State v. Carridine
| Decision Date | 09 May 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. A09–1412.,A09–1412. |
| Citation | 812 N.W.2d 130 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Chaun Dubae CARRIDINE, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Syllabus by the Court
1. The district court did not clearly err when it rejected appellant's challenges, alleging racial bias under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), to the State's exercise of two peremptory challenges against persons of color during the jury selection process because the State offered a race-neutral explanation for one of the objected-to peremptory challenges, and appellant failed to establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination regarding the other objected-to peremptory challenge.
2. Even if the district court abused its discretion by admitting appellant's prior statement made in an unsolicited letter to the district court in connection with withdrawal of his guilty plea, the admission of the prior statement did not substantially influence the jury's verdict and was therefore not prejudicial.
3. The district court did not commit plain error when it instructed the jury, at appellant's request, on the justifiable taking of human life because the error did not affect appellant's substantial rights.
4. Because there was substantial evidence that appellant was the initial aggressor, the district court did not err when it instructed the jury on the revival of the aggressor's right of self-defense.
5. The district court's impartiality could not be reasonably questioned, and therefore, no recusal was required.
Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, MN, Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, Linda K. Jenny, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, MN, for respondent.
David W. Merchant, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Jodie L. Carlson, Assistant State Public Defender, St. Paul, MN, for appellant.
A Hennepin County jury found Chaun Dubae Carridine guilty of first-degree premeditated murder in the shooting death of Lorenzo Guffie. The district court convicted Carridine of that offense and sentenced him to life in prison. In this direct appeal, Carridine challenges his conviction on five grounds: (1) the district erred by rejecting his challenges to the State's exercise of two peremptory strikes; (2) the district court committed prejudicial error when it allowed the State to impeach him through his prior statement; (3) the district court committed prejudicial error when it instructed the jury; (4) the State committed prejudicial prosecutorial misconduct; and (5) recusal of the district court judge was required.1 We affirm.
It is undisputed that Carridine shot Lorenzo Guffie on the night of June 3, 2007, outside of Palmer's Bar in the Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis. As a result of the shooting, Guffie died at Hennepin County Medical Center the following morning. At trial, Carridine argued that he was acting in self-defense and that he did not intend to shoot Guffie.
The State's witnesses testified to the following at trial. On the day of the shooting, June 3, 2007, A.P. picked up Carridine at an apartment in the Riverside neighborhood and went to Palmer's Bar, a few minutes away from the apartment. They arrived at the bar around 11:00 p.m. As they were walking through the bar to the patio, Carridine saw Guffie and said he couldn't believe the “motherfucker” who robbed him was there and Carridine was without his gun. Carridine said he needed to call his brother to get his gun. Guffie was with his girlfriend, Lamonte White, Charles Bilbro, and four others. Guffie and his girlfriend had driven to Minneapolis with White from their home in Rochester to meet friends at Palmer's Bar.
Inside the bar, Carridine and Guffie began arguing. Guffie's associates, Bilbro and White, saw the argument, and Bilbro heard Carridine ask Guffie, “[w]hy you rob me?” Bilbro also heard Guffie tell Carridine to “[s]top saying I robbed you.” There was no physical confrontation at that time. Bilbro and White successfully broke up the argument. A bartender also stepped in between Carridine and Guffie and asked what was going on. Carridine told the bartender that he was “gonna to whoop this nigga's ass.”
After the argument, Guffie, Guffie's girlfriend, Bilbro, and White left the bar. Carridine left shortly thereafter. As Guffie, Guffie's girlfriend, Bilbro, and White were walking across Cedar Avenue to a parking lot, Guffie and Carridine continued their argument. Bilbro heard Carridine ask “why he robbed,” and Guffie told him to “stop saying it.” During the argument, Guffie stood in the street, while Carridine stood on the sidewalk on the Palmer's Bar side of the street. Guffie was moving away from Carridine, crossing the street, during the argument. Carridine started walking southbound on the Palmer's side of the street, while Guffie, Guffie's girlfriend, Bilbro, and White crossed the street to the parking lot.
L.W., P.S., and B.J. were outside the bar. They saw Carridine and A.P. arrive at the bar together and witnessed the argument outside the bar. Carridine told P.S. to “[c]lear the block,” which P.S. interpreted to mean that there was going to be trouble.
