State v. Birden
| Decision Date | 08 February 2023 |
| Docket Number | 21-0890 |
| Parties | STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. RAYMOND DUKE BIRDEN, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Court of Appeals |
STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
RAYMOND DUKE BIRDEN, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 21-0890
Court of Appeals of Iowa
February 8, 2023
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Linda Fangman, Judge.
Raymond Duke Birden appeals his conviction for first-degree murder. CONVICTION CONDITIONALLY AFFIRMED, SENTENCE VACATED, AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.
Robert P. Montgomery of Parrish Kruidenier Dunn Gentry Brown &Bergmann L.L.P., Des Moines, for appellant.
Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Genevieve Reinkoester, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Heard by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Gamble, S.J. [*]
BOWER, Chief Judge
Raymond Duke Birden appeals his conviction for first-degree murder, in violation of Iowa Code section 707.2(1)(a) (2018). He asserts the court erred in not submitting to the jury the question of whether DeQundes Glasper was an accomplice whose incriminating testimony requires corroboration. Birden also contends the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial based on the weight of the evidence. We find no error in the court's ruling that Birden failed to meet his threshold burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence Glasper was an accomplice. We conditionally affirm Birden's conviction, but we remand for the district court to consider the motion for new trial employing the appropriate standard.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
At about 5:30 a.m., May 31, 2018, Shavondes Martin's body was found lying in an alley, which ran between several residences. He had been shot nine times with two types of ammunition. Neighbors along the alley told investigating officers they heard gun shots around 3:30 a.m.
A convenience store and restaurant lie on the northern end of the alley, and police were able to obtain surveillance video from each location. The body was found about three-quarters of a block down the alley, around a bend from the southern end where Danaesha Martin lived.[1] Danaesha and Shavondes were cousins who spoke "[s]ocially, occasionally."
The subsequent investigation led detectives to believe Danaesha; Danaesha's friend, DeQundes Glasper; Glasper's brother, Shaquan Coffer; Coffer's girlfriend, Hanna Widdel; and Coffer's friend, Raymond Birden, all had information about Shavondes's death. Birden was eventually charged with first-degree murder; the State theorized Danaesha was asked by her former boyfriend, Birden, to lure Shavondes into a vehicle and bring him to the alley where Shavondes was ambushed by Birden and Coffer.
At trial, Officer Charles Nichols testified he arrived at the alley around 5:35 a.m. and observed a body lying in the alley with "multiple spots of blood" and a pool of blood on the ground next to the body. The body was in a "very awkward position," and gravel was stuck to the dried blood, as if the body had been turned over. The decedent was wearing socks but no shoes. A cell phone charging cord which had been torn in half was near the body, but no cell phone was found. As Officer Nichols walked back toward his patrol car, which was parked at the southern end of the alley, he came across a pair of black Nike sandals about twenty yards from the body. Officer John Heuer testified he found no wallet on or near the body but he was able to identify the person as Shavondes via a tattoo database. Further testimony established Shavondes had been shot a total of nine times in his neck, head, torso, and legs with a 9-millimeter pistol and a .38-caliber revolver.
Danaesha testified she had known Birden, Coffer, Widdel, and Glasper for ten years as they had been in school together. She and Glasper were friends, she
knew Coffer, and she had been in a relationship with Birden that ended in 2014. Before May 30, 2018, the five had not hung out together.
Danaesha explained she and a person she believed to be the mother of Birden's children arranged to "get high" together the evening of May 30. Danaesha asked who the person was with, and the response was "Duke." Both Coffer and Birden were known as "Duke." Danaesha was picked up at her residence by a tan Jeep driven by Widdel-Coffer was in the front passenger seat, Birden was in the rear seat behind the driver, and Danaesha sat in the rear passenger-side seat. They drove around Waterloo drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and listening to music via her cell phone, which was connected to the vehicle's sound system by an auxiliary cord. The four went to Coffer's grandmother's house and parked in the backyard.
Glasper came out of the grandmother's house and got in the car next to Danaesha in the back seat of the Jeep. Danaesha stated the five then took the Jeep to Walgreens and Glasper went in and came back "with a bottle of alcohol." Widdel then "dropped herself off" and another person Danaesha did not know got into the Jeep.
