State v. Lucas

• Decision Date: 30 October 2018
• Docket Number: WD 80862
• Citation: State v. Lucas, 559 S.W.3d 434 (Mo. App. 2018)
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Darious Ashton LUCAS, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

559 S.W.3d 434

STATE of Missouri, Respondent,

v.Darious Ashton LUCAS, Appellant.

WD 80862

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

OPINION FILED: October 30, 2018

Evan J. Buchheim, Jefferson City, MO, for respondent.

Ellen H. Flottman, Columbia, MO, for appellant.

Before Division Three: Gary D. Witt, Presiding Judge, Cynthia L. Martin, Judge and Anthony Rex Gabbert

Gary D. Witt, Judge

Darious Lucas ("Lucas") appeals his conviction of two counts of murder in the first degree and two counts of armed criminal action. Lucas argues that the trial court abused its discretion in sustaining the State's objection to his offer of proof regarding information that another person confessed to the murders. Further, Lucas argues that the trial court erred in sustaining the State's objection to his proposed jury instruction regarding the credibility of the informant testimony and denying his statutory right to a speedy trial. We affirm.

Statement of Facts

James "Creeper" Richardson ("Richardson") was a drug dealer and owner of a tree trimming service. Lucas was also a drug dealer, who bought from and sold drugs to Richardson. On September 18, 2015, Richardson called Kenneth Long ("Long") and asked him to drive him. Long was a high school friend of Richardson who occasionally worked for Richardson's tree service or as Richardson's driver. Long and his girlfriend met Richardson, who was driving his truck, around 11 p.m. in Kingdom City, Missouri. Richardson got into the vehicle Long was driving and the three drove to a residence in Fulton, Missouri. Richardson went inside while Long and his girlfriend remained in the car. After Richardson returned, the three drove back to Kingdom City. Long then got into Richardson's truck, and he and Richardson drove to the Lake of the Woods exit off I-70 near Columbia, Missouri. Long told his girlfriend to drive to the Lake of the Woods exit and wait for them at a gas station located there. Long's girlfriend had Long's cell phone in her possession.

Around midnight, Long called his girlfriend from Richardson's cell phone and told her that he and Richardson had to make a stop. Long's girlfriend called and texted Richardson's cell phone several times after that call but she received no response. She waited for several hours at the gas station, but never had contact with Richardson or Long again.

Cell phone records from September 18, 2015, showed that Lucas called Richardson's cell phone at 10:32 p.m. and the call lasted for 3 minutes and 34 seconds. A call from Richardson's cell phone was then placed to Long's cell phone. Lucas's cell phone completed a voice call to Richardson's phone at 11:11 p.m. Just before midnight, the record showed a call from Lucas's cell phone to Richardson's cell phone and a call from Richardson's cell phone to Lucas's cell phone. A text message was sent to Richardson's cell phone from Lucas's cell phone at midnight on September 19, 2015. Lucas's cell phone and Richardson's cell phone were connected to the same side of the same cell phone tower at 11:57 p.m.

Between 12:02 a.m. and 12:41 a.m., there were no transactions between Lucas's cell phone and any other phone. At 12:26 a.m. Richardson's cell phone received a text message from another person and was connected to a cell phone tower along I-70 in Columbia. Lucas's cell phone was connected to the same tower at 12:42 a.m.

In the early morning hours of September 19, 2015, Lucas and his girlfriend were driving to Ohio. On the way they showed up unannounced at Erin Black's ("Black") residence in Columbia. Lucas left a trash bag with her and told her to throw it away, which Black did the next morning. Black did not look inside the bag. When Lucas returned from Ohio he asked Black if she had disposed of the trash bag.

On September 19, 2015, at 9:40 a.m., a road paving crew found Richardson's body next to his truck north of Columbia. Ten empty .40 caliber shell casings were scattered around the body. Another empty .40 caliber shell casing was found inside the truck under the rear seat. Long's body was found in a grassy area 300 feet from Richardson's body. Neither the keys to Richardson's truck nor any cell phones were found at the scene.

Richardson died from a gunshot wound to the head. The bullet entered the left side of his head just above the ear. Eight or nine bullet fragments were found in his head, brain, and inside his right cheek and sinus area. Long died from a gunshot wound to the chest and abdomen. The bullet entered Long's lower back, went through the right kidney, and below the fifth rib. Bullet fragments struck the liver, right lung, intestines, and pelvis. Other fragments perforated the heart and some fragments had traveled in Long's bloodstream. The medical examiner testified that of the 700 to 800 autopsies he had performed, this was the first case he had seen with this type of dispersed bullet fragments. Both Richardson's and Long's injuries were caused by the same type of .40 caliber G2 RIP ammunition.

