Coday v. State

Decision Date30 November 2005
Docket NumberNo. 26327.,No. 26351.,26327.,26351.
Citation179 S.W.3d 343
PartiesFrankey Lane CODAY, Movant-Appellant/Respondent, v. STATE of Missouri, Respondent-Respondent/Cross-Appellant.
CourtMissouri Supreme Court

Rosalynn Koch, Columbia, MO, for appellant.

Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Atty. Gen., Stephanie Morrell, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, MO, for respondent.

JEFFREY W. BATES, Chief Judge.

Frankey Coday ("Coday") was convicted of first degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the death of M.R.L. ("Victim"). Coday filed a Rule 29.15 motion to vacate, set aside or correct his judgment and sentences.1 The motion court sustained the motion and granted Coday a new trial because the judge concluded Coday's trial counsel had been ineffective in three respects. The State of Missouri has appealed from that order. Coday has cross-appealed, contending the motion court should have granted the same relief on four additional grounds. After reviewing the entire record, this Court is left with the firm and definite impression that the motion court made a mistake in vacating Coday's sentences and granting him a new trial. Accordingly, that order is reversed, and the case is remanded with directions to enter an order denying Coday's Rule 29.15 motion.

I. Facts and Procedural History

Just as in a direct appeal, we must view the facts in the light most favorable to the verdict. Rousan v. State, 48 S.W.3d 576, 579 (Mo. banc 2001). Therefore all evidence and inferences favorable to the verdict are accepted as true, and all contrary evidence and inferences are disregarded. Id. at 595. Accordingly, we begin by summarizing, in accordance with the foregoing principles, the evidence presented at Coday's criminal trial.

In November 1990, Coday owned some real estate six miles north of Hartville. He lived in an old school bus parked on the property. The bus had been converted into a home. He worked for Boone Township as a grader operator. The gravel roads he graded ran from Sunshine Road to Pleasant Hill and back up to Ely Road. In addition to being a grader operator, he also ran a custom backhoe business. Coday owned an old blue work van and a dump truck that he used for work.

Victim and her mother lived in Hartville, Missouri, with Victim's aunt, LaDonna Streeval. Victim attended high school in Hartville. On the evening of November 23, 1990, Victim had an argument with her mother. Between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m., Victim left Streeval's home and began walking down a gravel road called Sunshine Road. She was wearing a two-piece set of plaid pajamas and white tennis shoes. Between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. that same evening, Victim went to the home of Cynthia Curtner, a Hartville florist. Victim was crying and asked to use Curtner's telephone. Victim was wearing plaid pajamas and was alone. She only stayed long enough to dial one telephone number. When no one answered, she left and walked back toward the road. About 20 to 30 minutes later, Curtner heard a vehicle come down the road.

Dwayne Coltrane lived on a small farm near Hartville. Coday lived four or five miles away. At approximately 11:30 p.m. on November 23rd, Coltrane observed Coday's dump truck sitting at the intersection of F Highway and Alva Road. The truck's lights were illuminated, and it appeared to be getting ready to turn right and head back toward Highway 5.2

On November 26, 1990, Roy McDaris was running his normal morning route as a school bus driver. At approximately 7:15 a.m., McDaris was driving on Morton Road when he noticed Victim's nude body laying face up in a field beside the road. McDaris recognized Victim as one of the students who rode his bus. He called the police and waited for them at the scene. Morton Road is located approximately five miles north of Hartville off of Highway 5. Morton Road connects with F Highway via Alva Road.

When Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers arrived, they conducted an investigation of the crime. Victim's body was located about 75 feet off of Morton Road in a briar patch. There was a gap in the fence separating the road from the field where Victim's body was found. A piece of briar two feet long was protruding from Victim's vagina. About four feet from Victim's body, the troopers found a large rock with Victim's blood on it. The rock was lying near a large pool of blood on the ground that had soaked two or three inches down into the soil. A Busch beer can was found in the immediate area of the body. Victim's plaid pajama top was recovered from the road ditch. A boot print, whose tread design was later determined to be consistent with the type of combat boots worn by Coday, was found in the ditch.

