State v. Laster

• Citation: 293 S.W.2d 300,365 Mo. 1076
• Decision Date: 09 July 1956
• Docket Number: No. 44919,44919
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Rollie LASTER, Appellant. . En Banc
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Missouri

Page 300

293 S.W.2d 300

365 Mo. 1076

STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Rollie LASTER, Appellant.

No. 44919.

Supreme Court of Missouri. En Banc.

July 9, 1956.

Rehearing Denied July 31, 1956.

Thomas P. Rose, Jefferson City, for appellant.

John M. Dalton, Atty. Gen., W. Don Kennedy, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.

EAGER, Judge.

Defendant and six others were indicted jointly on November 23, 1954, for the murder of Walter Lee Donnell, who was slain during the riot at the Missouri Penitentiary on the evening of September 22, 1954. All of the defendants were inmates of the penitentiary, as was Donnell. On December 6, 1954, counsel was appointed for this defendant. That counsel assiduously prepared the defense, ably tried the case and now prosecutes this appeal. A severance was granted this defendant on motion; certain other motions were filed and overruled, but no point is made here on those rulings. At the trial on January 24-27, 1955, defendant was found guilty by the jury and the death penalty was assessed. A motion for new trial was filed, heard and overruled, defendant was duly sentenced, and this appeal was regularly taken.

In view of the limited scope of the points made on this appeal, it will not be necessary to review all the evidence in detail. It is not contended here that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction. Donnell and James Creighton, another inmate, had been confined for two months or more in cells on death row, for their own protection. Defendant and one Stidham were confined there about July, 1954, to break up and separate a group of prisoners because, as the warden said, there was 'trouble brewing.' Death row consisted of thirty-two cells, located in the basement of 'B' Hall; the same building contained both 'B' and 'C' Halls, located, respectively, on opposite sides of the entrance. All the premises described were within the walls of the penitentiary in Jefferson City. A minute description will not be necessary, but three heavy gates or doors made of steel bars separated death row proper from the main part of the building.

Comparatively early on the evening in question approximately 780 inmates of B and C Halls were released in a manner which is largely immaterial here. Many of them apparently milled around, inside and outside, some destroying much property; a group estimated as consisting of 150 to 500 men descended into 'B' basement between 6:00 and 7:00 P.M., and after the lapse of considerable time, and by employing various implements, it succeeded in battering open all three doors leading into death row. What was done to and with the guard there is a separate and lengthy story, but the cell keys were obtained, and all inmates there who so desired were released from their cells, including Laster and Stidham. By this time many of these inmates had in their possession sundry miscellaneous weapons, including knives, filed-down screw drivers, ice picks, hammers, clubs, crow bars, iron rods and a large, long-handled sledge hammer. Considerable animosity had developed during confinement between Laster and Stidham on the one hand and Creighton on the other, and, rightfully or not, it is apparent that both Creighton and Donnell were regarded by some as 'snitches' ; however, the outspoken vituperation and threats seem to have been directed at Creighton. Almost immediately after the opening of the cells on death row several of the inmates tried to get into Creighton's cell, but he had succeeded in jamming the lock and he also managed to poke and beat them away with a wooden club and a piece of iron. Defendant Laster was in that group.

At some time thereafter during the evening and certainly prior to 10:30 P.M., Donnell's cell was entered, that door being opened with a key, and he was murdered there in a horrible manner. His body bore sundry stab wounds, front, back and elsewhere, at least two of these going clear through his heart; there were knife wounds on his neck, and his skull was partially crushed from a heavy blow, apparently made by the bloody sledge hammer found in his cell; there were other miscellaneous wounds and injuries on the body too numerous to describe. In addition to defendant's confession, which contained a direct admission that he stabbed Donnell several times in the chest while another inmate held his arms, there was oral testimony substantially tending to implicate defendant in the murder.