Danaesha testified Birden had taken her phone before Glasper joined them. She stated she had seen both Birden and Coffer with guns that evening. Birden had a "police officer gun" and Coffer had a "cowboy gun." According to Danaesha, Birden and Coffer were using her phone to message Shavondes on Facebook messenger. Birden held her phone on speaker mode and told Danaesha to call
Shavondes and ask him where he was. Shavondes told Danaesha he was on the west side and gave a location.
The prosecutor continued with his direct examination of Danaesha:
Q. At this time, is that unknown individual still with you?
A. Yes.
Q. Is [Glasper] still with you?
A. Yes.
Q. What was the plan then with regard to Shavondes?
A. For me to pick him up. ...
Q. At this point in time, do you have a belief about what is going on?
A. Yes.
Q. What is that?
A. That they wanted me to pick him up.
Q. With regard to why they wanted to pick him up-
A. Okay. To my knowledge, at the time, they wanted to pick him up to kill him.
Q. And you knew that?
A. I didn't know because they didn't tell me, but my common knowledge would tell me that.
Q. That was your belief at the time?
A. Correct.
Q.. Where-so do you ultimately then go pick up Shavondes?
A. Yes, I do.
Danaesha testified, "Everyone who was in the Jeep after [Widdel] got dropped off" went to her apartment, where Birden, Coffer, and she left the Jeep and got in a black Mitsubishi Danaesha had rented a few days prior. Danaesha first stated she and Glasper were in the Jeep, but when asked how she knew the Mitsubishi headed toward Shavondes's location, she testified "I know that the rental was by the Westminster because I was the one driving." Glasper and the unknown person were in the Jeep and apparently followed the Mitsubishi because Danaesha testified she returned to the Jeep where Glasper "was in the trunk," i.e., "the far back of the Jeep." While driving the Jeep, Danaesha picked Shavondes up from the side of the street near Westminster, and he got in the front passenger
seat. She testified she and Shavondes were going to "meet up to get high." When Danaesha arrived to pick up Shavondes, other people were with him.[2] Danaesha testified she and Shavondes then went to drop Glasper off near Hammond Street and he gave her directions.
Q. Is Hammond close to your residence?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you drive then towards wherever it is on Hammond that you stated he wants to get dropped off?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you park the vehicle or what happens?
A. Yes, I parked.
Q. Were you in a driveway or on the street?
A. On the street.
Q. Was there much traffic out and about at that time?
A. No. ....
Q. Was it after midnight?
A. Yes.
Q. What happens then after you park the vehicle?
A. [Coffer] came to Shavondes' window with a gun, and the third unknown party, he came and took me out of the vehicle and walked me to the rental with Birden. ....
Q. How close were the Jeep-the tan Jeep and the rental?
A. A couple of feet away from each other.
Q. How is it that you're taken from the Jeep to the rental?
A. The third party walked-well, basically, escorted me to the car.
Q. Did he have a gun?
A. Yes, he did.
Q. Did [Coffer] have a gun?
A. Yes.
Q. Where was [Birden] situated in the rental?
A. [Birden] was in the passenger seat.
Q. Anybody else in the vehicle?
A. No. Danaesha testified, "They were gonna-apparently trying to murder [Shavondes.]" Danaesha sat in the driver's seat, and Birden got out of the Mitsubishi and went to the Jeep. Coffer got in the Mitsubishi with Danaesha and told her to "pull off."
Q. Would it have been towards the vicinity of your house?
A. Not really.
Q. Could you have got to your house from where they left?
A. Yes.
Q. Does [Coffer] say anything to you?
A. [Coffer]-well, when me and [Coffer[ was in the car by ourself, he was holding a gun up to me asking me do I think Birden love me.
Q. Is the tan Jeep still there or has it left?
A. The tan Jeep had moved off.
Q. As far as you know, is [Glasper] still in the tan Jeep?
A. Correct.
Q. Did the unknown male get back into the tan Jeep after he escorted you to the rental?
A. To my knowledge, the unknown male was driving the tan Jeep. Shavondes was in the passenger seat, Birden was in the rear passenger, and [Glasper] was in the rear driver's seat.
Q. Where do you and [Coffer] go?
A. For a ride. We're riding around.
Q. Did you ever hear anything?
A. I heard a single shot.
Danaesha testified she and Coffer drove around for about fifteen minutes and then returned to the street where Coffer and Glasper's grandmother lived. Birden and the unknown person then pulled up in the Jeep. Glasper was not with them. For the next several hours, Danaesha, Coffer, and Birden were together in the Mitsubishi.[3] Danaesha testified she...
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