State v. Landro

• Citation: 504 N.W.2d 741
• Decision Date: 20 August 1993
• Docket Number: No. C5-92-1618,C5-92-1618
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Ross Alan LANDRO, Appellant.
• Court: Supreme Court of Minnesota (US)

Page 741

504 N.W.2d 741

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Ross Alan LANDRO, Appellant.

No. C5-92-1618.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Aug. 20, 1993.

Syllabus by the Court

1. It is misconduct for a juror to contact the media during a trial.

2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the misconduct did not prejudice the verdict when

person contacted from the media did not attempt to influence the verdict and when the other jurors did not know that the juror had contacted the media.

3. An accomplice is one capable of being indicted and convicted for the same crime.

4. Accomplice testimony may be corroborated by family members.

5. Evidentiary issues must be preserved by a timely objection unless they involve a plain error affecting substantial rights or an error of fundamental law.

John M. Stuart, Marie L. Wolf, State Public Defenders, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Hubert H. Humphrey III, Atty. Gen., Tom Foley, Darrell C. Hill, Ramsey County Atty., St. Paul, for respondent.

Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.

TOMLJANOVICH, Justice.

Ross Alan Landro appeals his convictions for first and second degree murder. He argues that his conviction cannot stand because of juror misconduct, the improper admission of rebuttal evidence, and insufficient corroboration of accomplice testimony. We affirm.

Jessie Adams was shot to death during the early morning hours of December 7, 1991 outside of Born's Bar, St. Paul. ¹ Appellant ² and a friend, James Taylor, spent most of the day of December 6, 1991 together. At about noon they met at a friend's house. According to James' testimony, appellant showed him a .22 caliber revolver that he kept in the waistband of his pants. Appellant's testimony differed: he testified that the gun belonged to James. Accompanied by James, appellant purchased some shells for the gun at 2:19 p.m. from a sporting goods store. The purchase of the bullets was corroborated by an employee of the store and a sales record; appellant testified, however, that James had wanted to buy the bullets and that he did not purchase them but was merely lending James the money. James testified that appellant then loaded the gun and put some shells in his pocket.

Around 5:00 p.m., they were joined by James' younger brother, Jeffrey. The three then went to several shopping malls where they either stole things, returned stolen goods for money, or both. Afterward, they bought some beer at a liquor store and stopped at a couple of bars.

At about 10:30 p.m. the three arrived at a friend's house. According to the testimony of the Taylor brothers, Appellant tried to sell the gun for $25. Appellant denied that he had attempted to do so. Testimony at trial indicated, however, that after appellant attempted to sell the gun, the prospective buyer handed the gun to James who tried to take it. At this time, appellant announced that it was his gun, took it and tucked it into his pants. The three left at approximately 11:00 p.m. They went to a bar where James almost got into a fight. Next they went to the home of another friend. An argument developed between James and this friend. According to the friend's mother, appellant helped escort James out and apologized for the behavior. They left about midnight. They arrived at Born's Bar at about 12:30 a.m. Jesse Adams was at Born's with Cheryl Clark, the mother of his fiancee. Appellant and the Taylors joined a group of friends. The bartender testified that their group was loud and described a wrestling match involving the Taylors shortly before closing that resulted in a broken glass. After the bartender took the Taylors' drinks away, James accused Adams and one of Adams' friends of having stolen them.

At closing time, appellant's group left first, Adams and Clark were close behind. At this point, the testimony of the state's witnesses diverged. According to James, their group was out on the sidewalk and a black female--presumably Cheryl Clark--continued to make comments directed at them as she had earlier in the bar. James claimed that he told her to "get the f___ out of here," and that Adams then took off his coat and started to come after James.

Clark testified differently. She said that a group of whites--presumably the Taylor group--confronted them 10-15 feet from the front door and asked them, "What the hell you doing in this neighborhood?" She testified that then one man--presumably James Taylor--emerged from the group. Adams told the man to leave him alone. In response the man began swinging at Adams. Clark's testimony continued that Adams, with his hands at his sides, said he did not want any trouble, but that the man responded, "I'll f___ you up, nigger." Clark continued that a second man, taller and thinner than the first, then joined the first man.

