State v. Kilgore
| Citation | 771 S.W.2d 57 |
| Decision Date | 16 May 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 69965,69965 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Bruce KILGORE, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Missouri |
Thomas J. Cotter, St. Louis, for defendant-appellant.
William L. Webster, Atty. Gen., John M. Morris, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for plaintiff-respondent.
Defendant Bruce Kilgore appeals from his conviction by jury of murder in the first degree, § 565.020, RSMo 1986, robbery in the first degree, § 569.020, RSMo 1986, and kidnapping, § 565.110, RSMo 1986. He was sentenced to death for the murder and to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the robbery and kidnapping. The judgment and sentence are affirmed.
The murder victim, Marilyn Wilkins, age fifty-four, was employed at Cristos restaurant in St. Louis. On August 25, 1986, Willie Luckett, a co-worker of Ms. Wilkins, was fired by Cristos for stealing food after Ms. Wilkins advised management of the theft. Defendant Bruce Kilgore was a friend of Willie Luckett.
On August 27, 1986, Kilgore, Luckett, and Luckett's girlfriend, Renee Dickerson, discussed a scheme to rob Ms. Wilkins. That evening, Kilgore and Luckett drove to the parking lot of Cristos in a borrowed car and waited for Ms. Wilkins to leave work. Ms. Wilkins emerged between 10:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Before she could enter her car, Kilgore and Luckett pulled up beside her and Luckett forced her into their car. Kilgore, who was driving, proceeded to Kinloch, a city in St. Louis County. During the drive, Luckett held Ms. Wilkins face down in the back seat of the car. He then ordered her to remove her rings. Luckett was wearing a stocking mask but removed the mask when Ms. Wilkins recognized his voice. Once Ms. Wilkins identified Luckett, he told her that her life was over.
At Kinloch, Kilgore drove into a dark wooded alleyway and stopped the car. The victim pleaded for her life. According to Kilgore, while he sat in the car, Luckett dragged Ms. Wilkins out of the car, stabbed her in the neck, and threw her body in the bushes. Kilgore's statement was controverted by a homeowner whose window overlooked the alley; she testified that she saw two men lifting something from the trunk of their car. Ms. Wilkins died of a laceration of the throat, five and one-half inches wide by three and one-half inches deep, triangular in shape, which severed the jugular veins on both sides of her neck and caused severe damage to the trachea. She also suffered several other stab wounds to the neck and back. The two small fingers of Ms. Wilkins' right hand were cut to the bone, consistent with defense wounds.
At approximately 11:00 p.m., Kilgore and Luckett arrived at Continental Can in St. Louis County to pick up a friend of Kilgore's from work. While they were waiting in the parking lot, Luckett broke the murder knife and threw away the pieces. Kilgore and Luckett then drove back to Luckett's house in Kinloch; the police arrived shortly thereafter. They questioned Luckett but did not arrest him at that time. Kilgore left the house through the back door before he could be questioned.
The next day, August 28, 1986, Kilgore, Luckett, and Luckett's cousin, Lessie Vance, drove to area pawn shops. They sold two of Ms. Wilkins' rings and unsuccessfully attempted to sell three others. Kilgore and Luckett divided the proceeds from the sale. That evening, Kilgore and Luckett decided to move the body because it was too close to Luckett's residence in Kinloch. They stuffed Ms. Wilkins' body in the trunk of Luckett's car and dumped it on a hill near the Art Museum in Forest Park. The body was discovered on August 29. Kilgore and Luckett were arrested on September 3. Kilgore made statements concerning the murder to the police. The statements were admitted at trial.
In the penalty phase of trial, the state adduced defendant's prior convictions for three counts of second degree robbery and first degree tampering. The state also presented the testimony of Renee Dickerson, who testified that Kilgore admitted that he slashed the victim's throat. Defendant called various friends and relatives in mitigation of punishment. The jury returned a sentence of death upon the defendant, finding as bases for capital punishment that the defendant murdered Marilyn Wilkins for the purpose of receiving money and other things of monetary value from the victim, that the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding a lawful arrest, that the murder was committed in the perpetration of robbery and kidnapping and that the killing was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture or depravity of mind. The defendant was also sentenced as a persistent offender to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree robbery and kidnapping.
