State v. Blackman
| Decision Date | 08 February 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 62446,62446 |
| Citation | 875 S.W.2d 122 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff/Respondent, v. Dennis BLACKMAN, Defendant/Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Henry R. Robertson, St. Louis, for defendant, appellant.
Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Atty. Gen., Elizabeth L. Ziegler, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for plaintiff, respondent.
A jury found defendant, Dennis Blackman, guilty of the offense of second degree murder in violation of § 565.021 RSMo 1986 in connection with the shooting death of a St. Louis County police officer. The trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment. Defendant appeals the judgment of the trial court.
On appeal defendant contends that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct on sudden passion arising from adequate cause and voluntary manslaughter, in excluding psychiatric testimony on the voluntariness, weight, and credibility of his statements to police, in overruling his motion to suppress his statements to police, in overruling his objection to the admission of his indictment for rape, in excluding a third party's statement that the third party had killed the "lady police officer," in overruling his motion to exclude hypnotized witnesses, and in failing to instruct on self-defense. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The sufficiency of the evidence is not in dispute. In January, 1991 defendant was living with his parents and awaiting trial on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual abuse in the first degree. He had been released on bond on February 15, 1990. One of the conditions of his release was that he be under the constant supervision of his parents or a named family friend. The order provided: "Any violation of any of these conditions, no matter how slight, will result in the immediate revocation of the bond and incarceration of defendant."
Defendant's father, a St. Louis City Police captain, was authorized to carry, off-duty, a Colt .38 special revolver, and to use Winchester Western silver-jacketed bullets with the weapon. Defendant's father last saw his revolver on December 7, 1990 and, when he could not find it, reported it missing.
Defendant told his friend, Ronald Carter, that he had stolen his father's revolver from the trunk of his father's car and showed it to him five or ten times between December, 1990 and February 15, 1991. In December, 1990 defendant brought the revolver to another friend's house and showed it to a group of friends. He kept the revolver and bullets concealed in a hole in his parent's basement ceiling.
On January 10, 1991, defendant and Carter made plans for defendant to sneak out of his house after 10:00 p.m. Carter did not come because he was unable to get a car.
Beginning at approximately 12:50 a.m. on January 11, a number of motorists saw a man of defendant's race and approximate height and weight in the vicinity of Old Halls Ferry Road, Mehl Road and Patricia Ridge. He was walking in the street and staring at cars as they drove by. One driver saw the man stumbling and rocking back and forth as he walked toward Patricia Ridge. She reported this behavior to St. Louis County Police Officer Joann Liscombe at a nearby 7-Eleven store. Officer Liscombe said that she would look into it.
At 1:13 a.m., Officer Liscombe reported to the dispatcher that she was on a "pedestrian check". Meanwhile, another driver, Steve Carter, saw the man at the corner of Old Halls Ferry and Patricia Ridge. As Carter turned the corner, the man gave him a "frightening" look, causing Carter to lock his car door. Carter saw Officer Liscombe pull up, stop in the intersection and turn her spotlight toward the man. The man initially tried to run away up a hill but was unsuccessful because of the amount of ice on the ground. He saw Officer Liscombe get out of her car and walk toward the man.
After overhearing the report in the 7-Eleven store, Charles Myers decided to drive by the area. As he drove by, he saw Officer Liscombe standing face to face with the man. Officer Liscombe looked at Myers as he passed them, and then turned her head back toward the man. The man never took his eyes off Officer Liscombe.
Meanwhile, the dispatcher tried to reach Officer Liscombe but received no response. The dispatcher called for another car to check on her. As another motorist approached the intersection of Old Halls Ferry Road and Patricia Ridge, he saw Officer Liscombe lying on the ground with blood on her hand and in her hair. Her flashlight and glasses were lying several feet away and her gun was missing from its holster. He and other motorists came to her assistance. The first police officer arrived at 1:23 a.m. All noticed a massive head wound. She was eventually taken to a hospital.
