State v. Hennum
| Decision Date | 16 June 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. C5-87-1524,C5-87-1524 |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Appellant, v. JoAnn HENNUM, Respondent. |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Expert testimony on battered woman syndrome is admissible to assist a defense of self-defense since knowledge of the syndrome is beyond the understanding of the average juror and the syndrome itself has gained substantial enough scientific acceptance to warrant admissibility.
2. The scope of expert testimony on battered woman syndrome is limited to a description of the general syndrome and the characteristics which are present in an individual suffering from the syndrome. Expert testimony expressing an opinion or conclusion as to the ultimate fact that a particular defendant actually suffers from battered woman syndrome will not be allowed.
3. In the absence of a rule enactment, a trial court lacks the authority to compel a defendant to submit to an adverse medical examination.
4. Defendant's constitutional right to remain silent was not violated since she waived such a right by her prior testimony and the testimony of the defense expert.
5. Defendant's sentence is reduced to 54 months as recommended by the presentence investigation report since mitigating factors exist under Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines II.D.2.a.(4).
Michael F. Cromett, Asst. State Public Defender, St. Paul, for appellant.
Paul R. Kempainen, Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, and Jerome A. Schreiber, Wabasha Co. Atty., Lake City, for respondent.
Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.
Defendant JoAnn Hennum was convicted by jury verdict in Wabasha County District Court of one count of second degree felony murder in violation of Minn.Stat. Sec. 609.19, subd. 2 (1986), in the shooting death of her husband, Robert Hennum. Defendant argues on appeal the trial court erred in ordering defendant to undergo an adverse mental examination by the state's expert and as a result of this examination her constitutional right against self-incrimination was violated. The Minnesota Court of Appeals in State v. Hennum, 428 N.W.2d 859 (Minn.App.1988), reversed the conviction and remanded for a new trial based on these grounds. We affirm the conviction; reverse the court of appeals' order for a new trial; and modify the sentence.
JoAnn Hennum met Robert Hennum in a Rochester bar, Roxie's, in 1973. JoAnn had previously been married to Ronald Atkinson with whom she had five children. JoAnn divorced Atkinson in 1966 and all five children were living with her at the time she met Robert.
Three or four months after JoAnn and Robert met, Robert moved in with JoAnn and her family in the Broadmore Apartments in Rochester. Robert continued living with JoAnn through a series of moves they made to different locations around the state. They were married in May of 1976 and eventually settled with four of JoAnn's children in a trailer home near Hammond, Minnesota, in May of 1983. The Hennums were residing there at the time of Robert Hennum's death on November 29, 1986.
Throughout their marriage, Robert behaved violently toward JoAnn and her children. 1 On May 15, 1977, JoAnn was taken to a hospital with contusions and scratches on her face and a punctured lung caused by a blow to her ribs inflicted by Robert. On July 2, 1979, Robert attacked JoAnn by kicking her with steel-toed boots, causing a ruptured spleen. Surgery to remove the spleen was required. On July 17, 1982, JoAnn entered the hospital after being hit in the face with a beer bottle by Robert. She suffered a broken nose and severe lacerations on her face as a result of the blow. In March of 1985, Robert Hennum was arrested after another attack on JoAnn and pled guilty to assault.
On Thursday evening, November 27, 1986, the Hennum's neighbors, the Potterfs, stopped at the Hennums' trailer with their children. The Potterfs' children, Michael, Jamie and Jada, were allowed to sleep overnight at the trailer.
The following day, Robert left the trailer and went to Freddie's bar where he bought two 12-packs of beer. Robert and another neighbor returned to the Hennum trailer to pick up a log splitter and then left with the three children to split wood and drink beer until about 5:00 p.m. JoAnn and her six-month-old grandson were left alone at the trailer. The Potterfs met Robert at Freddie's Bar in the early evening of November 28. They brought the children back to the Hennum trailer to spend a second night, but Robert stayed at the bar, returning home about 11:30 p.m. He was very drunk.
Upon his return Robert entered the trailer, slamming the door behind him. JoAnn was standing near the stove and Robert pushed her away, shouting, "What's for supper, bitch?" Robert saw some oatmeal left over from breakfast sitting on the stove. He picked up the pan of oatmeal, hit JoAnn with it on the side of the head and dumped the oatmeal on top of her. Jada was awakened by the fighting and saw Robert dump the oatmeal on JoAnn.
