State v. Head

• Decision Date: 18 March 1997
• Docket Number: No. C3-96-833,C3-96-833
• Citation: 561 N.W.2d 182
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Robert George HEAD, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

Page 182

561 N.W.2d 182

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Robert George HEAD, Appellant.

No. C3-96-833.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

March 18, 1997.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Under Minn.R.Evid. 609(a)(2), the district court does not have discretion to exclude evidence about a witness's prior conviction for providing false information to police.

2. By stipulating that only specified, limited information about defendant's prior convictions will be admitted into evidence, defendant waives the right to object when only the stipulated information is being admitted into evidence.

3. Accomplice testimony corroborated by independent evidence confirming the truth of the accomplice testimony and indicating defendant's guilt to a substantial degree was sufficient to support defendant's convictions.

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Attorney General, St. Paul, for Respondent.

Walter M. Kaminsky, Sherburne County Attorney, Thomas N. Price, Assistant County Attorney, Elk River, for Respondent.

Michael F. Cromett, Assistant State Public Defender, St. Paul, for Appellant.

Considered and decided by WILLIS, P.J., and PARKER and PETERSON, JJ.

OPINION

PETERSON, Judge.

On appeal from convictions arising out of the illegal possession of marijuana and the illegal use of license plates, Robert Head challenges the district court's rulings excluding evidence about a witness's prior misdemeanor convictions for providing false information to police and admitting evidence about Head's prior convictions for controlled substance crimes. Head also argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions for fifth-degree controlled substance crimes, possession of marijuana, and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. We affirm.

FACTS

On March 10, 1995, state patrol trooper Mitchell Seuss stopped a car for speeding. Clifford Casady, a patrol officer for the city of Big Lake, arrived a short time later to assist at the scene. Appellant Robert Head was driving the car. Keith Braddock and Braddock's girlfriend, Shirley Homer, were riding in it.

When Seuss requested identification, Head produced a driver's license receipt. Braddock identified himself as Ronald John Cloud and said that he owned the car. Braddock said that he had just purchased the car the day before and did not have proof of insurance with him.

Seuss ran a driver's license check on Head and "Ronald John Cloud." Head had a valid driver's license. There was no record of a driver's license for a "Ronald John Cloud," but Wright County had issued an arrest warrant for someone with that name. Because the physical description on the arrest warrant did not match Braddock, Seuss asked Braddock for his real name. Braddock then identified himself as "Keith Edward Cloud." Seuss testified at trial that, a short time later, Casady informed him that Homer and Head had identified Braddock by his real name. Seuss arrested Braddock for providing false information. Braddock testified that he initially lied about his identity because Wisconsin had an outstanding felony arrest warrant for him for absconding while on parole for attempted auto theft.

A registration check on Braddock's car showed that the registration had expired in 1994. However, there was a 1995 registration sticker on the license plate. Seuss ran a check on the registration sticker but did not receive the result immediately. Seuss testified that Braddock said he had had the car for a couple of months, which differed from Braddock's initial statement that he had purchased the car the previous day. Seuss testified that Braddock claimed he knew nothing about the registration stickers but admitted he did not have insurance for the car.

Casady testified that when he spoke to Homer and Head at the scene, Head appeared nervous, asked whether he could leave, and made no eye contact with Casady. After completing the license and registration checks, Seuss released Homer and Head, but not Braddock or the car. After Head and Homer left, Seuss learned that the sticker on Braddock's license plate was registered to Head and belonged on a different vehicle.

During an inventory search of the car, Casady found a partially-smoked marijuana cigarette in the glove compartment. In the trunk, underneath a lot of trash, Seuss found a black, red, and white shopping bag with a green bag inside. The black, red, and white bag also contained two packages of marijuana, each weighing about one pound. The green bag contained a single package of marijuana, also weighing about one pound.

After finding the marijuana, Seuss dispatched Casady and some other troopers to find Homer and Head. Casady found Head a few blocks from the scene of the stop and arrested him. During a search incident to arrest, Casady found $70 in cash in Head's left front pocket, $500 in cash in his right rear pocket, and a pager in his jacket pocket. The cash was in denominations of twenty-, ten-, and five-dollar bills, and none of it was in a billfold. Casady testified that he seized the cash and pager "because normally those are the kinds of items that are used in the drug trade or selling drugs." Police did not find any cash on Braddock or Homer.

A Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) report received into evidence at trial showed that the total weight of the marijuana found in the trunk of Braddock's car was 1326 grams. The parties stipulated the value of the marijuana was between $4,500 and $6,000. The plastic bags in which the marijuana was packaged were submitted to the BCA for testing. Two of the bags revealed no fingerprints suitable for comparison. One of the bags revealed two latent fingerprints, but they did not match Braddock's or Head's fingerprints.

Braddock testified at trial that he agreed to give Head a ride to Brainerd because he owed Head $100 for an ounce of marijuana. In exchange for the ride, Head agreed to buy dinner and deduct $50 from the debt. Head had more than one ounce of marijuana in his possession when he gave Braddock the ounce a few days earlier, but Braddock did not know how much more. On March 10, Head arrived at Braddock's apartment carrying a gray and black shopping bag, keys, and another item. Head, Braddock, and Homer left in Braddock's car. They stopped at Head's house, and Head went inside. When Head returned to the car, he was carrying a larger bag. Braddock moved Head's bag, along with some trash, from the car's back seat to the trunk. Braddock did not see what was inside Head's bag because it was tied. Head gave Braddock a registration sticker to put on his license plate, so the car would appear legally registered. Braddock denied knowing that marijuana was in the trunk of his car.

Braddock also testified about his prior conviction for attempted auto theft in Wisconsin and admitted acting as a middleman in five to seven transactions involving marijuana. He testified that those transactions involved only small amounts of marijuana. The district court denied Head's request to impeach Braddock with two prior misdemeanor convictions for providing false information to police.

Homer testified at trial that when Head arrived at Braddock's apartment on March 10, he was carrying a dark-colored, plastic bag. Head said he wanted to stop at his house to pick up something. Head took his bag inside with him and then brought it back out to the car. Head put his bag on top of a pile of trash in the back seat. Braddock moved the trash and Head's bag from the back seat into the trunk. Homer did not know what was in Head's bag. Homer had never known Braddock to possess packages containing about one pound of marijuana. At trial, both Homer and Braddock identified the black, white, and red bag in which Seuss found the marijuana as Head's bag.

The district court admitted evidence showing that Head had two prior convictions for controlled substance crimes. In its motion to admit the evidence, the state alleged the following facts. In September 1991, Head was in a vehicle involved in a routine traffic stop. During the stop, police found two pounds of marijuana in the trunk of the vehicle. Police also found $3,000 in United States currency wrapped in bank binders in the lining of Head's coat. Head also had a beeper with him. Head initially denied the marijuana belonged to him, but eventually admitted that he had facilitated the sale of drugs to a relative. In 1993, in Hennepin County, Head, Fabian Crowe, and William Benjamin were apprehended in the act of selling one pound of marijuana to a fourth individual. Head came to the scene of the drug sale with Crowe, who had received an order for one pound of marijuana. Head took the marijuana from Benjamin and delivered it to the fourth individual. Police found six pounds of marijuana during a search of Benjamin's house. Crow claimed Head was his contact person for the marijuana. Head blamed Crowe for the marijuana.

Pursuant to the parties' stipulation, the jury was provided with the following information regarding the prior convictions. In 1991, Head was convicted of conspiracy to commit a fifth-degree controlled substance crime. The offense occurred in Morrison County and involved over one pound of marijuana. In 1993, Head pleaded guilty to fifth-degree controlled substance crime. The offense occurred in Hennepin County and involved about one pound of marijuana.

ISSUES

I. Did the district court err by denying Head's request to impeach Braddock with two prior convictions for providing false information to police?

II. Did the district court err by admitting evidence regarding Head's prior convictions for controlled substance crimes?

III. Was the evidence sufficient to support Head's convictions?

ANALYSIS

I.

Construction of a rule of evidence is a question of law subject to de novo review. Cf. Stoebe v. Merastar Ins. Co., 554 N.W.2d 733, 735-36 (Minn.1996) (applying that standard when construing rule of civil procedure). Minn.R.Evid. 609(a) provides:

For the purpose of attacking the...