Officer Liscombe was in shock upon arrival at the hospital and never regained consciousness. She had two bullet wounds in close proximity to the right side of her head, both of which were fatal. She also suffered a gunshot wound to her left hand which entered through her palm and would have immediately incapacitated her hand. She had a horizontal linear wound to the back of her head, caused by a blunt object, which split open her scalp and extended to her bone. This wound would have caused a momentary, stunning reaction sufficient to knock her to the ground, but not to lose consciousness. She also suffered a linear bruise to her thigh and numerous contusions to her legs. Several fingernails had broken off and the fragments were found at the scene, indicating a struggle. Blood patterns on her shirt indicated she was lying down when she was shot in the head. Officer Liscombe died on January 14, 1991.
The bullet fragments recovered from Officer Liscombe's head were of two different types: a Winchester silver tip hollow point bullet jacket and bullet core, later determined to have been fired from defendant's father's stolen Colt .38 revolver; and a Remington Peters .38 Special copper bullet jacket and bullet core which could have been fired from Officer Liscombe's duty revolver, a Smith & Wesson .357 Model 686 polished stainless steel revolver with Pachmeyer grips, which had not been recovered by the time of trial.
At the scene of the shooting, investigators also recovered a lead bullet core and a copper bullet jacket fragment, consistent with a Remington Peters .38 Special, and three spent Winchester silver tip hollow point bullets which had been fired from defendant's father's revolver.
Officer Liscombe's police car was missing from the scene. Officers found it at 1:35 a.m., approximately six-tenths of a mile from the scene of the shooting and two-tenths of a mile from defendant's home.
On February 15, 1991, Ronald Carter asked defendant for his father's revolver. Carter had learned that his probation was going to be revoked and wanted the revolver, about which the police had previously questioned him, to bargain with the police. Defendant gave Carter the gun and a plastic bag containing two types of bullets.
Carter was arrested for shoplifting the next day. On February 18, he told the police that he had Captain Blackman's revolver in his possession. Police accompanied him to his home where he gave them the revolver and a plastic bag containing ten silver hollow point bullets and four copper tip hollow point bullets. Carter told them defendant had given him the revolver and bullets on February 15. Carter later gave police a billy club which Carter said he received from defendant a few days before defendant gave him the gun. The revolver was one of the firearms used to kill Officer Liscombe and both types of bullets in the plastic bag were the same two types of bullets which had killed Officer Liscombe.
Defendant was initially questioned by police on January 15, 1991. At that time, he denied involvement in the crime. When he was told that police were interested in finding his father's Colt .38 revolver, he stated that he believed Ronald Carter may have stolen the gun.
Defendant was next questioned by police on February 7. Police advised him of his Miranda rights. Defendant verbally acknowledged he understood them and initialled each right but refused to sign the waiver of rights form. Defendant stated that his father had told him not to sign anything. However, he said he would waive his rights and talk to police. Police questioned defendant about an unrelated matter, then stopped the interview for two and a half hours while defendant participated in a lineup.
When they returned the police readvised defendant of his rights and he signed the waiver and warning form. Police then questioned him about the Liscombe shooting. Defendant denied being out of his house the night of the homicide, or at any time unaccompanied, since January of the previous year. Defendant stated that on the evening of January 10 he had watched television in his basement until approximately 1:30 a.m. the next morning. He stated that he believed his father's Colt .38 revolver had been stolen from the trunk of his father's car and that he no longer thought that Ronald Carter had stolen it. He denied seeing Carter for approximately a year.
On February 19, 1991 at approximately 8:00 a.m., six officers of the Tactical Operations Unit executed a search warrant at defendant's home and defendant was arrested for Officer Liscombe's murder. While Detective Frank Savetz and Lieutenant John McCrady transported defendant to the station, Det. Savetz verbally informed defendant of his Miranda rights. Defendant acknowledged he understood them. Defendant then asked why the police were searching his house. Det. Savetz told him the police were looking for Officer Liscombe's missing .357 revolver and defendant responded "Well, you're not going to find it there."
At 8:30 or 8:40 the police arrived at their station and placed defendant in an eight by seven foot interview room. At...
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