prepared a written statement summarizing what Jenkins told him in the interview. II R. 223-24.

The trial judge admitted Agent Safarik's hand written account of Jenkins' statement for impeachment purposes over an objection that it was not signed or sworn and was not proper impeachment, and the prosecuting attorney read it to the jury. The statement says Jenkins told Agent Safarik that he escaped from the jail of the Fort Washakie Police Department and that he and Ed Soundingsides were on the run from the police. He met up with Reno Soundingsides, and Reno told Jenkins that the police were after him for the murder of Valerie. Reno Soundingsides admitted to Jenkins he killed Valerie but told Jenkins he was not worried because the police had no evidence to pin the murder on him. Soundingsides told Jenkins he wanted to accompany Jenkins and Ed Soundingsides out of state to make a new start. II R. 225-227.

Roger Brown, then an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institute at El Reno, Oklahoma, testified that Soundingsides and Valerie "used to get into arguments and stuff" and that he saw Soundingsides "slap her in the field" in December of 1980. II R. 231. He said that at about 8 or 9:00 in the evening on December 11, 1980, he, Soundingsides, George Willow and Valerie got together at Brown's house, went into the alfalfa field, and drank for about forty minutes. While they were drinking, Soundingsides slapped Valerie, and a fight broke out between Soundingsides and Willow because Soundingsides accused Willow of being involved with Valerie. Brown testified that Soundingsides hurt his hand during this fight. Valerie left to get a match for a cigarette and Soundingsides, Willow and Brown went looking for her shortly afterward. They eventually found her at the Goggles' residence. II R. 232-235.

Roger Brown testified that he did not know what happened at the Goggles residence because he went home at that time. II R. 236. He admitted that he told the prosecuting attorney and two F.B.I. agents in an earlier interview while incarcerated at El Reno that he had seen Soundingsides and Valerie go behind the truck at the Goggles residence and saw Soundingsides beating Valerie in the alfalfa field after they left the Goggles residence the night of December 11. He admitted that his trial testimony that he did not see the events in the field was "the same story" he had told F.B.I. agents in 1980 and in an interview in February of 1985 while incarcerated at El Reno. Brown said he remembered taking a lie detector test after the February 1985 interview and that the agents told him the polygraph showed he was not telling the truth, but he said he did not understand it. He said he did not tell the truth in the latest interview because he was "alone" and "scared" in the penitentiary and had no lawyer. II R. 236-38.

The Government presented testimony by F.B.I. Agent William Brown, over a hearsay objection, that while Roger Brown was at El Reno...