State v. Goddard, 63476

Decision Date26 April 1983
Docket NumberNo. 63476,63476
Citation649 S.W.2d 882
PartiesSTATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Jerry Allen GODDARD, Appellant.
CourtMissouri Supreme Court

R.L. Veit, Carson, Monaco, Coil, Riley & McMillin, P.C., Jefferson City, for appellant.

John Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., Michael H. Finkelstein, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.

BILLINGS, Judge.

Defendant Jerry Allen Goddard was convicted of first degree murder [§ 565.003, RSMo 1978] and sentenced to life imprisonment. He contends the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's verdict, it was reversible error to instruct on first degree murder because he was charged with capital murder, he was denied a timely arraignment and speedy trial, and the trial court erred in certain evidentiary rulings. We affirm.

Because the evidence relied upon by the state was almost entirely circumstantial, certain established principles govern our review of defendant's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. The facts in evidence and all favorable inferences reasonably to be drawn therefrom must be considered in the light most favorable to the verdict and all contrary evidence and inferences must be disregarded. Being a circumstantial evidence case, the facts and circumstances must be consistent with each other and with the hypothesis of defendant's guilt, and they must be inconsistent with his innocence and exclude every reasonable hypothesis of his innocence. However, the circumstances need not be absolutely conclusive of guilt and they need not demonstrate impossibility of innocence--the mere existence of other possible hypothesis is not enough to remove the case from the jury. State v. Franco, 544 S.W.2d 533 (Mo. banc 1976), cert. denied 431 U.S. 957, 97 S.Ct. 2682, 53 L.Ed.2d 275 (1977).

On October 26, 1980, the body of Ronald Burr was found floating in the Lake of the Ozarks. Ropes had been tied around the arms and legs and an anchor tied to the ankles. The body had been in the water approximately two weeks before it surfaced, and death was attributed to a blow on the head. The events and circumstances which led to defendant being charged with the homicide had their beginning several months earlier.

Defendant and witness Aldridge were co-workers and friends. Aldridge had become acquainted with Burr and Burr had told him of an investment scheme whereby $3,000.00 turned over to Burr would result in the return of $4,500.00 four months later or $6,000.00 would result in a return of $10,000.00 over the same time period. Aldridge told defendant about the plan and defendant was interested. In April defendant, his wife and Aldridge met with Burr at the Columbia restaurant where Burr was employed and the foursome discussed the investment plan. Burr advised the group that June 15 was the next date for investing but defendant and Aldridge decided to wait until the October date. In August defendant told Aldridge he had talked further with Burr and because there was a $6,000.00 limit per person that he was considering putting up the maximum amount for himself, his wife, son and daughter. By doing this and "turning it over" every four months, defendant said he could retire in a few years. Defendant was counting heavily on making substantial money from the scheme, according to Aldridge.

In late September Aldridge learned Burr had disappeared from the Columbia area. He relayed this information to defendant and told him several people were speculating that Burr was a con man and had left town with their money. Defendant was surprised and upset when he heard this but told Aldridge he believed Burr would return to the area because he was to meet with him on October 7 or 8 so he could turn over his money before the October 15 deadline. Although defendant indicated he still expected Burr to keep their appointment, he and Aldridge concluded the investment scheme was illegal and Burr was a crook. Aldridge also told defendant that he understood Burr carried approximately $180,000.00 on his person at times. A day or two later defendant, expressing the view that Burr had ruined his life because the scheme was not panning out, suggested to Aldridge that if Burr "calls me and sets up an appointment, we could take and rip him off for whatever amount of money he was supposed to have."

Defendant outlined the following plan to Aldridge: "If this guy comes into my house I can go back and get the money and walk in and hand it to him, and while he's sitting down, as he looks down, I have got this gun ... and hit him on the back of the head and rob him." Defendant further explained that in the event things got out of hand and he had to kill Burr then "I have got a boat down at the lake. We can take the guy down to the lake and put him in the car. You can drive the car around to the side of the lake. I can get in my boat and meet you ... and we can put the guy in the boat and take him out and put him in the lake and nobody would ever know." Defendant said Burr's car would be left near the Columbia airport and he would arrange for his children to go to a friend's house or a movie the night of the robbery.

