State v. Knese

• Decision Date: 09 February 1999
• Docket Number: No. 80225,80225
• Citation: 985 S.W.2d 759
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Randall B. KNESE, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

Page 759

985 S.W.2d 759

STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Randall B. KNESE, Appellant.

No. 80225.

Supreme Court of Missouri En Banc.

Feb. 9, 1999.

Rehearing Denied March 9, 1999.

Melinda K. Pendergraph, Asst. Public Defender, Columbia, for Appellant.

Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Atty. Gen., Daniel W. Follett, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for Respondent.

RONNIE L. WHITE, Judge.

Randall Knese appeals from his convictions for the attempted forcible rape ¹ and first degree murder ² of his wife, Karin Knese, and from the death sentence imposed for the latter crime. Mr. Knese raises fifteen points of error. We affirm.

On the morning of March 23, 1996, one of Mr. Knese's neighbors heard a dog barking across the street and then a man yelling. When the neighbor went to her kitchen door to see what was going on, Mr. Knese, wearing only a pair of sweatpants pulled down around his ankles, opened the front door, ran into the neighbor's house and landed on the couch. Mr. Knese then stood, pulled up his pants, and came into the kitchen, where he and the neighbor began to yell at each other. When the neighbor's boyfriend came into the kitchen, Mr. Knese ran into the bedroom and sat on the television. After then going into the bathroom, Mr. Knese came back into the kitchen and then ran outside.

Another neighbor saw Mr. Knese standing outside, holding a broom and screaming. When the neighbor drove closer to where Mr. Knese was standing, Mr. Knese jumped on the hood of the car. The neighbor noticed that Mr. Knese had some scratches on his face, but did not otherwise appear to be injured. Mr. Knese slid off the hood and opened the passenger-side door. The car gained speed, however; and before Mr. Knese was able to get inside the car, he was dragged along the car's side until he eventually let go. The neighbor who was driving the car called the police when she arrived at work.

The police found Mr. Knese lying in the road and noticed that he was bloody and had multiple cuts and abrasions. When asked how he sustained the injuries, Mr. Knese originally said that the "devil had come to get him." He later said that "the bitch tried to kill" him. Mr. Knese also told a paramedic that he did not want to be treated differently for what he had done. Mr. Knese was then taken to the hospital.

While one police officer had been taking care of Mr. Knese in the road, another officer investigated Mr. Knese's home. From the front porch of the home, that officer saw Karin Knese lying motionless on the floor. Her body was partially nude, with her legs spread apart. The officer found no pulse or other signs of life. A paramedic later pronounced Ms. Knese dead.

At the hospital, the police advised Mr. Knese of his Miranda rights, and Mr. Knese waived them. Mr. Knese made four statements about the events that had occurred earlier in the day. The police audiotaped one of the statements. Throughout these statements, Mr. Knese admitted to killing his wife. According to Mr. Knese, his wife had taken their child and visited Ms. Knese's sister-in-law the night before, because Ms. Knese was angry about Mr. Knese's drug use. When she returned, she told Mr. Knese that she wanted him to leave their home. They both then went to sleep in separate rooms; Ms. Knese slept on the couch. Mr. Knese woke up early that morning and ingested some cocaine. About an hour after using cocaine, Mr. Knese went into the living room to talk about the couple's problems. Mr. Knese laid down by his wife, but Ms. Knese did not want to talk. Ms. Knese pushed him off the couch, but Mr. Knese continued touching her and talking to her. He forced himself back onto the couch and tried to engage in foreplay. When Ms. Knese protested, Mr. Knese pulled off her pants and panties. He forced himself on top of her and attempted to have sex with her; however they did not engage in intercourse because Mr. Knese could not sustain an erection.

Ms. Knese then, according to Mr. Knese, went "ballistic." The two began to fight, and Ms. Knese screamed, "rape." When she did this, Mr. Knese put one hand over her mouth while he squeezed her neck with the other. Ms. Knese grabbed a glass lampshade and swung. Mr. Knese blocked the swing with his arm, and the lampshade shattered. Ms. Knese picked up a piece of glass and swung again. This time she cut Mr. Knese's palm. Mr. Knese then took the glass and slashed her neck. The two fell to the floor, where Mr. Knese again began to strangle Ms. Knese. At one point, his hold was so tight that his thumb went through her skin. He also bit her neck. When she put a finger in his eye, he headbutted her. At the end of the altercation, Mr. Knese stood up, kicked her head and stood on her neck for five or ten minutes.