Meanwhile, Guffie was driving a car with his girlfriend, White, and Bilbro as passengers. Guffie backed out of the parking space and stopped at the entrance to the parking lot to wait for traffic to clear. Guffie's girlfriend and White saw Carridine walk up to the car and heard him say something before shooting at the car. Bilbro, who was unable to see the shooter, heard the shooter say something like, “get me some” or “pay me,” saw a flash, ducked, and heard six or more gunshots. Guffie's car was moving forward in a swerving motion at the time of the shooting, and eventually crashed into a tree. After the crash, all of the passengers and Guffie left the vehicle and ran towards Palmer's Bar. White, who had a cell phone in his hand, dropped it somewhere between the car and Palmer's, and stopped to pick it up. Guffie, who had been shot, collapsed 30 feet from the bar. Bilbro called 911.
Carridine's testimony conflicted with that of the State's witnesses. He testified to the following at trial. On the day of the shooting, June 3, 2007, A.P. contacted Carridine to purchase drugs. A.P. picked up Carridine at his home in St. Paul and drove to an apartment in the Riverside neighborhood. After Carridine retrieved the drugs from the apartment, they went to Palmer's Bar, a few minutes away from the Riverside apartment. They arrived at the bar around 11:25 p.m., and Carridine had his handgun with him. As Carridine was walking through the bar to the patio, he recognized some men—Guffie, White, Bilbro, and four others—who he did not want to be around.
Carridine sat at the bar instead of going to the patio and was about to order a drink when Guffie approached and said, “I need to holler at you.” After Guffie walked away and Carridine went to the bathroom to call for a ride, Carridine went back to the bar and attempted to order a drink when Guffie, White, and Bilbro approached him with a “hostile” attitude. They approached him from behind, and Guffie asked, “What's this shit I hear about you telling people that I'm a thief and I stick people up and I rob people.” Carridine said he did not want any problems with Guffie or his companions, but after he turned his back, one of the three men hit him on the back of the head. A bartender stepped in between Carridine and Guffie and told them to break it up. As Guffie walked away, Carridine heard him say, “I'm going to lay your bitch ass down if you come outside.” Carridine told the bartender that if “one of these motherfucking niggers put their hands on me again,” he was “going to whoop one of their fucking asses.”
After the argument with Carridine, Guffie, Guffie's girlfriend, Bilbro, and White left the bar. When Carridine left shortly thereafter, Guffie and his three companions were standing in the middle of the street challenging Carridine to come out in the street to fight with them. Carridine heard them say, “Let's take it to the street.” Carridine responded by saying, “Leave me the fuck alone.” After Guffie, Guffie's girlfriend, Bilbro, and White crossed the street toward the parking lot, Carridine started walking southbound on the Palmer's Bar side of the street.
As Carridine crossed Cedar Avenue near the entrance to the parking lot, a car swerved, sped up, and hit him below the knees as he dove out of the way. The car door opened, Guffie pulled out a gun and said, “I told you I was going to lay your bitch ass down.” Carridine said he was scared, his leg hurt, and he had no choice but to use his gun because he did not have time to get away. Carridine shot at the car while he was still on his knees and continued shooting until the car drove away. Carridine said that he did not intend to hit anyone; his intent was to shoot at the door until the car door closed.
Guffie's girlfriend, Bilbro, and White denied having a gun, denied that Guffie had a gun, and denied that Guffie hit anyone with the car.
J.J. testified on Carridine's behalf. J.J. was on the patio of the Nomad Bar on the night of the shooting. From where he was standing, he could see Palmer's Bar and the “hub-bub” on Cedar Avenue. He saw a group of “people hanging out” and thought that they were up to no good. One of the group received a call on his cell phone, and the group went around the corner. He lost sight of them and then saw flashes of gunshots coming from around the side of the building, heard a screech of tires, and saw a car hit a tree. There were three or four persons who left the vehicle, and one of them was holding his stomach or side. One of the persons who stepped out of the car may have had something in his hand. J.J. never testified that he saw a gun.
We first address Carridine's claim that the district court erred when it rejected his challenges to the State's...
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