State v. Gibbs
| Decision Date | 16 March 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. ED 92690.,ED 92690. |
| Citation | 306 SW 3d 178 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Randy Lee GIBBS, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
STATE of Missouri, Respondent,
v.
Randy Lee GIBBS, Appellant.
No. ED 92690.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Division Four.
March 16, 2010.
Gwenda Renee Robinson, Missouri Public Defender Office, St. Louis, MO, for Appellant.
Chris Koster, Attorney General, Jamie Pamela Rasmussen, Assistant Attorney General, Jefferson City, MO, for Respondent.
KURT S. ODENWALD, Presiding Judge.
Introduction
Randy Gibbs (Defendant) appeals from the judgment entered by the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, following his conviction by jury of second degree burglary, in violation of Section 569.170 RSMo 20001, and felony resisting arrest, in violation of Section 575.150. Finding Defendant to be a prior and persistent offender as defined in Section 558.016, the trial court sentenced Defendant to consecutive terms of imprisonment of fifteen years for burglary and five years for resisting arrest. We affirm Defendant's conviction and his sentence, but we remand to the trial court to correct the clerical mistake regarding Defendant's status as a prior and persistent offender.
Background
On August 8, 2006, the State of Missouri (State) charged Defendant by indictment with four charges in connection with his alleged actions on July 11, 2006. In Count I, the State averred that Defendant committed the class C felony of burglary when he unlawfully entered a residence on Arsenal Street (Arsenal residence) for the purpose of committing stealing therein. In Count II, the State averred that Defendant committed the class D felony of resisting arrest by fleeing from officers. In Count III, the State averred that Defendant committed the class A misdemeanor of stealing when he appropriated property from the Arsenal residence without the consent of the owner and with the purpose to deprive the owner of the property. In Count IV, the State averred that Defendant committed the class B misdemeanor of trespass when he knowingly and unlawfully entered a second residence, on Texas Street, where he was apprehended. The State dismissed Count IV and tried Defendant on Counts I, II, and III before a jury from July 22-24, 2008.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the following evidence was adduced at trial: On July 11, 2006, two St. Louis City police officers responded to a dispatch that a door was open at the Arsenal residence. Upon arrival the officers found an open back door and pry marks on the door and frame. When the officers went upstairs, they found Defendant rummaging through the drawers of a dresser and saw a cash register sitting on top of the dresser. The officers told Defendant that he was under arrest. Defendant then
ran down the steps and out the front door. The responding officers lost sight of Defendant at that time.
A few minutes later, another patrol officer saw a man matching Defendant's description in a building a few blocks away. The officers who had first attempted to arrest Defendant confirmed that this was the same man they had seen at the Arsenal residence. As they placed handcuffs on Defendant, but before he was read his Miranda2 rights, Defendant stated that "he didn't steal anything, that he just went into the building to get high." After arresting Defendant the officers found the Arsenal resident's keys in a stairwell at the Texas Street apartment building. When the police later questioned Defendant at the St. Louis City Justice Center, Defendant refused a Miranda waiver form and told police something along the lines of "you didn't try to catch those other motherf____s. What, do you think I stole all this stuff by myself?"
At trial, the Arsenal resident testified that she did not know Defendant and had not given him permission to be in the home. Defendant denied ever being at the Arsenal residence. Defendant further stated that he ran inside the Texas apartment building where he was eventually apprehended because he thought the police had seen him purchase crack cocaine. On cross-examination, Defendant admitted that he was convicted of three prior felonies in 1991, 2001, and 2005. Before the case was submitted to the jury, the trial court found that defendant was a prior and persistent offender.
On July 24, 2008, a jury acquitted Defendant of stealing, but convicted him of second degree burglary and felony resisting arrest. On January 20, 2009, Defendant was sentenced to consecutive terms of imprisonment of fifteen years for burglary and five years for resisting arrest.
Defendant filed his Notice of Appeal on March 31, 2009. This appeal follows.
Points on Appeal
Defendant raises three points on appeal. Defendant's first point challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his second degree burglary conviction. In particular, Defendant alleges the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he entered the Arsenal residence for the purpose of committing the crime of stealing. In his second point on appeal, Defendant states that the trial court erred by entering a sentence and judgment reflecting that he was a prior and persistent drug offender. In his third point on appeal, Defendant alleges that the trial court erred in finding that he was a prior and persistent offender because the State did not establish sufficient facts to show that the offences which formed the basis of the prior and persistent offender allegation were committed at different times, and that Defendant was represented by counsel at his three prior felony proceedings.
Discussion
I. Sufficiency of the Evidence
Defendant's first point on appeal challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his second degree burglary conviction. Defendant argues that because the jury did not convict him of the underlying stealing charge, the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant entered the Arsenal residence for the purpose of committing the crime of stealing. Defendant further argues that the circumstantial evidence was insufficient because he was not found in possession of any burglary tools or bags for carrying items,
and that the officers testified he left the Arsenal residence empty handed.
A. Sufficiency of the Evidence Standard of Review
Appellate review of a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a criminal conviction is limited to a determination of whether sufficient evidence was presented at trial from which a reasonable juror might have found the defendant guilty of the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v....
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