State v. Goodridge

• Decision Date: 13 July 1984
• Docket Number: No. CX-83-1106,CX-83-1106
• Citation: State v. Goodridge, 352 N.W.2d 384 (Minn. 1984)
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Mahlon D. GOODRIDGE, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 384

352 N.W.2d 384

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Mahlon D. GOODRIDGE, Appellant.

No. CX-83-1106.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

July 13, 1984.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Where defendant clearly and unequivocally adopted third-party statements as his own, the Sixth Amendment confrontation clause was not violated, since such statements were no longer accusations, but admissions.

2. The evidence was sufficient to support defendant's first-degree murder conviction under Minn.Stat. Sec. 609.185(3) (1982).

3. Pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 609.04 (1982), defendant's first-degree murder conviction under Minn.Stat. Sec. 609.185(2) (1982) and his sentence for that conviction must be vacated, because it was based on the same act as his murder conviction under section 609.185(3).

C. Paul Jones, Public Defender, Kathy King, Asst. Public Defender, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Thomas L. Johnson, Hennepin County Atty., Vernon E. Bergstrom, Richard Osborne, J. Michael Richardson, Beverly J. Wolfe, Asst. County Attys., Minneapolis, for respondent.

Considered and decided by the court en banc without oral argument.

SCOTT, Justice.

Defendant Mahlon Goodridge was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder in violation of Minn.Stat. Secs. 609.185(2), 609.185(3) and 609.05 (1982), in connection with the brutal beating death of Mrs. Luella Larson. ¹ Following a jury trial in Hennepin County District Court, defendant was found guilty as charged and sentenced to two concurrent life terms. We affirm one conviction and sentence (D.C. No. 81771-1), but vacate defendant's other conviction and sentence (D.C. No. 81772-1).

During the evening of November 19, 1982, defendant socialized with three friends--Mitchell Pierce, Leland Mark Hoagland and Troy Palthen. The four drank beer and smoked marijuana at defendant's house in north Minneapolis. About 11:00 p.m., they ran out of beer and then began planning a burglary "to get some more liquor and * * * maybe some quick money." After some discussion, the group decided to burglarize a home located at 2827 Humboldt Avenue North in Minneapolis. Defendant later explained to the police why that residence was chosen:

Troy told us that he had burglarized that house a few months ago and that he'd got a lot of money out of it. He said that a blind guy lived there. We decided to burglarize the house. Mitch said if there was anyone home there, that we'd take over and hold them down and tie them up.

The four left defendant's house about 11:45 p.m. and walked toward 2827 Humboldt Avenue North.

The victim, Mrs. Luella Larson, lived alone at that residence. Her husband had died only nine days earlier. She was 71 years old and totally blind. That evening, Mrs. Larson had gone to bed before defendant and his friends arrived at her home.

When the four arrived at their destination, they initially tried to enter through the rear door, but found it locked. Palthen then discovered that the front door was unlocked and they all entered the house. Once inside, they found Mrs. Larson asleep in her bedroom. Pierce and Hoagland tied her up with a belt they found in the house. After ransacking the bedroom in an unsuccessful attempt to find cash, defendant demanded that the victim reveal the location of her money. He admitted kicking and striking her when she failed to respond to his inquiries. He gave the following statement to the police:

I kicked her once in the mouth and once on the shoulder and I slapped her a few times and I hit her once in the mouth with my fist. Mark was holding her mouth most of the time. Mitch kept yelling at me to hit her so she'd tell us where the money was. I wasn't beating her for fun but Mitch was. He was slamming his fist into her face and her blood was flying and he was yelling at her to tell him where the money was and he kept on hitting her. Mark was beating her hard with his fist too.

At some point, Mrs. Larson was able to free an arm to reach for an alarm by her bed. Defendant saw her reaching for the alarm and knocked her hand away. Hoagland then tied her up again. Sometime later, defendant rubbed saliva on Mrs. Larson's ring finger and removed her wedding rings.

Denying that he sexually assaulted the victim, defendant described the following indignities to which she was subjected by the others:

Mitch and Mark had her on the bed and they sexually assaulted her. I don't know exactly what they did but they had her on the bed and one of them was sticking his fingers in and out of her ass--I'm pretty sure that was Mitch because he was hollering "Fuck her in the ass," and telling her that we were going to kill her if she didn't tell us where the money was. He could have been sticking his fingers in her vagina too. Mitch had a little flashlight and he could have jammed that up her too, but I'm not sure about that. They had her panties down around her knees.

