State v. Lee

• Decision Date: 13 November 1992
• Docket Number: No. C7-91-430,C7-91-430
• Citation: 491 N.W.2d 895
• Parties: STATE Of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Michael Gary LEE, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 895

491 N.W.2d 895

STATE Of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Michael Gary LEE, Appellant.

No. C7-91-430.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Nov. 13, 1992.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Although criminal defendants have a constitutional right to assert a mental illness defense, the exercise of that right is conditioned upon satisfying the minimal discovery requirements of Minn.R.Crim.P. 9.02(1)(3)(a).

2. Preclusion of appellant's mental illness defense was justified where (A) appellant repeatedly said he did not intend to assert it, then reversed himself on the eve of trial; and (B) there was scant support in the record for such a defense.

3. The third-degree "depraved mind" murder statute is intended to cover reckless or wanton acts committed without regard to their effect on particular persons. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in declining to instruct the jury on third-degree murder.

4. The trial court did not err in refusing to hear expert psychiatric testimony on appellant's state of mind at the time of the crime.

5. The trial court was justified in imposing consecutive sentences for violent crimes against separate victims, and in departing upward from the sentencing guidelines.

John M. Stuart, State Public Defender, Renee Bergeron, Asst. State Public Defender, St. Paul, for appellant.

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

Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.

GARDEBRING, Justice.

The appellant, Michael Gary Lee, asks this court to reverse his convictions on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Appellant claims: (1) that his constitutional rights to due process were violated when the trial court precluded him from asserting a mental illness defense; (2) that the trial court abused its discretion in declining to instruct the jury on third-degree "depraved mind" murder; and (3) that the trial court abused its discretion by imposing consecutive sentences that included an upward departure in one of the sentences for attempted first-degree murder. We affirm in all respects.

Appellant was sentenced to consecutive sentences of life, 15 years and 20 years for the first-degree murder of Bethany Muller and the attempted first-degree murders of Laura Muller and Kristin Salyers. Until shortly before the crimes, appellant had been romantically involved with Laura Muller. They had dated for almost three years and lived together intermittently in his trailer home. Appellant verbally abused Laura, was highly possessive and objected to her spending time with family or friends. There was particular hostility between him and Laura's stepfather, Cliff Muller.

Around March 1, 1990, relations deteriorated and Laura moved back to her family's home in Roseville, although she and appellant continued to see each other. On March 20, appellant and Laura argued in a restaurant parking lot after she had drinks with two male co-workers. When Laura refused to get in appellant's car, he smashed his windshield with his head and then shattered the passenger window of Laura's car with his fist. Appellant indicated that if Laura made him angry again, it would be her and not her car that would be injured. Shortly after that, he put his head under a tire of Laura's car and told her to run him over because she "was killing him anyway." When Laura got home, her stepfather called police, resulting in a criminal charge against appellant and a "no contact" order.

Appellant did not see Laura again until she visited appellant's mother's home on May 20, 1990. She learned that he was trying to straighten out his life; he had started a job with his brother at a substantial salary and had started counseling. They started to see each other socially again. Then appellant lost the job because of a double hernia and had to undergo a hernia operation. After surgery, appellant was taking painkillers. After the pills ran out, he started drinking heavily. Laura continued her romantic involvement with him through his recovery period, but on June 4, 1990, she ended the relationship.

On June 5, while drinking heavily, appellant told a friend he was thinking of getting a gun and killing himself or Laura or her family. When the friend asked if appellant was going to kill Laura, he said he could never hurt Laura. At trial, appellant admitted talking about acquiring a gun, but said it was only to kill himself. Also on June 5, appellant called Laura repeatedly at her place of work, but she wouldn't take the calls. When she finally did, she told him to stop calling or she would notify police. He told her she would be sorry if she did. Appellant blamed Laura's stepfather for the breakup and on June 8 offered another friend money to beat up Cliff Muller. On June 9, appellant asked the same friend where he could get a gun. He also said he would get even with anyone who interfered with his relationship with Laura. At trial, appellant admitted offering the friend money to beat up Cliff Muller but said he didn't mean it.

