State v. Dokken

• Decision Date: 02 April 1986
• Docket Number: No. 14935,14935
• Parties: STATE of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Mark William DOKKEN, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

Page 493

385 N.W.2d 493

STATE of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Mark William DOKKEN, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 14935.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Argued Nov. 18, 1985.

Decided April 2, 1986.

John W. Bastian, Asst. Atty. Gen., Pierre, for plaintiff and appellee; Mark V. Meierhenry, Atty. Gen., Pierre, on brief.

Jeff Larson, Minnehaha County Public Defender's Office, Sioux Falls, for defendant and appellant; Patricia C. Riepel, Minnehaha County Public Defender's Office, Sioux Falls, on brief.

HERTZ, Acting Justice.

This is a criminal appeal from a jury verdict which found the defendant guilty of first degree manslaughter and sentenced him to serve fifty years in the South Dakota Penitentiary. We reverse and remand.

The defendant/appellant Mark William Dokken, (Dokken), had experienced problems with members of the Deadmen Motorcycle Club, (Deadmen), from as far back as 1978. Their respective differences climaxed on the night of July 25, 1984, when Dokken shot Deadmen member Paul Brandsgaard, Jr., (Brandsgaard), in the Westport Lounge in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He died early the next morning in McKennan Hospital from two gun shot wounds to the abdomen.

There was never any dispute that Dokken pulled the trigger. However, he claimed that his actions were in self-defense, and therefore, justifiable. Dokken adhered to this position throughout the trial: under cross-examination by the prosecutor, through witnesses which he produced, and by his own testimony. Although the jury concluded otherwise, it will become unmistakably clear from this opinion that Dokken was prevented from fully presenting his self-defense claim. The record reveals that the trial court ruled time after time to exclude evidence which would have aided the jury in determining the reasonableness of Dokken's actions under the circumstances, and the reasonableness of his apprehension of danger on the night in question. The cumulative effect of these rulings, therefore, convinces us that Mark William Dokken was denied his right to a fair trial.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

According to Dokken, the Deadmen were responsible for breaking his leg some seven years earlier, and for a stabbing incident which resulted in his hospitalization for eight days. The record is inconclusive, however, as to whether the Deadmen were accountable for the latter incident. Nevertheless, the growing animosity between Dokken and members of the Deadmen can be linked to a series of events which occurred prior to the fatal shooting. As such, we reconstruct these incidents from defense counsel's offers of proof which were presented to the trial court outside the presence of the jury.

The first incident took place at the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds on July 4th, 1984, where Dokken was attending a motorcycle jumping exhibition. On this occasion, Dokken's friend Tom Watson, (Watson), was confronted by a number of Deadmen, one of whom, was Ricky Winters (Winters). After Dokken intervened on Watson's behalf, Dokken was told by Winters to get out, "or there would be bullets flying" at him.

Again outside of the jury's presence, Dokken stated that the next incident occurred just two days before the shooting, on July 23, 1984, when Dokken was told by Watson that the Deadmen were "after him." In this same offer of proof, Dokken further stated that his girlfriend, Jada LaRoche, (LaRoche), was given some trouble by several Deadmen women in the Westport Lounge ladies room that evening. Dokken next related that on Tuesday morning, July 24, 1984, he and LaRoche woke up to find the tires on his truck slashed, and some of his tools missing. Dokken was unsure about who had slashed the tires; he believed that it was either Chuck Baecker, with whom he had a disagreement over a debt, or the Deadmen. In light of Watson's prior warning, and given the fact that Dokken believed that the Deadmen were responsible for an earlier murder near Brandon, South Dakota, he was convinced that this group would carry out their threats against him.

Defense counsel then sought to admit evidence of the next incident through the testimony of Westport Lounge manager, Ron Smith, (Smith). In an offer of proof, Smith stated that on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 24, 1984, Brandsgaard entered the Westport and asked him where Dokken was. Smith was acquainted with Brandsgaard because he occasionally worked at the Westport collecting cover charges. During the ensuing conversation with Brandsgaard, who was accompanied by an unidentified "Deadman" from Pipestone, Minnesota, Smith observed that Brandsgaard "was pretty well shaken up" about an alleged incident between Dokken and Brandsgaard's girlfriend. Thereafter, Brandsgaard and his companion told Smith that they had gone inside Dokken's trailer the night before looking for him, and found LaRoche sleeping or passed out on the floor. Inasmuch as Dokken was nowhere to be found, they went outside and slashed the tires on Dokken's truck. Moreover, they told Smith that they, "really wanted to get ahold of Mark really bad," and Brandsgaard's fellow gang member stated that, "if I get ahold of him [Dokken] he will be riding in back of the pickup, not in the front."