On August 27, 2015, approximately three weeks prior to the murders, Lucas's girlfriend purchased .40 caliber G2 RIP ammunition from the only firearms store in Columbia that sold this type of ammunition. This ammunition is uniquely designed to increase the fragmentation of the bullet upon impact to cause more damage to the target. This ammunition was relatively new to the market and more expensive than other .40 caliber ammunition. The only store which sold this ammunition in Columbia had a total of five boxes for sale. Two boxes were sold to repeat customers and one box was sold to Lucas's girlfriend. The other two boxes were not sold until after the murders.

Lucas was indicted in Boone County Circuit Court as a persistent felony offender on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action related to the shooting deaths of Richardson and Long. While in jail awaiting trial, Lucas was held in the Boone County Jail. In October 2015, Lucas told a cellmate that he had executed a plan to rob his "cousin" of some drugs and kill him. Lucas said he shot the victim with a .40 caliber hand gun with rare, expensive ammunition. Lucas also said he took the victim's cell phones and had turned off his cell phone so he could not be located during the murders.

While being housed in the Department of Corrections (DOC) during October and November 2015, Lucas told a different inmate that he was being investigated for a double murder in Boone County. Lucas said that he had purchased drugs from Richardson that had been "stepped on real bad" and Richardson had not made it right with him. Lucas believed that Richardson was trying to avoid repaying $7,000 he claimed Richardson owed him. This led to Lucas's decision to kill Richardson. Lucas also talked about having his girlfriend purchase .40 caliber "kill" bullets about three weeks before the murder. Lucas described the bullets as expensive. Lucas further described luring Richardson to the site of the shooting by telling him someone wanted to buy a large amount of drugs. He said he turned off his cell phone while he committed the murders. When Richardson arrived, Lucas said he got in Richardson's vehicle, pulled out a gun, and tried to blow Richardson's head off. Lucas said that he used a Glock handgun that had been stolen from a police officer. Lucas said he then told Long that if he cleaned up the blood and wiped the vehicle down, he would not shoot him. Lucas said that Long begged for his life but he shot Long in the back as he attempted to run away.

While executing a search warrant at Lucas's house, police seized a computer. The computer contained a video of Lucas shooting a Glock handgun at a shooting range about three weeks before the murders. About 15 months after the murders, police searching a vehicle during a traffic stop recovered a .40 caliber Glock handgun that had previously been stolen from a highway patrol trooper's vehicle. A firearms examiner testified that the shell casings recovered from the murder scene had been fired from this stolen Glock handgun.

During a search of Lucas's prison cell while at the DOC, the police seized rap lyrics belonging to Lucas. At the top of the page was the word "Drizzle," which was Lucas's nickname. The rap lyrics discussed Lucas shooting two individuals with a Glock.

During a police interview, Lucas stated that he met Richardson once or twice a month, whereas in an earlier interview he had said he met with Richardson once or twice a week. Lucas also agreed that Richardson had sold him bad drugs on occasion. Lucas stated that he had talked to Richardson only twice on September 18, 2015. After being confronted with the cell phone records showing that he had left for Ohio later than he had previously stated, Lucas changed the time he had previously claimed he left for the trip. Lucas admitted that he gave his girlfriend money to buy the special ammunition, and that he had stopped by Black's residence before leaving for Ohio.

Request for Speedy Trial

Lucas filed a request for speedy trial on July 5, 2016. On September 8, 2016, Lucas's case was set for trial on October 18, 2016. The day after the case was set for trial, Lucas's counsel filed a request for a change of judge, which was granted. On October 21, 2016, the newly assigned judge scheduled Lucas's trial to begin on March 1, 2017, and later moved the trial earlier by one day to February 28, 2017.

On February 27, 2017, the day before Lucas's trial date, Lucas's counsel informed the court that a defense witness, Charles Pearl ("Pearl"), was in federal custody and it was unknown when he was going to be released. Lucas's counsel informed the court that Pearl had been served with a subpoena to testify and was an essential witness to the defense. Lucas's counsel also told the court that Lucas had "filed a 180-day writ under UMDDL"¹ and did not "want to waive his speedy trial request." The court found good cause for the continuance based on the unavailability of an essential...