Robert then grabbed JoAnn by the hair and began pulling her around the room showing her some cans of chili and telling her to warm some up for him. When she began to prepare the chili, he went after her again, throwing her to the floor and ripping her shirt. Whenever she fell he would grab her back up by the hair. At one point Robert had her pinned to the floor with his hands on her throat.
Eventually, Robert went into the living room and while JoAnn was attempting to cook dinner, he threw a piece of firewood at her. He then threw a car part at her. JoAnn tried to protect herself by hiding under the kitchen table. Robert grabbed a rocking chair and threw it at her, causing the chair to break.
The fighting woke JoAnn's six-month-old grandson who was sleeping on the couch in the livingroom. The baby started crying. Robert went into the livingroom and pulled the child up by the arm, yelling at him to be quiet. JoAnn told him to put the child down and accused him of beating up on women and children because he could not handle a man. Robert threw the child back on the couch.
He went back at JoAnn, pulling her around again by the hair. He then tore one of the doors off the closet and threw it at her. Coats, folding chairs and three guns fell out of the closet. Robert threw a chair at JoAnn, broke a cupboard into pieces and threw some more firewood. Some of the firewood fell on Jada who was sleeping on the floor in the livingroom. Robert then tore off the rest of JoAnn's shirt and pulled out more of her hair. Finally, he went into the bathroom and Jada came and sat down by JoAnn. Jada picked up a piece of the broken rocker and told JoAnn to hit Robert with it. JoAnn told her no, because if she hit him with it he would just come back at her.
JoAnn testified that while Robert was in the bathroom she went into the bedroom and got another shirt. Robert then came out of the bathroom and went into the bedroom where he fell asleep. JoAnn sat on the floor for awhile while Jada was feeding the baby a bottle. She saw one of the guns lying on the floor and noticed a bullet was sticking out of it. JoAnn testified that she loaded the bullet back into the gun and decided to go in and scare her husband. She went into the bedroom, closed her eyes, and fired the gun.
Jada's testimony differs somewhat from JoAnn's. Jada testified that after Robert Hennum went to bed, JoAnn called her out into the kitchen. JoAnn told Jada that she was going to go into the bedroom and scare Robert so he would not beat her anymore. Jada testified that JoAnn showed her how to load the .30-30 rifle with one of two bullets JoAnn had retrieved. JoAnn placed the second bullet in her back pocket. According to Jada, JoAnn then sat in the kitchen and drank "several" cans of beer. JoAnn got up and went to the bathroom three times while drinking the beer. Before the last trip to the bathroom, JoAnn told Jada to lie down on the couch with the baby. JoAnn took the gun with her when she went to the bathroom the third time. Jada testified that she then heard the bathroom light switch go on and off, the bedroom light switch go on and a gun go off.
After the gunshot, JoAnn told Jada they had to contact her parents and tell them what had happened. JoAnn and Jada with the baby walked to a neighbor's house where they called Jada's parents. The Potterfs arrived at the neighbors, picked up JoAnn, Jada and the baby and drove to the Hennum trailer. They found the trailer in shambles and Robert Hennum dead of a gunshot wound in the bedroom. The Potterfs collected the other children who were still sleeping in the trailer and drove to the Hovde residence where Mrs. Potterf called the police; the Hennums did not have a functioning telephone. The sheriff arrived with two deputies at about 5:55 a.m. JoAnn was questioned by the officers for about two hours and formally arrested at 8:25 a.m.
The sheriff's search of the trailer produced evidence of a disturbance. The officers found broken chairs, cans of chili, firewood and the closet door scattered on the floor. They also found pieces of JoAnn's shirt and clumps of her hair. In the bedroom, Robert Hennum was found dead, lying on his right side with a massive injury to the left side of his head.
An autopsy was performed on Robert. The wound on the left side of his head was consistent with a gunshot injury. The bullet was fired from the .30-30 rifle found in the trailer at a distance of more than 18-24 inches. When the gun was fired it was about 38 inches above the floor. Robert had a blood alcohol concentration of .25. The condition of the body suggested he was lying on his right side at the time of his death.
JoAnn was also examined by a doctor on November 29. She was found to have multiple abrasions, bruises, and a contusion on the right, back side of her head. These were recent injuries.
At trial JoAnn admitted killing her husband. Her sole defense was that her actions were...
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