State v. Lane, 56138
| Decision Date | 13 December 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 56138,No. 2,56138,2 |
| Citation | 475 S.W.2d 91 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Bobby LANE, Appellant |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
John C. Danforth, Atty. Gen., Kermit W. Almstedt, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.
James L. McMullin, Legal Aid and Defender Society of Greater Kansas City, Kansas City, for appellant; John J. Cosgrove, Public Defender, of counsel.
Bobby Lane (hereinafter defendant) was charged with first degree murder as a result of the killing of Ronald Dee Yoakum. Section 559.010. 1 Defendant, with the assent of the court, waived trial by a jury. Rule 26.01; Article I, § 22(a), Constitution of Missouri, V.A.M.S. The case was submitted on evidence offered by the state; the defendant offered no evidence. The court found defendant guilty as charged and sentenced him to imprisonment for life. Section 559.030. Defendant appeals.
The primary point on appeal is that the court erred in overruling defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal, because there was not sufficient evidence to sustain the conviction. We hold the evidence to be sufficient and affirm the judgment.
Mildred Lewis, resident manager of an apartment house at 3607 Paseo in Kansas City, Missouri, testified that on the evening of November 26, 1968, at about 9:30 o'clock, defendant came to her apartment on the first floor asking for a key to apartment No. 307 on the third floor; that defendant had been a tenant of apartment No. 307, but had been given a notice to vacate; that she told him she did not have a key; that she also told him that if he had anything in that apartment he should get it out; that a man later identified as Carl Primous was with defendant on that occasion and that shortly thereafter she heard the two men walking up the front stairway; that a few minutes later two girls who lived in an apartment on the third floor came to the first floor and told her that someone was breaking into apartment No. 307; that she called the police and reported the break-in; that within a few minutes Officer William Mynatt responded to the call and she let him in the building and walked up the stairs with him; that as they approached the third floor she saw defendant and Primous, each with a knife in his hand, standing at the top of the stairs facing her and the officer; that she stopped and returned to her apartment to call for more police; that she told her husband, Fletcher Lewis, that the officer needed help and then called the police; that her husband got his shotgun and went down the hall toward the back stairs; that while she was still on the telephone with the police she heard a shot and then a 'blast' from a shotgun; that as she finished the telephone call a tenant across the hall from her unlocked the apartment building front door to let in Police Officers Ronald Dee Yoakum and Frederic Smith; that later she opened her door and looked out in the hall and saw defendant and Primous 'coming down the hall' with Lane in the lead; that defendant had a gun in his hand; that he and Officer Yoakum started to 'scuffling' on the floor across the hall from her apartment and she closed her door.
Officer William Mynatt testified that he went to the apartment house at 3607 Paseo on the evening of November 26, 1968, in response to a call that prowlers were breaking into an apartment in the building; that he arrived alone at about 9:45 P.M. and was directed to the third floor of the building; that he walked up the front stairway with his service revolver in his right hand; that when he reached a point about five steps below the third floor he saw defendant standing in the hallway at the top of the stairs holding a table knife; that he told defendant to drop the knife and he did; that as he proceeded up the steps he saw Primous in the hallway with a butcher knife in his hand; that when he told Primous to drop the knife Primous lunged at him and grabbed the officer's hand and service revolver; that defendant lunged at him at the same moment and also grabbed the revolver; that they fought over the revolver and he landed on the floor on his back with the revolver still in his hand; that they continued to fight him for the gun and Primous kicked him in the head which so 'jarred' him that they gained possession of the revolver; that he looked up to see Primous and defendant standing directly in front of him; that Primous had the revolver and was pointing it at his head; that defendant said to Primous: 'Leave him alone, let's get out of here'; that the two men then turned and ran down the front stairway; that as they left the third floor Primous was in the lead and still had possession of the revolver; that he saw no gun in defendant's hand. He further testified that he got up and went to one of the third floor apartments and called the Police dispatcher to report what had occurred; that while he was making this report he heard several shots and glass breaking in the building; that after making his report he went back out in the hall where he saw the two knives still on the floor where he and the two men had been fighting; that he also saw splinters lying on the floor below the service door to apartment No. 307 and the door standing partially open. He further testified that after being relieved of his watch of the physical evidence on the third floor, he went to the first floor where he saw Primous' body lying in the hall about 10 or 12 feet from the front door; that he also saw his revolver on the floor approximately one foot from Primous' left hand.
Fletcher Lewis, husband of the resident manager of the apartment house, testified that when his wife returned to their apartment to call for more police officers, she told him that Officer Mynatt needed help; that he got his shotgun and went to the second floor by way of the back stairs; that when he got to the second floor, he walked toward the front stairs and as he arrived there he saw defendant and Primous coming down the stairs; that as they reached the second floor, defendant stopped momentarily, told him (Lewis) to '* * * stay out of this * * *' and turned in behind Primous to go to the first floor; that as defendant stepped off onto about the second step below the second floor level, he turned and fired a gun at him striking him in the right chest; that he fired the shotgun at defendant as the latter ran down the steps toward the first floor. He further testified that after he fired the shotgun, he heard several shots on the first floor and that he returned down the back stairs.
Officer Frederic Smith testified that on the evening of November 26, 1968, near 10:00 o'clock, he responded to a police call to go to an apartment house at 3607 Paseo; that he and Officer Ronald Yoakum arrived there at the same time and went to the front door together; that he heard a shot inside brfore they could get in and as Officer Yoakum was stepping in and holding the door open for him, he heard another shot; that as he stepped in, Yoakum moved further in and to his right and he saw Primous and defendant, with the latter in the lead, running down the front stairway; that as he and Yoakum moved toward the stairway, defendant jumped from about the third step...
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