At trial, the State presented physical evidence that corroborated Knese's confession. A forensic pathologist performed an autopsy on Ms. Knese and listed the cause of death as manual strangulation and probable suffocation, combining to cause asphyxiation. She found multiple abrasions, large amounts of hemorrhage, bruising, lacerations and cuts about Ms. Knese's head and neck area. The medical examiner also gave her opinion that sexual assault was probable, based on the fact that the body was in a prone position with legs spread and was partially nude, and the fact that Ms. Knese had been killed with the assailant very close to her body.

Following trial, the jury convicted Mr. Knese of attempted rape, sentencing him to twenty years imprisonment on that charge, and of first degree murder. For that crime, the jury recommended the death penalty.

I. Admissibility of Accused's Statements to Police

Prior to trial, Mr. Knese filed a one page motion to suppress which moved, in its entirety, "to suppress any and all statements obtained from the defendant of whatever kind or nature on the grounds that such statements were obtained in violation of defendants rights against self-incrimination as numerated in the Fifth-Amendment to the Constitution of the United States." Following a hearing, this motion was summarily overruled, and several of Mr. Knese's statements given while he was being treated in the hospital emergency room, which amounted to a detailed confession to the murder and attempted rape of his wife, were presented to the jury. Mr. Knese contends that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress, arguing that his waiver of his right against self-incrimination was not voluntary, knowing and intelligent.

At the suppression hearing the State presented the evidence of four police officers. The first officer to speak with Mr. Knese was an evidence technician, Officer Chestnut, who collected Mr. Knese's clothes and photographed his injuries. Officer Chestnut first saw Mr. Knese at approximately 7:30 a.m. and was in his presence on and off for two hours. He did not ask Mr. Knese any questions, although Mr. Knese made several statements spontaneously that were not introduced at trial. He testified that when he initially saw Mr. Knese he was acting "abnormal" and that he was acting "wild": "He had a wide open look in his eyes, far away stare. His eyes were rolling back and forth very rapidly, staring at the ceiling. He was lying flat on his back. His body was acting like he was pacing." Although initially he was "fading in and out of reality," later Mr. Knese "calmed down and he seemed like he was more understanding of what was going on and understanding of what had transpired." A second officer, Sergeant Schwendemann, spoke with Mr. Knese immediately before Officer Chestnut, and described him as "calm and rational" at that time. The statements made by Mr. Knese to Sergeant Schwendemann also were not presented at trial.

Detective Harvey, who did testify at trial, began to interrogate Mr. Knese at approximately 8 a.m. He testified that, at that time, Mr. Knese appeared "very coherent and understood what [Detective Harvey] was talking about." Detective Harvey advised him of his Miranda rights, ³ and Mr. Knese indicated that he understood each of the rights. Mr. Knese then made a detailed statement describing the altercation with his wife in which he admitted choking her into unconsciousness. Detective Harvey returned at 2:20 that afternoon to have Mr. Knese repeat his confession on audio tape. Before he began the interrogation, Detective Harvey gave Mr. Knese a form advising him of his Miranda rights, read it to him as Mr. Knese read along and, after Mr. Knese had agreed, on audio tape, that he understood the rights he was waiving, had Mr. Knese sign the waiver. Mr. Knese then gave a detailed forty minute interview where he described the altercation where he killed his wife. At that time, Detective Harvey testified, Mr. Knese appeared lucid and coherent. Detective Harvey again returned to Mr. Knese's bedside at 5:20 the same afternoon. After again advising Mr. Knese of his Miranda rights, Detective Harvey asked Mr. Knese if he had had intercourse with his wife prior to killing her. Mr. Knese indicated that he had attempted to, but was unable to maintain an erection.

Detective Morrissey also testified at the suppression hearing and at the trial. He testified that Mr. Knese approached him at 9:50 that morning, after he had been Mirandized by Detective Harvey, and described the incident to him in some detail. Detective Morrissey testified that during this statement and the statements made to Detective Harvey, Mr. Knese was coherent.

In order for a waiver of Miranda rights to be operative, the waiver must, under the facts and circumstances in each particular case, be voluntary, knowing and intelligent. ⁴ Although he did not present specific grounds in his suppression motion, Mr. Knese claimed during the hearing on that motion, at trial, and in his motion for new trial that his mental condition rendered his confession unintelligent. It is not clear what Mr. Knese suggests caused this deficient mental condition. Mr. Knese presented no...