State v. Hawkins
| Decision Date | 15 July 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 44779,44779 |
| Citation | 260 N.W.2d 150 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Ellsworth LeRoy HAWKINS, Jr., Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
On the facts of this case the defendant was denied a fair trial on the basis of the cumulative effect of the following errors: (1) refusing to allow the defense to introduce evidence which would tend to indicate that the state's principal witness had a motive and the capacity himself to commit the crime after independent evidence was introduced to connect the witness with the crime; and (2) refusing to allow the defense to introduce evidence that the state's principal witness had a history of blackouts during periods of heavy drinking when the evidence indicated that he had engaged in such activities during the time period which he testified to at trial.
C. Paul Jones, Public Defender, Ronald L. Haskvitz, Asst. Public Defender, Joseph S. Friedberg, Minneapolis, for appellant.
Warren Spannaus, Atty. Gen., William B. Randall, County Atty., Steven C. DeCoster, Asst. County Atty., St. Paul, for respondent.
Heard before TODD, MacLAUGHLIN, and YETKA, JJ., and reheard and decided by the court en banc.
This is an appeal from a judgment convicting appellant of first-degree murder, in violation of Minn. St. 609.185, subd. 1. The case was tried to a jury in Ramsey County, and appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 29, 1973. On October 7, 1974, this court, upon motion of appellant's counsel, remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing under the 1967 post-conviction remedy act, Minn. St. c. 590. That hearing was held on December 18, 1974, before the Ramsey County District Court. On May 16, 1975, that court issued an order denying the petition. We reverse the conviction and remand for a new trial on all issues.
The issues raised on this appeal are:
1. Whether in the interests of justice the defendant should be granted a new trial.
2. Whether the defendant was denied a fair trial because of the cumulative effect of some or all of 10 alleged prejudicial errors.
During the early morning hours of March 30, 1973, Jack Dokka was shot three times outside of his home at 935 Greenbrier, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moments before he had just left his home with his friend John Czuchry. His body was found at the corner of the front porch by his wife, who had heard the shots. The appellant, Ellsworth LeRoy Hawkins, Jr., had been with the decedent earlier in the evening, was charged with the crime and subsequently convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, mainly on the testimony of Czuchry.
The events that culminated in the shooting of Dokka involve principally three persons, Dokka (the victim), Czuchry (the state's principal witness), and Hawkins (the defendant). All were drinking heavily over a period of several days. The alleged motive for the killing was that the victim and the defendant had a fight earlier in the evening outside the Ban Bar and that later in the evening the defendant sought the victim out and shot him twice in the head and once in the abdomen with a .38 caliber handgun.
The relevant events begin on March 29, 1973, shortly after midnight. After working his usual 4 p. m. to midnight shift at the 3M Company, Czuchry left work and went to the Bob Ross' Bar in St. Paul, where he met John Dokka. Czuchry and Dokka had known each other for about a year from their visiting the same bars on the East Side of St. Paul. It was the first time Czuchry had seen Dokka in 3 months.
After the bar closed, Dokka and Czuchry went to Czuchry's house in St. Paul to talk, play some chess, and drink. They stayed there until morning, when Czuchry gave Dokka a ride home. When they got to Dokka's house, they sat down and had a couple more beers. At around 7 or 7:30 a. m. Dokka's wife got up and left for work. To this point there is no dispute as to the facts.
That morning Dokka received a cut across his right eye for which he received several stitches at St. Paul Ramsey Hospital. Czuchry, who brought Dokka to the hospital, testified Dokka injured himself when he slipped while showing Czuchry his weights and how much he could lift. Czuchry also testified that he and Dokka picked up several more six packs of beer and went back over to Czuchry's house.
Czuchry then called the defendant Al Hawkins up, told him they were having a good time drinking, and asked him to come over. The defendant, who was 41 at the time of his arrest, lived in St. Paul. He had been married for 3 years, and had 1 child. At the time of the incident he had been employed as a machinist for the 3M Company for 5 years, and worked at the plant at 878 Russell in East St. Paul. The defendant and Czuchry had worked the 4 p. m. to midnight shift at the 3M plant for about the previous 8 months and would regularly drink together, along with other fellow workers, one to three times a week after work, at various bars including Bob Ross', Cusick's, and the Lamb's Club. The defendant described himself and Czuchry as friends. They frequented each other's homes, and would play chess together.