Defendant contends the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress statements made to the police and in admitting the statements at trial because the statements were the product of an illegal and pretextual arrest.
Defendant was arrested on September 3, 1986, at approximately 10:00 a.m. in St. Louis County by St. Louis City police on a charge of escaping from the custody of a correctional institution in St. Louis County. After being advised of his Miranda rights, the defendant told the officers under questioning that he had no knowledge of the murder of Marilyn Wilkins and that he had spent the evening with Willie Luckett at Luckett's home. Defendant was taken into custody in St. Louis City but was not further questioned that day.
The next morning, based on information obtained from Willie Luckett, warrants were issued against the defendant on charges of first degree murder, first degree robbery, and kidnapping. At approximately 8:30 a.m., after readvising the defendant of his rights, officers informed the defendant of the warrants. Defendant then admitted his involvement in the robbery of Ms. Wilkins and admitted having been present at the scene of her murder, but denied participation in the murder. Later that day, the defendant detailed and reenacted his participation in the crime in a videotaped confession. During the taping of the confession, officers readvised the defendant of his Miranda rights at least four times.
The state concedes that Kilgore's arrest in the county was unlawful because the St. Louis City police exceeded their limited powers of arrest under § 84.090(10), RSMo 1986. The question is, therefore, whether the "causal chain" between the arrest and the defendant's subsequent statements was broken by intervening events and whether the defendant's statements were "sufficiently an act of free will to purge the primary taint." Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590, 602, 95 S.Ct. 2254, 2261, 45 L.Ed.2d 416 (1975); State v. Reynolds, 619 S.W.2d 741, 746 (Mo.1981). Whether a confession is a product of free will is a question to be determined on the facts of each case. Brown, 422 U.S. at 603, 95 S.Ct. at 2261. Factors to be considered by the court in making this determination are: (1) the issuance of Miranda warnings; (2) the temporal proximity of the arrest and the confession; (3) the presence of intervening circumstances; and (4) the purpose and flagrancy of the official misconduct. Brown, 422 U.S. at 603-04, 95 S.Ct. at 2261-62; Reynolds, 619 S.W.2d at 747.
Here, with respect to the statements the defendant gave on September 4, the causal chain was broken. First, the defendant was advised of his Miranda rights on at least six different occasions during questioning. Second, with regard to temporal proximity, several hours have been deemed sufficient to purge the taint, Reynolds, 619 S.W.2d at 747, as has as little as forty-five minutes. Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 107, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2562, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980). In the present case, each of the defendant's statements of September 4 was made almost a full day after his arrest. Third, a significant intervening circumstance occurred between the time of Kilgore's arrest and the time he made his statements: Kilgore was officially charged with murder, robbery, and kidnapping and was notified of these charges. A similar intervening circumstance occurred in Reynolds, 619 S.W.2d at 747, where police officers informed the defendant that the results of their investigation established that defendant was not being truthful about his activities. In Reynolds, as in this case, the defendant's statements were made in response to the knowledge that he faced serious legal difficulties. Finally, even if the purpose of the arrest be considered pretextual, this fact alone is not sufficient to taint an otherwise voluntary confession. The taint of a pretextual arrest can be purged by subsequent events occurring prior to interrogation. United States v. Lame, 716 F.2d 515, 519 (8th Cir.1983). The notice to Kilgore of the filing of official charges served to purge the taint. Based upon the foregoing factors, therefore, the causal link between the defendant's illegal arrest and the statements which he made to police on the day after his arrest was severed sufficiently to render the defendant's statements voluntary and admissible.
As for the defendant's statement of September 3, that he had no knowledge of the murder of Marilyn Wilkins and that he spent the evening with Willie Luckett at Luckett's home, even if the statement were inadmissible, the error was harmless. Error will be declared harmless only if it is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 828, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); State v. Miller, 650 S.W.2d 619, 621 (Mo. banc 1983). The record reflects overwhelming evidence that Kilgore was with Luckett on the night of the murder. This fact was established through other statements from Kilgore and through the testimony of police officers. Defense counsel admitted the fact in closing argument. The fact was undisputed and...
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