State v. Martin
| Decision Date | 24 December 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. A12–0667.,A12–0667. |
| Citation | 823 N.W.2d 913 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Troy Fredric MARTIN, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Syllabus by the Court
1. A prosecutor summoned by the grand jury during its deliberations undermines the independence of the grand jury and violates the secrecy of the deliberations by engaging in discussions with the grand jury extending beyond specific legal questions to broader discussions in which grand jurors disclose their individual opinions and reveal the reason for their stalemate.
2. A grand jury indictment may be tainted by inadmissible character evidence and speculative testimony elicited by the grand jurors themselves if the prosecutor asks similar questions, fails to limit the witnesses' testimony to relevant facts, or has called witnesses to testify without knowing whether they have relevant testimony to offer.
3. A police officer's testimony before the grand jury that the defendant is less credible than the testifying witness accusing him of the crime is a ground to dismiss an indictment supported almost entirely by the testimony of that witness.
Lori Swanson, Attorney General, Eric Schieferdecker, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, MN; and Richard C. Mollin, Jr., Clearwater County Attorney, Bagley, MN, for respondent.
John D. Undem, Michael D. Undem, Undem Law Office, Grand Rapids, MN, for appellant.
Considered and decided by HALBROOKS, Presiding Judge; STAUBER, Judge; and COLLINS, Judge.*
This court granted discretionary review of the order denying appellant Troy Martin's motion to dismiss an indictment charging him with aiding and abetting second-degree felony murder in the death of his sister Leisa Martin. The state has moved to strike two affidavits and references to them in appellant's brief. Because we conclude that the prosecutor's errors in presenting the case to the grand jury and the grand jury's exposure to inadmissible evidence tainted the indictment and undermined the independence of the grand jury, and because the affidavits are not relevant to the issues presented, we reverse, while granting the motion to strike.
Leisa Martin's body was found in Mahnomen County on October 31, 1998. She was last seen alive in the early morning hours of October 28, after a night of drinking with Todd Martin and S.M. S.M. had dropped Todd and Leisa off at the home of their mother, where both were living. The cause of death was determined to be asphyxia.
When questioned, Todd Martin told police that he and the victim had gotten into an argument in the early morning of October 28, and that Leisa had left in anger, walking off down the road. Both Todd and his brother Troy, who was also living at his mother's house, denied any involvement in Leisa's death. The police investigation pointed to a family member, and Todd Martin in particular, but was stymied by a lack of physical evidence.
In January 2010, police were called to Troy Martin's residence by his wife when Todd appeared at their house in the early morning hours and pounded on the door. Police arrested Todd for DWI, and, on the way to jail, Todd stated he “want[ed] to die,” made an apparent attempt to jump out of the squad car, and then began choking the officer as he drove. When Todd was transferred to another vehicle, he made more “suicidal suggestions,” stating he “just wanted to end it,” and mentioned Leisa's name several times.
Todd asked to speak to a police officer, and, a day or two later, disclosed that Leisa had not walked off after their argument, but rather, according to Todd, had been restrained by Troy. According to Todd, Leisa had passed out while Troy was pinning her to the ground, and when the brothers checked later, she was dead. Troy then convinced Todd, according to his story, to hide the body. After taking Todd's statement, police interviewed Troy, who denied any involvement in the death.
Leisa Martin's body was discovered on a road in a remote location some distance from the Martin residence where she was last seen alive. No physical evidence was found to connect either brother to the scene where the body was found or to the physical assault. After taking the statements from the two brothers in 2010, in which Todd Martin stated that Troy had physically restrained Leisa Martin and Troy denied any involvement in her death, prosecutors presented the case to a grand jury.
S.M. testified that on the night of October 27, 1998, she and Leisa went to a bar to celebrate S.M.'s birthday, and at some point Todd joined them. S.M. testified that she dropped Todd and Leisa off at the Martin home about 1:30 a.m. and saw them go up to the deck. Both were intoxicated.
