State v. Kelley
| Decision Date | 25 April 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. WD,WD |
| Citation | 901 S.W.2d 193 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Reis P. KELLEY, Appellant. 46350. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Craig A. Johnston, Office of the State Public Defender, Columbia, for appellant.
Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, Philip M. Koppe, Asst. Atty. Gen., Kansas City, for respondent.
Before ULRICH, P.J., and KENNEDY and BERREY, JJ.
Reis P. Kelley appeals his convictions, following jury trial, of six counts of arson in the second degree, § 569.050, RSMo 1994, three counts of arson in the first degree, § 569.040, RSMo 1994, and three counts of tampering in the first degree, § 569.080.1(2), RSMo 1994. Mr. Kelley was sentenced as a prior offender under section 558.016.2, RSMo 1994, to an aggregate 81 years imprisonment.
Mr. Kelley also appeals denial, following a hearing, of his Rule 29.15 postconviction motion. On December 21, 1992, Mr. Kelley filed a pro se motion under Rule 29.15 seeking to set aside his convictions and sentences. An amended motion was then filed by appointed post-conviction counsel. Among the grounds asserted in his amended motion was that his trial attorney had been ineffective in failing to request instructions on the lesser-included offense of arson in the second degree on three counts. After the hearing, the motion court entered an order, along with findings of fact and conclusions of law, denying Mr. Kelley's motion. The appeals are consolidated pursuant to Rule 29.15(l ).
The judgment of conviction on each of the twelve counts is affirmed.
The motion court's order denying post-conviction relief is affirmed.
In the falls of 1989 and 1990, North Kansas City was plagued with a series of 12 arson fires. The first occurred on September 28, 1989. Janna Courtney, who lived in a duplex across the street from Mr. Kelley, awoke at approximately 5:40 a.m. to the sound of her car alarm and her barking dog. She looked out the window to find her car, which was parked in a detached garage she shared with the other occupants of the duplex, in flames. When the fire department arrived, the garage was also on fire. The fire destroyed the car and its contents. The North Kansas City fire marshal determined that the fire had been intentionally set.
Five days later, on October 3, 1989, Ms. Courtney's neighbor, Marion Craig, was awakened at 5:00 a.m. by "popping sounds" coming from her garage. When she looked outside, she saw a fire in the garage. The fire destroyed her 1983 Toyota which was parked in the garage. The fire marshal determined that the fire had been intentionally set inside the garage at the back wall and had spread to the vehicle. A police officer later observed Mr. Kelley at the scene of the fire. The officer was in his patrol car, across the street from Ms. Craig's duplex, writing a report when Mr. Kelley strolled by and looked at the officer.
Later that morning, Bonnie Dukart, who was living in a rented two bedroom house with an attached garage, awoke between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. to her smoke alarm. The house was filled with smoke, and she experienced difficulty breathing. The fire had started in the garage and spread to the attic of the house. The fire department arrived quickly and put out the fire. The fire marshal determined that the fire had been intentionally set in a couch or a storage unit in the back of the garage. Several years before, Mr. Kelley had lived in this house with his mother.
On the same morning half a mile away, Bonnie Webel was dressing between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. when she heard "popping" noises outside her home. At 6:00 she went to her kitchen door where a fire fighter instructed her to stay inside. Firemen were extinguishing the fire burning her 1979 Chevette in her driveway. The fire marshal again determined the fire was intentionally set and had started on the floorboard of the passenger's side.
Larry Richards was the fourth arson victim that morning. At approximately 6:30 a.m., a man knocked on Mr. Richards' door and informed his wife that their car was on fire. Mr. Richards went outside and used a fire extinguisher to put out what was left of the fire. The car was damaged with the remains of the dash on the floorboard and the driver's seat destroyed. Mr. Richards had taught school as a substitute teacher, and he was acquainted with Mr. Kelley who had been a student in a class he had taught.
Four days later, on October 7, 1989, Pauline Leonard, who lived in an apartment building, was awakened at about 2:45 a.m. by her smoke alarm. She could see a fire through the glass panels of her front door. When she opened the door, she discovered that a large silk and straw flower arrangement hanging on the front door was in flames. Part of the burning arrangement fell on the rug outside the door and the carpeting inside the house when she opened the door. Ms. Leonard was able to douse the fire with water before the fire department arrived. The fire marshal again determined that the fire had been intentionally started by someone. Five minutes before the fire, a police officer saw Mr. Kelley standing on the corner in front of Ms. Leonard's building.