On the night of October 8 defendant, a resident of Jefferson City, telephoned Aldridge twice at the latter's residence in Columbia. He said Burr had been to his apartment and was to return the night of October 10 to pick up defendant's money. Defendant wanted to know if Aldridge was coming down from Columbia to help him as planned. Aldridge told defendant he would talk to him at work. Aldridge did not work October 9 but on October 10 the two men discussed the proposed robbery for about two hours after defendant stated "this is the day." Defendant told Aldridge he already had some ropes at his apartment to use tying Burr. Defendant got mad and became visibly upset when Aldridge told him he had decided not to participate in the criminal venture.

According to Burr's wife he left Pueblo, Colorado, on October 6, driving his 1980 Mustang automobile. He told her he had some business to take care of in Jefferson City. He was registered at the Governor Hotel in Jefferson City on October 7 and 8 and at the Best Western Motel on October 9 with a planned departure date of October 11. He talked with his wife by telephone the nights of October 7 and 9. At about 7 o'clock the night of October 10 he arrived at defendant's apartment. He was not seen thereafter.

In July 1980 defendant purchased a boat and trailer for the sum of $8,500.00. He kept the boat at the Wheelhouse Marina on the Lake of the Ozarks which is located near the four mile marker. Early on a Saturday morning, either October 11 or 18, the dock owner of the Wheelhouse Marina saw defendant and an unidentified man removing defendant's boat from the lake. Defendant advised the dock owner he would be bringing the boat back to the marina the following spring. On October 18 defendant traded the boat and trailer, plus $1,000.00 cash, to a Jefferson City automobile dealer for a used car priced at $6,400.00. At the time of the transaction the boat was "very clean." An anchor that had been on the boat when defendant bought it was missing.

On October 19 a Columbia policeman noticed what turned out to be Burr's automobile parked near a commuter parking area on the outskirts of Columbia. When the vehicle was checked for fingerprints after Burr's body was discovered, the only print found was that of one of the investigating officers who had touched the car in the process of opening a door. The car had been "swept" so that the fingerprint expert was unable to find even smudges of prints either on the interior or exterior of the automobile.

Burr's body came to the surface at about the five mile marker on the lake. The water there is approximately 100 feet deep and one of the deepest parts of the lake. A Water Patrolman had been over the area a short time before the body surfaced and had not seen it. A passerby reported seeing the body and reported the sighting to the Water Patrol and the patrolman went to the scene. He reported the body was visible in the water from a distance of about 300 feet. He secured the body with a rope and towed it to the Wheelhouse Marina. Ropes, which were later identified as having similar physical microscopic appearances and chemical compositions as ropes found at defendant's boat dock and on his boat, were tied around the victim's arms and legs. An anchor of the same brand, size and shape that had been on the defendant's boat when he purchased it was tied to the rope which bound Burr's legs.

There was no current in the lake where the body was found. The body had been underwater for approximately two weeks and death was due to a hemorrhage of the brain caused by a blow to the right rear portion of the skull. Because of the water temperature at 100 feet, the body was not decomposed and a laceration of the scalp was about the same size and shape as the butt of a pistol. Blood had pooled in the skull which indicated the body had been "folded up in a very unusual position like in a trunk of a car." Fingerprints confirmed the victim was Ronald Burr.

At trial, defendant testified in his own behalf. He admitted he and Aldridge had discussed robbing Burr at gunpoint at his apartment in Jefferson City the night of October 10 when Burr came to pick up defendant's money. He said Burr called him on September 21 at which time he advised Burr he wanted to invest $6,000.00 and they agreed Burr would get the money on October 10. Further, that Burr said he would call him on October 7.

Defendant acknowledged that after he learned of Burr's departure from the Columbia area in September that he had concluded Burr was a con man and a crook. He testified that after he got home on October 8 Burr came to his apartment and he told Burr the money would be ready October 10. He admitted that he called Aldridge in Columbia twice the night of October 8 to inform Aldridge that Burr was back in the...

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