Todd Martin testified that he and Leisa continued drinking beer on the deck and started arguing. Leisa threw a beer can at him, and Troy came out of the house and tried to calm the situation. Todd Martin testified that Troy wrestled with Leisa for a while, trying to restrain her, and eventually holding her down on the ground until it looked like she had passed out. They both checked on her, and she was not breathing. Todd testified that it was Troy who suggested hiding the body, and that they placed Leisa's body in the back seat and drove to the remote location where the body was later found.
A.T., a friend of both brothers, testified that he went with Troy Martin to search for Leisa in the area near where her body was later discovered. He also testified that he saw Troy and Troy's father Fred in the area at around the same period, and that Troy had test-driven four-wheelers in the area.
Troy Martin testified that he had gone to bed earlier in the evening of October 27, 1998, after working that day, and that he did not hear his siblings arguing. He denied assaulting Leisa Martin. The grand jurors asked numerous questions of him, including how often he had visited his sister's grave and whether he had cried over her death.
Dr. Fred Martin, the father, testified before the Martin brothers, stating that he had a “[f]ine” relationship with Troy, stating as fact that Troy was sleeping in the house when the crime occurred, and stating his opinion that Todd committed the crime.
During a recess in Troy Martin's testimony, a grand juror told the prosecutors that he or she had been contacted by the wife of a witness who had testified earlier, saying that her husband had been asked by Fred Martin to lie. The prosecutors asked the grand juror not to tell any of the other grand jurors. When asked if he or she could disregard the contact, the grand juror responded affirmatively.
The prosecutors discussed Fred Martin's testimony with the grand jury, indicating that the grand jury could consider whether to indict Fred Martin for perjury. They told the grand jury that other witnesses could be brought in to testify with respect to perjury charges and gave the grand jury copies of Fred Martin's statement to police to consider in relation to possible perjury charges. But, in the end, the prosecutors, after referring vaguely to the contact made by a witness's wife to a grand juror, informed the grand jury that the county attorney, rather than the grand jury, would address the Fred Martin perjury issue. And later, the woman who had allegedly contacted the grand juror testified, denying that she had said that Fred Martin had asked her husband to lie.
After Todd Martin testified, the prosecutors informed the grand jurors that they wanted them to deliberate on Todd Martin's case first, after which additional witnesses would be presented whose testimony would be presented only as to Troy.
The grand jury indicted Todd Martin on a charge of committing second-degree felony murder, either individually or “aided and abetted by another,” while committing or attempting to commit false imprisonment of the victim. Thirteen days later, the grand jury reconvened and heard the testimony of S.B. about being raped by Todd Martin at a wedding reception in 1999. S.B., who was 14 years old at the time of the rape, testified that after Todd gave her two drinks with alcohol in them, he volunteered that he “never meant to hurt her,” and “didn't mean to kill her,” referring to Leisa Martin.
According to S.B., Todd described the night of the incident, without mentioning where Troy was during the argument and the assault on Leisa, which Todd admitted having committed. Todd told her that “he needed to get rid of the body,” so he told Troy, and Troy helped him to move the body. According to S.B., Todd threatened to kill her if she told anyone what he had said. S.B. testified that Todd then proceeded to rape her.
At the close of the resumed case against Troy Martin, the prosecutors offered no summary of the evidence against Troy. The prosecutors re-instructed the grand jury on probable cause, and on the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and referred the grand jurors to the written instructions that had been given them earlier. The grand jury indicted Troy Martin on the same charge on which they had indicted Todd Martin.
Troy Martin moved to dismiss the indictment. The district court denied the motion, and this court granted discretionary review.
1. Did the prosecutors commit misconduct tainting the indictment by failing to inform the court of a witness's contact with a grand juror, by misstating the law to the grand jurors, by commenting on the effect of a decision to indict, or by engaging in the deliberative phase of the proceeding?
2. Did the introduction of speculative evidence, character evidence, “vouching” testimony, reference to an offer to give a polygraph test, or other inadmissible evidence, taint the proceeding so as to require dismissal of the indictment?
3. Does the cumulative effect of any errors or misconduct established require dismissal of the indictment?
4. Should this court grant the state's motion to strike affidavits and portions of appellant's brief relating to the polygraph issue?
A...
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