State v. Jones
| Decision Date | 15 August 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. C9-85-906,C9-85-906 |
| Citation | 392 N.W.2d 224 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Lemoyne Peter JONES, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. The plea negotiations between the state and two testifying witnesses did not violate the defendant's rights under the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution.
2. The evidence of prior acts of defendant was admissible under State v. Spreigl, 272 Minn. 488, 139 N.W.2d 167 (1965), and its progeny.
3. The seven-month delay from the date of defendant's arrest to the date of his trial did not, in this case, constitute a deprivation of the defendant's sixth amendment right to a speedy trial.
4. The defendant's federal and state right to effective assistance of counsel was not violated.
Michael F. Cromett, St. Paul, for appellant.
Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., St. Paul, John MacGibbon, Sherburne Co. Atty., Kim Brandell, Asst. Co. Atty., Elk River, for respondent.
Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.
Lemoyne Peter Jones appeals from a first-degree murder conviction rendered in Sherburne County District Court. He contends that the trial court erred in admitting certain Spreigl evidence and that it violated his right to a speedy trial and his right to effective assistance of counsel. Jones also argues that an agreement between the state and certain key witnesses for the state violated his due process rights. We affirm.
At approximately 11:45 p.m. on May 7, 1984, the Big Lake Police Department received a call that the home of Bruce Swanson was on fire. Before firefighters reached the house, a state trooper and an officer of the Big Lake Police Department arrived on the scene. The fire was intensely hot, and the two officers were unable to go into the house to check for any occupants. Shortly after the firefighters arrived and began to extinguish the fire, a man approached the state trooper. The man, later identified as Rick Blesi, told the trooper that he lived two blocks away and that shortly before he heard the fire sirens he had observed a man sitting in a car parked near Blesi's house. The trooper followed Blesi to the car.
Upon reaching the car, the trooper saw a man who appeared to be asleep in the front seat. The trooper radioed for assistance and an officer from the Sherburne County Sheriff's Department arrived. The officer noticed a two-way radio on the man's lap and some clothes in the back seat. He knocked on the window of the front door and the man reached for his keys in the ignition. The officer knocked on the window again and asked the man to get out of the car. Before doing so, the man tucked the two-way radio under the front seat. When asked, the man identified himself as "Sipe." He had no identification, however, and the officer was unable to find a record of his driver's license under that name. The police noticed that the man appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance. They arrested him and took him into custody.
As a search incident to an arrest, the officer retrieved the two-way radio from the man's car and observed a binoculars case and an 18-inch screwdriver in the vehicle. The officer also checked the glove compartment and found an ashtray, a bag containing a small amount of marijuana, and a plastic syringe. At the police station, the man said his name was Craig Jesinoski. Police learned that the daughter of the registered owner of the car, Brenda Thompson, had lent it to Jesinoski a few days earlier but Jesinoski had not returned the car on the agreed-upon date. A complaint was issued, charging Jesinoski with possession of a controlled substance, driving while intoxicated, and the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
The fire at the Swanson home was under control by 1:30 a.m. At that time, the firefighters entered the house to search for victims. In the front room firefighters found a body covered by plasterboard and insulation. Near the body they found a fire extinguisher and a five-gallon gasoline can. A can of paint thinner was found in the kitchen. The state fire marshall and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were called in to investigate.
Through dental records the body found in the house was identified as Bruce Swanson, the owner of the home. A medical examination of the body revealed that Swanson was dead at the time of the fire. A reconstruction of Swanson's jaw disclosed a bullet hole in the chin. The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the head and neck.
Investigators determined that the fire originated in the front room of the house near the location where Swanson's body was found. They noted that the burn patterns were consistent with those associated with an accelerant. Traces of two kinds of accelerant, gasoline and mineral spirits, were found on the scene.
On May 8, 1984, the police obtained a warrant to further search the car in which Jesinoski was apprehended. Thompson, who had lent the car to Jesinoski, identified her belongings in the car. She also identified several other items. The police seized clothing belonging to a man named Lemoyne Peter Jones, several carrying cases containing a large quantity of prescription drugs, pistol ammunition of different calibers, and a plastic syringe.
