State v. Mathis
| Decision Date | 05 September 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. ED 86840.,ED 86840. |
| Citation | 204 S.W.3d 247 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff/Respondent, v. Dennis MATHIS, Defendant/Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Kristina Starke, Public Defender, St. Louis, MO, for Appellant.
Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Atty. Gen., Evan J. Buchheim, Assistant Attorney General, Jefferson City, MO, for Respondent.
Dennis Mathis (Defendant) appeals from a judgment of conviction of the sale of unlabeled sound recordings. Defendant alleges the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter judgment against and to sentence Defendant because: the indictment failed to state an offense; the trial court abused its discretion in sustaining the State's objection and prohibiting Defendant from asking the venire panel members if they understood or could identify the victim in the case; the trial court abused its discretion in refusing Defendant's verdict directing instruction; the trial court clearly erred in denying his motions to suppress evidence and statements; and the trial court plainly erred in denying his motions for judgment of acquittal because the statute under which he was charged is unconstitutionally vague and ambiguous. We affirm.
Defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence adduced at trial reveals the following. On September 28, 2002, at about 5:30 p.m., police officer John Nocchiero (Officer Nocchiero) was on patrol in a marked police car when he drove by a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant (KFC). In the parking lot of the KFC, Officer Nocchiero saw a gold Lincoln Town car with its trunk lid open. Defendant was standing at the back of the car with several other men standing around him, looking into the trunk of the car. As he continued to drive by, Officer Nocchiero saw the front license plate of the car and memorized the license plate number, which he entered into the mobile data terminal of his police car. The record indicated that the license plate had expired in 2001, although the sticker on the plate showed that it was valid until 2003.
Based on this information, Officer Nocchiero drove back to the KFC. There, he observed a man, who had been standing at the back of the car, hand money to Defendant, who then handed the man a compact disc (CD). As Officer Nocchiero slowly drove by, the men noticed his presence, and they all walked to separate cars and drove away. Defendant got in the car, drove off the KFC parking lot, and headed eastbound. Officer Nocchiero, who had been driving westbound, turned his police car around and got behind the car. When Defendant turned northbound, Officer Nocchiero activated the police car's red emergency lights and "curbed" the car.
Officer Nocchiero approached Defendant and told him that he had stopped Defendant because the car had invalid license plates. Officer Nocchiero asked Defendant why his license plates were expired, and Defendant told Officer Nocchiero that he did not have any money because he did not have a job. Upon request, Defendant provided Officer Nocchiero with his driver's license, and Officer Nocchiero told Defendant that he was under arrest for having invalid license plates on the car. Defendant got out of the car, and Officer Nocchiero advised Defendant of his Miranda rights.1
Officer Nocchiero then asked Defendant what he was doing on the KFC parking lot, and Defendant replied that he was selling CDs. Officer Nocchiero asked Defendant if the CDs were real or copies, and Defendant did not answer, but he "kind of looked down and rolled his eyes." Officer Nocchiero asked Defendant if he could search the car, and Defendant said that he could.2 Officer Nocchiero got the keys from the ignition of the car and opened the trunk of the car. Inside the trunk were several large spindles of CDs. Of the total number of CDs found in the trunk, 1,013 had music recorded on them. The tops of the CDs had the names of recording groups written in indelible ink on them. Also inside the trunk was a notebook with the names of various recording artists, a "receipt" book with people's names and the CDs purchased, and a binder with a "price list" for the CDs.
Defendant was charged by indictment with the sale of unlabeled sound recordings, an unclassified felony in violation of Sections 570.240 and 570.241,3 and punishable upon conviction under Section 570.255. The indictment stated that Defendant "sold or resold, or possessed with purpose to sell or resell sound recordings, which did not contain thereon in clearly readable print, the name and address of the manufacturer, and that these sound recordings consisted of more than one thousand articles in number, and [D]efendant knew or had reasonable grounds to know that the sound recordings did not contain thereon in . . . clearly readable print, the name and address of the manufacturer." The case proceeded to a jury trial.
On the same day the trial began, Defendant filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence, specifically, the items seized in the trunk of the car, and a Motion to Suppress Statements, specifically, those statements made by Defendant to Officer Nocchiero during Defendant's arrest. At trial, Defendant objected to the admission of the evidence and the statements, and the trial court met with the attorneys at side bar to take up the motions. Ultimately, the trial court denied both motions. In ruling on the Motion to Suppress Statements, the trial court found that Officer Nocchiero told Defendant about his Miranda rights, that Defendant indicated he understood those rights, including his right not to make a statement, that any statements Defendant made after that point were voluntary statements, and that Defendant was not coerced or forced in any way to make statements. In ruling on the Motion to Suppress Evidence, the trial court found the search proceeded from a valid arrest, the search was voluntary in that Defendant gave Officer Nocchiero permission to open the trunk of the car and inspect its contents, and Officer Nocchiero advised Defendant of his Miranda rights before he asked Defendant any questions about searching the trunk of the car, and, knowing those rights, Defendant gave permission to search.
During voir dire, defense counsel asked the trial court in a bench discussion if she could ask the venire panel members if they understood or could identify the victim in the case. The prosecutor objected to the proposed question, indicating that the State's position was that the charged crime was not a victimless crime. The trial court sustained the objection and provided the following reasoning:
[B]y asking that question, we're leading the members of the jury panel in the direction of becoming legislators rather than taking them in the direction of being able to sit as a jury, listen to evidence and decide what the facts are in the case based on the evidence and then apply the facts to the law. I think the question really asks the panel members to think about the policy behind the law and that certainly is an area that's open to discussion in a legislative session or in people sitting around talking about real life and how the law impacts real life. But I don't think it's an issue that will come up for the jury if they follow the role that they're suppose to follow as jurors. . . . I will let you go back into the area of bootleg CDs and review that and . . . ask further questions to develop that. Especially, if — if you think there's some folks on this jury panel who have got some feelings but haven't expressed those feelings yet.
During the instruction conference, Defendant proffered the following verdict directing instruction (Instruction A).
If you find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt:
First, that on or about September 28, 2002, in the City of St. Louis, State of Missouri, the defendant possessed, sold or resold, or possessed with the purpose to sell or resell, discs on which sounds are recorded;, and
Second, that the number of discs numbered more than one thousand;, and
Third, that he knew or had reasonable grounds to know that the discs had been produced in violation of the provisions of section 570.240, R.S.Mo.
then you will find the defendant guilty of sale of discs produced as unlabeled recordings.
However, unless you find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt each and all of these propositions, you must find the defendant not guilty of that offense.
As used in this instruction, Section 570.240 states that: The label, cover, box or jacket on all phonograph records, discs, wires, tapes, films, videocassettes or other articles or medium now known or later developed on which sounds or images are recorded shall contain thereon in clearly readable print the name and address of the manufacturer.
The trial court rejected Instruction A and submitted to the jury the following verdict directing instruction (Instruction No. 5), proffered by the State.
If you find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt:
then you will find the defendant guilty of the sale of unlabeled recordings.
However, unless you find and believe the evidence beyond a...
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