In the early-morning hours of June 10, appellant broke into the Muller home; he cut a window screen, then cut the phone lines. Laura was awakened by screams coming from the living room, where her 16-year-old sister, Bethany, had been sleeping on the couch. Appellant knew that was where Cliff Muller usually slept, but Cliff was out of town. Bethany was stabbed to death; it was later determined that she suffered 22 stab wounds to the chest, neck, face and arms. When Laura investigated the screaming, she came face to face with appellant and started backing up into the kitchen. He stabbed her 38 times in the chest area. When Laura fell to the floor, appellant turned around and went toward a bedroom occupied by Laura's friend Kristin Salyers and Salyers' 3-year-old son.

They had been awakened by the screams, and were sitting up in bed when appellant entered the room. Kristin Salyers huddled over her son on her hands and knees as appellant stabbed her repeatedly. The boy was not hurt, but he was covered with blood. During the attack, the tip of the knife blade broke off in Kristin Salyers' spine. The remaining knife blade broke about an inch from the handle before appellant discarded it. After appellant left, Kristin and her son went to a neighbor's home and called police. When officers arrived and tended to the injured victims, Kristin and Laura identified appellant as their attacker.

Appellant had fled the house, and police could not find him. Later that day, appellant's brother Bernard saw blood on his garage floor and followed a trail of blood drippings to a wooded area about a half-mile away. He found appellant standing at the base of a billboard, near a pool of blood. Appellant did not acknowledge Bernard's presence and, saying only that he was sorry, would not respond to requests to come home. Bernard returned home and told another brother, Steven, he had found appellant. Steven called police and directed officers to the wooded area. Appellant was not there, but police found words written in blood on some railroad tracks, a bridge, a billboard pillar and two pieces of wood in the form of a cross. The writing on the sign post said "I love my family and I'm very sorry but I wasn't happy without Laura" and it was signed "Mike."

Five days later, appellant's mother found appellant in the basement of her home. He appeared to be in shock. The family brought appellant to the Roseville police station that afternoon. At the time he was arrested, appellant had several cuts on his forearms, some of which were recent. When he was asked about the stabbings, appellant said he did not remember anything except drinking at a local bar. Appellant testified that he had been drinking on June 9 and had wandered around trying to find a way to kill himself. When he couldn't get a gun, he got a knife from his mother's house. He testified he somehow ended up at the Mullers' because he just kept thinking about Laura. He recalled being in the house and cutting something but did not know why.

Recounting the incident at trial, appellant testified he did not remember stabbing anyone on the couch. He recalled swinging at two other people and running down the hall but said he had no control over what was happening, although he remembered having the knife in his hand and seeing the blade fly off. Appellant denied that he intended to kill anyone except himself. He said that when he left the Mullers' he went to his mother's garage and slit his wrists with a razor, then left because he didn't want his family to find him dead.

Before trial, three different experts examined appellant to determine whether he was mentally ill at the time of the crimes. Two court-appointed experts, one for the defense and one for the prosecution, concluded that he was a troubled and depressed person, but that at the time of the crimes, appellant could not meet the M'Naghten standard for mental illness. ¹ The only expert to hedge was Dr. McCafferty, a private psychiatrist hired by the defense, who said he could not reach a conclusion whether appellant's mental state at the time of the crimes met the M'Naghten standard. But Dr. McCafferty went on to say that appellant's conduct afterward suggested that he knew the wrongful nature of his actions and that he showed remorse.

Throughout the pretrial process, appellant's counsel said he did not plan to raise a mental illness defense. When the prosecution, pursuant to Minn.R.Crim.P. 9.02(1)(3)(a), sought a written notice of the intended defense, appellant's counsel replied "intoxication." During a pretrial hearing on October 12, 1990, appellant's counsel said he was awaiting Dr. McCafferty's report but that he did not expect it to support a mental illness defense. On October 22, 1990, appellant's counsel still had not received the report but stated flatly that he would not raise...