The trial court disallowed evidence pertaining to Watson's express warning to Dokken, LaRoche's altercation in the restroom, the tire slashing, and Smith's entire conversation with Brandsgaard the day before the shooting. In regard to Dokken's controversy with the Deadmen at the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds, he was permitted to tell the jury that on July 4th, 1984, he had a confrontation with a group of people, and that one of those people was Ricky Winters. Dokken was further allowed to state that as a result of a conversation with Watson on July 23, 1984, Dokken began carrying a handgun which he had previously left with a friend. The jury was not permitted to hear, however, any evidence pursuant to Winter's statement about "bullets flying," or Watson's caution that the Deadmen were after Dokken.

Brandsgaard's girlfriend, Deloras (Dee) Peterson, (Peterson), testified at trial. She was employed as a cocktail waitress at the Westport Lounge at all times pertinent to this action. She stated that Dokken was a regular customer at the Westport, and that he was present there on Monday evening July 23, 1984. Peterson further stated that Dokken insisted upon questioning her about the July 4th incident at the motorcycle jump. Although she told Dokken that she had no information, Peterson testified that he continued to bother her throughout the evening. Later that night when Peterson was leaving the bar to go home, she stated that Dokken attempted to run her down with his pickup truck in the Westport parking lot. Peterson told Brandsgaard about this incident shortly thereafter.

On Wednesday, July 25, 1985, Dokken had been working on a landscaping job at an apartment complex in Sioux Falls with Paul Clancy, (Clancy), LaRoche, and his cousin, Dave Castle, (Castle). After work, the quartet went to the Crow Bar where they were met by Clancy's girlfriend, Dolly Olson. At approximately 7:00 p.m., Dokken and Castle left the bar to pick up some railroad ties for use on a landscaping project. They proceeded to an area in the vicinity of the intersection of North Cliff Avenue and Old Benson Road where they loaded approximately eight ties. Shortly thereafter, Chuck Baecker, (Baecker), arrived and an argument ensued between Dokken and Baecker as to who owned the railroad ties. Dokken testified that Baecker was slapping him around. This conduct prompted Dokken to reach into the pickup truck and pull out his gun. According to Dokken, he told Baecker to back off. The State's witness, however, testified that Dokken threatened to shoot Baecker. Nevertheless, Baecker retreated after this exchange, and Dokken and Castle proceeded to take the ties to the job site.

After delivering the ties, Dokken and Castle went to the Westport Lounge at about 9:00 or 10:00 p.m., at which time Dokken called LaRoche to come and pick him up. LaRoche arrived approximately thirty minutes later to find Dokken sitting in a booth with Castle and Larry Gordon. LaRoche stood at the bar and was joined by Dokken soon afterward.

On this same evening, members of the Deadmen, their families, and friends were gathered for a barbecue on the east side of Sioux Falls. Among the people present at this gathering, were Brandsgaard, Winters, and Mr. and Mrs. Charlie and Robin Davis. Brandsgaard received a call from Peterson who was working at the Westport that evening. Thereafter, Brandsgaard, Winters and the Davises left the party and rode their motorcycles to the Westport Lounge. Despite the fact that Smith had specifically told Brandsgaard not to do so, the foursome entered the lounge wearing their "biker colors" which included leather jackets, chaps, hats, boots and bracelets with metal studs on them; as well as bandanas. Winters had a spur on his boot and some of the others wore buck knives on their belts. It was later revealed at trial that Robin Davis was carrying a pistol in her purse.

Within minutes after entering the Westport, Brandsgaard told Winters that he had a problem with Dokken and wanted to talk to him. Both Brandsgaard and Winters then got up from the table and approached Dokken. Brandsgaard told Dokken that he wanted to talk to him outside. Here, the evidence becomes conflicting. Dokken testified that both Brandsgaard and Winters grabbed ahold of his arms and began dragging him either towards the door, or in the direction of the other Deadmen. Dokken further stated that Brandsgaard had ahold of his hair and was bending him over. Robin Davis testified, however, that she thought that Dokken and Brandsgaard were friends, and that they were walking back toward the Deadmen's table. Seconds later, Dokken pulled the gun out of his trousers and fired two shots in rapid succession which hit Brandsgaard in the abdomen. Charlie Davis testified that Dokken next...