On May 16, 1984, Sherburne County police further investigated the Swanson home. Under the area where Swanson's body was found, police noticed a hole and plywood splinters. Upon searching the basement under the area where the body was discovered, police found bullet fragments. In the basement area directly beneath one of the bedrooms, an intact bullet was found.
The Minneapolis Police Department informed Sherburne County officials that Jesinoski, the man apprehended on the night of the fire, and Jones, the man whose clothes were found in Thompson's car, were suspects in recent armed robberies of drugstores in the Minneapolis area. Jones was arrested by Minneapolis police after witnesses to one drugstore robbery identified him as one of the robbers. On May 21, 1984, Jesinoski appeared in Sherburne County District Court in connection with the complaint charging him with possession of a controlled substance, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and DWI. Pursuant to the request of the Minneapolis Police Department, however, he was arrested that day on an additional charge, armed robbery.
Upon his arrest, Jesinoski was transferred to Minneapolis, where he gave a statement to police. He admitted that on May 7, 1984, he and Jones robbed drugstores in Minneapolis and then picked up a man named Gregory Custer. The three men drove to Big Lake with the intent of robbing Swanson, who they suspected had large quantities of drugs stored in his house. Jesinoski stated that Jones and Custer left the vehicle upon arriving at Swanson's home. One of them possessed a weapon which Jesinoski believed to be a .45 caliber pistol. Jesinoski told the police that he stayed in the car, which was to be used as the "get-away" vehicle after the robbery had been completed. He stated that he fell asleep in the car and was awakened sometime later by two police officers.
On May 23, 1984, Jesinoski, Custer, and Jones were charged in Sherburne County District Court with first-degree murder. Custer and Jones were also charged with first-degree arson and first-degree murder committed during the course of a felony. Custer, who had not yet been apprehended, was immediately arrested in Minneapolis.
On June 22, 1984, a Sherburne County Grand Jury indicted Custer, Jesinoski, and Jones for the murder of Swanson. In light of the statements obtained from Jesinoski and Custer, however, the police suspected that Jones, not Jesinoski or Custer, shot Swanson. In return for his testimony at Jones' trial, Jesinoski was allowed to plead guilty to second-degree murder. The other charges against him were dropped. 1 Custer also pled guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for his testimony at the trial. 2
Jones' trial commenced on December 20, 1984. Jesinoski testified that in early April, 1984, he and two friends drove to Big Lake to "case" Swanson's house. He stated that he knew Swanson had been selling marijuana for some time and thought it likely that Swanson would have thousands of dollars worth of drugs in his house. Jesinoski testified that it was not until the early morning of May 7 that he returned to Swanson's house, this time with Jones. The two planned to burglarize the house at that time, he testified, but were unable to do so because construction workers were at the house next door to Swanson's. Jesinoski said he and Jones then returned to Minneapolis.
In Minneapolis, Jesinoski and Jones went to the home of Judy Moore, where they injected drugs. They then decided to rob drugstores in order to obtain more drugs. By noon they had stolen approximately 1100 Percodan pills and 2500 Valium pills. Jesinoski testified that they then went to Jones' mother's house in south Minneapolis, where they injected themselves with more drugs. In the late afternoon they returned to Moore's house in north Minneapolis and shortly thereafter went to Custer's home, where once again they injected drugs, including liquid Demerol and liquid morphine.
Using Thompson's car, Jesinoski, Custer, and Jones went to a home in Columbia Heights, where they exchanged some of the Percodan pills for cocaine. From there, the three proceeded to Jimmy B's, a bar in Anoka. Jesinoski testified that they knew Swanson frequented the bar and they wanted to determine if he was there that night. If he was, they planned to proceed to Big Lake and burglarize his house. In the parking lot of the bar, the three injected themselves with more liquid morphine and liquid Percodan. Thereafter, Jesinoski testified, he went into the bar, but did not see Swanson there.
Jesinoski testified that the three left the parking lot in Thompson's car and proceeded toward Big...
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