On the evening of November 16, 1989, Mr. Kelley was at the apartment of a friend, Edward Kowinski, in North Kansas City drinking beer. Mr. Kelley was upset, stating that the police were hassling him about the fires in North Kansas City. He then left about 9:30 p.m., alone. Mr. Kowinski said that in October, Mr. Kelley admitted to him that he set one of the fires the police were investigating.
Delita Johnston lived in a duplex with a detached garage. Sometime around 3:30 a.m. on the morning of November 17, 1989, Ms. Johnston was awakened by fire trucks. She discovered that her garage, which she shared with neighbors, was on fire. Before the fire could be extinguished, it damaged the roof of the garage and some general household goods stored there. The fire marshal found a "possible pour pattern caused by a flammable or combustible liquid poured on the floor in the garage." The evidence established that the fire had been intentionally set.
A police officer who was on routine patrol observed Mr. Kelley at about 3:00 a.m. that morning three blocks from the scene of the fire. After the fire was reported, another officer spotted Mr. Kelley approximately a mile away walking up North Oak Street, out of breath. He told the officer that he had been visiting his friend, Ed Kowinski, until 3:00 a.m.
Mr. Kelley was interviewed by Scott Meyer of the North Kansas City Police Department on November 17, 1989. Initially, Kelley denied setting the fire that morning. He was approximately half of a mile away from the fire when he was arrested. A short time later, Officer Meyer asked Mr. Kelley if his conscience was bothering him, and Mr. Kelley answered "yes." He said he was afraid of going back to jail. When asked about the fires again, Mr. Kelley said he was "going to have to stick with his original story, and deny any knowledge of any of the fires." Approximately fifteen minutes later, Mr. Kelley said he would admit to starting three of the fires if he could avoid going to jail that weekend. When asked for specific dates and locations of the fires, Mr. Kelley responded saying to pick any of them in October or the one near French Quarters, a location in North Kansas City, where a car was burned on October 27. Officer Meyer reviewed police files and found a fire at that location but on a different date. Officer Meyer concluded his interview with Mr. Kelley.
In the summer of 1990, Mr. Kelley began working with a friend named Beverly Thrall. On two occasions Mr. Kelley talked with Ms. Thrall about the fires that had occurred in North Kansas City. Whenever she gave him a ride in her vehicle, they were followed by a North Kansas City police officer. When she asked Mr. Kelley if he was responsible for the fires, he answered, "yes, but not the one across the street." A second conversation occurred later that year where Mr. Kelley again admitted to Ms. Thrall to setting the series of fires except one.
Another series of fires occurred in North Kansas City in the fall of 1990. On August 9, 1990, Bonnie Yeager was awakened at 2:00 a.m. by a loud banging noise and a fire. Ms. Yeager lived in a two story house with a detached garage. Two cars were parked in the garage, and two were outside. One of the vehicles outside was on fire. By the time the fire was extinguished, it had spread to the garage and had damaged the vehicles within the garage, too. The fire marshal stated that a fire had been intentionally set in one of the cars outside. At the scene, police noticed that the parking lights of a van belonging to Betty Mendenhall, Ms. Yeager's neighbor, were on and the passenger door was open. One of the officers found a book of King Louie Family Recreation Center matches in the van. Ms. Mendenhall was not a smoker, and knew that the matches had not been in the van when she parked it that evening.
Mr. Kelley dated Kelly Packham in October of 1990. At 10:00 on the night of October 23, 1990, she picked up Mr. Kelley at King Louie where he was then working. As they left the bowling alley, they began to argue over Mr. Kelley's demand to drive her car. The argument escalated once she started to drive away. Finally after more yelling by Mr. Kelley, Ms. Packham turned into a grocery store parking lot and went inside the store alone. She remained in the store for about ten minutes until a man came in yelling that a car was on fire. She rushed to the door and saw flames emanating from within her car. The fire burned the front seat causing a big hole in it. A fire investigator concluded that the fire had been intentionally set.
Later that evening, Maurice Scott, who lived in a ground-floor...
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