The three points made here are: (a) that the confession of Laster was inadmissible because not voluntary; (b) that the argument of the prosecuting attorney was so inflammatory as to require that the court declare a mistrial, even in the absence of objection; and (c) that the trial court should have reduced, and that this court should now reduce, the punishment to life imprisonment.

We first address ourselves to the admission of the confession. For that purpose it will be necessary to review more of the facts. When the state indicated that the confession was to be offered the court conducted a hearing thereon outside the presence of the jury. A St. Louis police lieutenant testified to the details of the interrogation of defendant; five other officers were present, all armed; defendant was handcuffed until he started to write the confession. This witness testified: that there were no threats, no promises, and no physical violence; that after defendant had been questioned for 15-20 minutes he indicated that he would make the statement and did so, first orally and then in writing. Certain corroborating evidence of subsequent oral statements of defendant was also offered. Defendant presented no evidence at this preliminary hearing. At the resumption of the trial all six witnesses who were present at the time of the making of the confession testified in substance: that there were no threats, promises or physical violence; that after defendant had been interrogated for perhaps 15-25 minutes, during which time the officer in charge told him that they had a statement from another inmate (which the officer stated at the trial to be true) and told him, also, of certain details of the murder which they knew, defendant indicated a willingness to talk and proceeded to make an oral statement; that the handcuffs were then removed and defendant himself wrote out the confession without dictation, taking perhaps 20-30 minutes to do so, and then signed it; that he was thereafter questioned further for perhaps 15-20 minutes about other features of the riot and fires, and he was then returned to a cell; that the whole interview lasted from an hour and a half to approximately two hours. There was some testimony that defendant was advised at the time that the statement might be used against him. There was evidence that he had been interrogated on perhaps three previous occasions for relatively short periods, one being for 'an hour or so,' but that he had then given no information; also, that at the last of these interviews he had been rather 'bold and threatening,' but had finally indicated that he wanted to 'think it over.' One officer testified without objection to highly material parts of the oral statements made by defendant just prior to his writing of the written confession. These were to the effect that he and two others killed Donnell and that he, Laster, stabbed the victim while one Kenton held him; these statements included also details of the injuries inflicted by the others. Objection was made to the written confession on the ground that it was not shown to have been made voluntarily and without threats, force, compulsion or promises of leniency.

Defendant's own testimony was to the effect that he was interrogated twice, once from between 3:00-4:00 A.M. until perhaps 10:00 A.M. on Friday, September 24, in the 'classification' room, and next for two or three hours on Monday morning, September 27, in the 'clubhouse,' a building where athletic equipment was kept, and which was entirely separate from the other buildings. He testified that on each occasion he was struck, knocked down, kicked and beaten intermittently, if not continuously, by various officers; that after he was thus forced to write the statement he said that it was a 'pack of lies' and was struck again; that he bore large bruises for two weeks. One inmate testified that he saw discolored places on defendant's left arm and back on September 29th; two others testified that from their place of confinement 300-400 feet away they recognized him and saw him removed from the 'clubhouse,' (presumably after the last interrogation), and that he was being supported by officers, that his head was down on his chest, and his feet were dragging; another testified that he saw defendant with his arm and back discolored after the first interrogation. Defendant, with the six co-defendants, was transferred to the Federal Medical Center at Springfield, Missouri, on September 29, 1954. He was stripped and examined when he was admitted there and the examining physician testified that he made no complaints, but that he found ecchymosis (i. e. a condition similar to a black eye) on his left arm, right buttock and both legs; that he had no independent recollection of these, but that they must have been as large as or larger than a quarter or a half dollar to have been noted; that they were from one to ten days old and were not medically serious.

Defendant's evidence showed that he was in the group which was trying to force Creighton's cell, that he helped put the death row guard into a cell oan death row, and that he later helped to move him upstairs to another cell; also, that defendant had an ice pick in his possession 'that night,' until he 'lost it.' He specifically denied, however, all participation in the death of Donnell.

Since the defendant chose not to introduce any evidence at the preliminary hearing, and the state made a prima facie case on the voluntary nature of the confession, the court necessarily ruled it...