The defendant arrived at Czuchry's around 10:30 or 11 a. m. He had not previously met Dokka. The three talked, played chess, and engaged in some friendly arm wrestling. There were no hostilities during this time. At about 3:30 p. m., Czuchry had to go to work at 3M and asked the defendant if he would take Dokka home. They all left together; Czuchry went to 3M, Dokka and the defendant left in the defendant's car. From the time the defendant had arrived to the time they left Czuchry's home (about 4 1/2 hours) the three, among them, had consumed 2 six packs of beer and a quart and a half of hard liquor.
Instead of taking Dokka straight home, however, the defendant stopped at the Lamb's Club, a bar. While they were there Dokka fell over a table and broke some glasses, for which the defendant gave the bartender a dollar. The defendant had two drinks and Dokka had a beer.
At 5 p. m., at Dokka's suggestion, they went to the Ban Bar, a place where the defendant had not previously been. Dokka passed out, or slept, at the bar for about 2 1/2 hours, while the defendant played some pool. Between 8 and 9 p. m. Dokka woke up. Because he didn't have any money with him when he started drinking, he had borrowed $5 from the owner. When he woke up, he bought two more rounds of drinks. The bartender testified that he was aware of no difficulties between Dokka and the defendant at that time.
Dokka then called his brother Gregory and asked him to bring money to pay back the owner. Gregory went to his brother's house and Dokka's wife wrote out a check for $5 and told Gregory to take it to the bar.
After finishing the drinks, the defendant, on the assumption that Dokka's brother would not be coming, left the bar with Dokka with the intention of taking him home. Outside the bar Dokka and the defendant met Ed Mattacavich, whom Dokka referred to as "uncle" and who asked about Dokka's mother.
Gregory Dokka arrived at this time after parking his car across the street. Upon hearing some whistling up the street, he saw the three men and approached them. Gregory knew Ed, and spoke with him for several minutes without paying attention to what Dokka and the defendant were talking about. After Ed left, Dokka introduced the defendant to Gregory, saying, "This big Negrillo is Al." Gregory wanted Dokka to come with him, and started to walk away, hoping Dokka would come with him, but he didn't. Gregory walked back to the pair and kept telling Dokka to come home. Dokka and the defendant were talking rowdy, but weren't arguing. Dokka finally started to come, but the defendant allegedly grabbed him by the lapels, and they fell into the street, where the defendant hit his head on the curb. Believing them to be fighting, Gregory ran up to the defendant and kicked at him. Dokka and the defendant then got up and started to talk over who flipped the other. Dokka said he felt bad about what happened and offered to buy the defendant a beer, to which the defendant responded that he had to go to his car first. The three went over to the defendant's car, where defendant got a walking stick out of his trunk. (The defendant had hurt his back in an auto accident 1 year before and had the cane prescribed as part of the treatment.) While they were standing by the car, Gregory needed a light for a cigarette and the defendant let him use the cigarette lighter in his car. The defendant then said, "Let's go have a beer," and the three walked back into the bar.
Dokka and the defendant went into the washroom together and cleaned up. When they came out, Gregory was talking to Jerry Parks, a high school friend of both his and Dokka.
Gregory's testimony on what happened next is as follows:
The parties then had another beer, and Gregory gave the $5 check to Dokka, who then gave it to the bartender. The defendant asked Dokka for his name and address (the defendant testified it was for the $2.50 he owed Dokka for his share of the drinks). After receiving the slip of paper with Dokka's address on it, the defendant "chuckled," and remarked "What's that say?" The bartender testified Dokka had given his name and address to several people that night because he was looking for a job. Defendant also asked for Gregory's address, who refused to give it to him. The defendant then said, "I'll be seeing you" to Dokka, and "I'll be seeing you, too" to Gregory, and left the bar alone.
The defendant testified...
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