An autopsy was performed on Victim's body the same day it was discovered. The absence of rigor mortis meant Victim had died approximately 36 to 48 hours earlier. There was a massive injury to the back of her head, which caused a skull fracture, extensive brain injury and hemorrhage around her brain. The blow to the back of Victim's head also dislocated her spine. Victim's body exhibited decerebrate posturing, which meant the toes of Victim's feet were pointing downward. This indicated that Victim died a fairly slow death and may have lingered up to an hour after the mortal blow was struck. The rock found at the scene could have been used to inflict this blow. Before Victim died, she was severely beaten. She had suffered at least 10, and probably more, fist-type blows to her head. These blows caused extensive bruising to her face, lips, nose, ears and throat. There was a one-inch laceration on Victim's right forehead that extended down to her skull. This wound, which could have caused unconsciousness, was inflicted by some round-shaped object like a pipe that was used to forcibly strike Victim. She also had numerous scratches, scrapes and bruises on her torso and legs. Her hands showed defensive injuries that resulted from her efforts to ward off blows. Victim's wrists, ankles and feet had circumferential, restraint-type bruises that showed Victim had been forcibly held down. There was another restraint-type injury caused by someone tightly gripping her upper left arm. There were deep scratches on her inner thighs which were consistent with being "sawed on" with a briar. These injuries were torture-type injuries designed to inflict pain. Victim's external genitalia were bruised and swollen, indicating forcible sexual intercourse. She was sexually assaulted numerous times, and sperm was found on swabs taken from Victim's vagina and rectum. The briar found in Victim's vagina was probably inserted after she was dead.

In November 1990, Dickie Moore was 15 years old and resided in Hartville. He knew Coday and was acquainted with Victim through school. Two days after Victim's body was discovered, Dickie went to a party at Clarence Landsdown's residence. Coday and Carlos Greathouse ("Greathouse") also attended Landsdown's party. While Coday and Greathouse were standing outside, Dickie heard them talking about how they had killed Victim. They had been drinking and were probably drunk at the time. Greathouse asked Coday if he was successful, and Coday nodded his head affirmatively. Greathouse asked "if she was dead." Coday said, "Who, [Victim]?" Greathouse nodded affirmatively and said the only thing he did was rape Victim. Coday responded by stating that Greathouse had helped drag Victim up to and through the fence. After hearing these statements, Dickie walked off because he was scared that they had seen him listening to their conversation.

In November 1990, William Moore was 20 years old. He knew Coday and Greathouse. The three of them would get together to drink and ride around the county roads together. Three or four days after Victim's body was found, William attended a party at Coday's house. Greathouse was there as well. Both Coday and Greathouse were drinking. While William was standing five or six feet away, he heard Coday and Greathouse talking about how they would like to "do" another young girl. During that conversation, William overheard Coday and Greathouse disclose the following information: (1) they picked up the girl and put her in the van; (2) they had sex with her; (3) Coday hit Victim in the head with a pipe; (4) Coday also said he hit Victim in the back of the head; (5) Greathouse replied that Coday didn't have to do that; (6) they threw her body over a fence and into a briar patch; (7) they could have put the body somewhere else besides the gravel road off F Highway; and (8) "if they had another chance, they would do it again, because something about it was good or it wasn't like an older lady." The conversation caught William's attention "because he thought it was sick." A week or two after this party, William saw drops of blood in Coday's blue work van. The blood was located three or four feet from the van's back door.

Sometime between three weeks and three months after Victim was killed, Leslie Holloway attended a party at Clarence Landsdown's residence. She had been acquainted with Coday for about 14 years. By 3:00 a.m., Coday was drunk. He told Holloway that he could kill people and get away with it. He started describing how Victim was murdered. Coday said he and two other men were riding around checking the gravel roads that Coday graded. The men saw Victim walking on Sunshine Road. Victim, who was wearing pajamas, was upset and wanted a ride to town. They picked her up and went riding around. The men stopped on a gravel road. They ripped off Victim's pajama bottoms and threw them away. The men then took turns raping her. Coday hit Victim in the head with a rock. They dumped Victim's body on a gravel road. She was left lying on the ground with a briar stuck in her vagina. Coday threatened Holloway by stating that if she told the police what he had said, he would do the same thing to her that he did to Victim or...

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