Approximately twenty minutes after entering the house, Mrs. Larson's assailants left, leaving her lying lifeless on the bed. Unsure whether she was dead or alive, Pierce assured the others, "We'll find out if she's dead on the news tomorrow." Along with the wedding rings, they obtained some steaks, beer, brandy, a gold watch, and about ten dollars. Defendant and the others returned to defendant's house where they drank the brandy, ate the steaks, and "partied" with "beer and stuff" purchased with the thirty dollars obtained from the sale of Mrs. Larson's wedding rings.

At trial, Dr. Ned Austin, Hennepin County Deputy Medical Examiner, testified in detail about the extensive injuries Mrs. Larson suffered from the beatings. He also testified that the bleeding or bruising inside the victim's vagina "would be consistent with some type of penetrating force to the vagina prior to the death of the individual." He opined that her "death resulted from multiple traumatic injuries as a consequence of a beating."

Following his arrest in connection with Mrs. Larson's death, Pierce gave a statement in the early morning hours of November 25, 1982, implicating himself and the others. He essentially claimed that defendant and Hoagland were "punching" the victim and that defendant hit her the most. Hoagland and defendant were then arrested and they also gave statements to the police. Hoagland gave his statement at 8:00 a.m. He told the police that all of them, except Palthen, beat the victim and gave the impression that defendant beat her the most severely.

Defendant was interviewed by the police at 10:00 a.m. During the questioning, he asked for and read the written statements given to the police earlier that day by Pierce and Hoagland. Then the following interchange occurred between Lt. Richard O'Brien, the interrogating officer, and defendant:

Q. A few minutes ago I showed you a written statement that was given to the police by Leland Mark Hoagland after his arrest this morning. Did you read this statement?

A. Yes. It's right except that he hit her more than three times.

Q. I also let you read a statement by Mitchell Roland Pierce that he gave to the police after his arrest today. Did you find that to be correct?

A. Yes, except he didn't say to the woman that all we wanted was her money and that we wouldn't hurt, I said that. Also when he said he didn't sexually assault or hit the woman--those are lies. He was hitting and kicking her and sticking his fingers up her ass and I think her vagina too. Else it's right.

At the omnibus hearing, defendant objected to the admission of the statements by Pierce and Hoagland on hearsay grounds. The trial court overruled the objections, and those statements, along with defendant's confession, were admitted into evidence at trial.

This case presents the following issues:

(1) Whether the statements by Pierce and Hoagland were admissible as adoptive admissions by defendant.

(2) Whether the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's first-degree murder convictions.

(3) Whether one of defendant's first-degree murder convictions should be vacated.

1. On appeal, defendant initially contends that the written statements by Pierce and Hoagland should have been excluded as hearsay. He specifically argues that the statements neither fell within the co-conspirator exception to the hearsay rule nor were they statements against penal interest. Alternatively, he contends that the admission of those statements violated his constitutional right to confront his accusers.

As an initial matter, defendant fails to address the real basis of the trial court's ruling. The trial court admitted the statements into evidence on the ground that they were adoptive admissions by defendant. A statement by a third person is not hearsay if the party against whom it is offered has "manifested his adoption [of the statement] or belief in its truth." Minn.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(B). While a defendant in a criminal case has a constitutional right to confront his accuser, this court has stated that "an adoptive admission manifested in an unequivocal manner constitutes a waiver of * * * the right * * * to be confronted by one's accuser." Village of New Hope v. Duplessie, 304 Minn. 417, 421, 231 N.W.2d 548, 551 (1975). Thus, where hearsay accusations are offered into evidence against a criminal defendant as adoptive admissions, "[t]he trial court must first determine that the asserted adoptive admission be manifested by conduct or statements which are unequivocal, positive, and definite in nature, clearly showing that in fact defendant intended to adopt the hearsay statements as his own." Id. at 425, 231 N.W.2d at 553 (emphasis in original). "If there has been such an adoption, the statement is no longer an accusation but an admission and therefore will not give rise to the right of confrontation." ² State v. Morgan, 296 N.W.2d 397, 401 (Minn.1980); see also Poole v. Perini, 659 F.2d 730, 733 (6th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 910, 102 S.Ct. 1259, 71 L.Ed.2d 450 (1982)...