A fight broke out and Clark went to her car to get a mallet. When she returned, she said that the taller man said "I got something for you, too, bitch." She said that he opened his jacket and that she saw the butt end of a gun. At trial, Clark identified appellant as this man. Previously, however, she had identified James Taylor as the man with the gun. She returned to the bar to get help and was pounding on the windows when she heard the firing of two shots. The Taylors returned to the bar a few minutes later. Clark originally identified them as the two involved in the shooting. At trial, however, she said she was no longer certain.

The Taylor brothers told a different story. They described how Adams and James fell to the ground and started wrestling, with Adams on top. They testified that neither Adams nor James had weapons. Jeff testified that he was standing near his brother's head and watched Landro take out his gun and shoot Adams three or four times. After the shots were fired, James pushed Adams off. The Taylors testified that appellant then shot Adams one more time. They testified that appellant ran towards his car and they went back to the bar.

Appellant's testimony differed. He testified that when he arrived at Born's bar with the Taylors, he ordered a pitcher of beer. Tired of the commotion that seemed to follow James, he opted instead to spend some time visiting with other people he knew. He testified that he heard the Taylors fighting and heard a glass break. He decided to leave, placed his pitcher on a table and announced that he was leaving. He testified that the Taylors told him that they would be out in a minute.

Appellant testified that he next went to his car and smoked a cigarette while he waited for the Taylors. He testified that he thought he remembered hearing something that sounded like fighting and gun shots, assumed that the Taylors were involved--because James Taylor, according to appellant's testimony, was always causing trouble--and decided to leave.

Upon leaving, appellant testified that he drove to the house of a friend, Wanda Peterson. She testified that when appellant arrived, he was nervous and had a gun. Using her telephone, he telephoned some friends to find out what had happened. He talked with a friend who told him that the Taylors were saying that he, appellant, had shot someone. Appellant testified that at first he thought it was a joke, but then he heard the voices of the Taylors in the background. Appellant testified that Jeff was saying that he would not go to jail for something he had not done; James was saying "Ross did it, Ross did it." Appellant denied having done so and got off the phone.

During the next time period, there seems to be a hole in appellant's story. In his original statement, he testified that he had only been at Petersons' house a minute. At trial he elongated this to an hour or more. In any event, he testified that he next drove to the home of yet more friends. When he arrived there, a cab was arriving the Taylor brothers came out of the house and Jeff got into the cab. The driver's records establish that this was at about 3:19 a.m.--James got into appellant's car; appellant asked him what had happened. Appellant testified that James told him, "Oh man, I got some problems," but "This guy ain't got no problems no more." James did not want to discuss the shooting further.

Appellant and James drove to a friend's house, where they spent the rest of the night. Appellant testified that James was acting "weird, nervous [and] scared," and at one point said something about appellant having shot someone. In the morning, appellant agreed to give James a ride to Minneapolis. When he left the next morning, Appellant testified that he asked the friend to give him some clothing for warmth and she did so. Appellant was taken into custody while leaving the house.

The grand jury indicted appellant on January 22, 1992. The trial began on June 1, 1992. Both of the Taylors testified. On June 10, 1992, after the evidence had concluded but before closing arguments and jury instructions, one juror, Dan Williams, telephoned a local anchorperson, Diana Pierce. Williams had talked to her earlier during the trial and told her that she would find the case "very interesting." During the telephone call and previous conversation, he did not discuss the case at length, but rather suggested that she obtain a transcript. The comments he made about the substance of the trial were limited to his expressing skepticism as to the testimony of the defense investigator. He also testified that he thought that the case raised similar issues to the Rodney King incident and trial. The acquittal and subsequent riots had been publicized shortly before this trial began. He told Pierce the names of the defendant, the judge and the attorneys. The conversation lasted about 10 minutes. At the subsequent hearing, Pierce testified that Williams said, "I wanted to talk to you about the case * * * going on in St. Paul that I had briefly mentioned two weeks prior." He also told her that he was willing to make himself available for an interview after the verdict...