State v. McDonough, C6-00-1626.

• Decision Date: 02 August 2001
• Docket Number: No. C6-00-1626.,C6-00-1626.
• Citation: 631 N.W.2d 373
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. William Jeffrey McDONOUGH, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

631 N.W.2d 373

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. William Jeffrey McDONOUGH, Appellant.

No. C6-00-1626.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

August 2, 2001.

Seven P. Russett, Assistant State Public Defender, Office of the State Public Defender, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Mike Hatch, State Attorney General, Susan Gaertner, Ramsey County Attorney, Darrell C. Hill, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney, St. Paul, for Respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

GILBERT, Justice.

Appellant William McDonough was convicted of one count first-degree murder and one count attempted first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder and a consecutive term of 180 months for attempted first-degree murder. On appeal, McDonough argues that he is entitled to a new trial because: (1) the district court erred by admitting statements McDonough made to a police officer after McDonough invoked his right to an attorney, (2) the district court erred by allowing the prosecutor to strike the sole African American juror, (3) the district court erred by not dismissing the indictment, (4) the state failed to preserve evidence and the district court failed to take any remedial action, (5) the district court erred by allowing a witness to testify that McDonough had a dispute with his brothers and by admitting as substantive evidence another witness's testimony that she observed McDonough with a gun two weeks before the shooting, (6) the prosecutor committed three instances of misconduct, (7) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's verdicts, and (8) the search warrant was flawed. We affirm.

Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on June 12, 1999, Reginald Rodgers and Steven Crenshaw left the apartment Crenshaw shared with Gebriela Ansera to deliver marijuana to a friend. Rodgers and Crenshaw left in Ansera's blue Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Crenshaw drove east on Iglehart and pulled into a driveway near 985 Iglehart. A white Cadillac pulled up behind Crenshaw, which prevented Crenshaw from backing out of the driveway. Crenshaw noticed that the Cadillac had a blue interior and rust above the wheel.

Crenshaw testified that the driver got out of the Cadillac and approached the vehicle Crenshaw and Rodgers occupied. Crenshaw heard Rodgers say that he thought "Leo," a/k/a McDonough, drove a white Cadillac and that the man approaching had a gun. As the man began firing at Crenshaw and Rodgers, Crenshaw accelerated his car over the boulevard, around a tree, and off the curb in an effort to escape. Both Rodgers and Crenshaw ducked down, but one of the first shots hit Rodgers. As Crenshaw attempted to escape, he drove past the man, made eye contact with him, and saw the gun in his hand. Crenshaw immediately recognized the shooter as McDonough, whom Crenshaw has known since elementary school. The last shot McDonough fired was at Crenshaw, which struck his shoulder, but he was nonetheless able to continue driving and soon reached his apartment.

When Crenshaw returned to his apartment, he quickly explained to Ansera what happened, including identifying the shooter as "Leo," and Ansera telephoned 911. The police and the paramedics arrived and determined that Rodgers was dead. The paramedics then transported Crenshaw to the hospital where he was treated for a superficial gunshot wound. Crenshaw told the officers at the hospital that a man named "Leo" shot him and Rodgers. Although Crenshaw did not indicate a possible motive, at trial he testified that McDonough was involved in a dispute with Crenshaw's brothers. The police began their investigation immediately.

The police secured Ansera's vehicle for processing while Rodgers' body was still inside it. They found a .9mm shell casing on top of a seatbelt in the rear passenger area, and they also found a bullet hole— with the bullet still in the hole—on the passenger side post between the front and rear seats. In addition, a piece of lead from a bullet was found on the driver's side floor mat, and a bullet's copper jacket was found on the other side of the mat. There was also a bullet hole in the vehicle's windshield. After Rodgers' body was removed from Ansera's vehicle, and during a later inspection, the police found an intact spent bullet alongside the driver's door and seat and a baggie containing a substance the police believed to be marijuana. The police returned Ansera's vehicle to her 3 days later after photographing, recording, and measuring all items of interest to the investigation.

The police also investigated the scene near the driveway at 985 Iglehart where the shooting took place. The police observed skid marks that began at the driveway and proceeded over the grassy boulevard and back onto the street. They also found two .9mm shell casings.

In addition, the police located several eyewitnesses. One neighbor heard a noise just before 11:13 a.m. and looked out her window to see a midsize blue car moving slowly in an eastwardly direction being chased by a man wearing dark clothes who was firing gunshots. Another neighbor who was awakened at 11:13 a.m. by the sound of four gunshots coming from in front of his home looked out his window to see a blue car traveling south being chased by a light-skinned African-American male with a gun in his hand. That neighbor described the shooter as in his 20s, medium build with large braids, and wearing a black shirt and black pants.

One other neighbor heard screeching tires followed by four gunshots and observed a "light-skinned male with braids" dressed in black with a black glove on his right hand who was holding a gun and crouching on the boulevard looking east towards Chatsworth. She also observed the man go to a white car she described as an "older" Cadillac or Lincoln Continental with a rear tire package.

Still another neighbor who was walking home along the sidewalk saw a blue car with two African-American males traveling east on Iglehart. As he got to the edge of his driveway, he heard gunshots ahead of him and he looked up to see the same blue car that passed him earlier drive across the boulevard, around a tree, and back on to Iglehart in order to get around a white vehicle blocking its path back onto the street. The neighbor also observed a young African American male running after the blue car firing gunshots at the blue car. The neighbor then observed the shooter get into the white car and speed away, passing the neighbor as the white car drove westerly on Iglehart. The neighbor testified that he saw only one person in the white car, which he described as an early 1980's General Motors model with rust.

The police interviewed Crenshaw at Regions Hospital that same day. Crenshaw told the police officer that "Leo" shot him and Rodgers, and Crenshaw described "Leo" as an African American male with a light complexion, 23- or 24-years-old, and wearing braids on both sides of his head. Based on Crenshaw's description, the police created a computer-generated photo lineup containing McDonough and five other similar looking males on a single sheet of paper with no names underneath the photos. Crenshaw, who was the only person to see the shooter's face, identified McDonough as the shooter.

That evening, the police went to the apartment McDonough shared with Hope Green to execute a search warrant. McDonough was not there, but the police found and seized a black jacket, black pants, and a black right-handed glove. Green told police that McDonough wore those clothes earlier in the day when he left to get gas and see if he could get Green's white Cadillac fixed. Green also told police that she thought McDonough left at about 11:00 a.m., and a mechanic at a nearby service station told police that McDonough came by with Green's car sometime after 10:30 a.m. Green also told police that McDonough returned after 10 or 15 minutes without the car, called McDonough's cousin Santo McDonough and friend Vernon Powers, who both came to the apartment, discussed something with William McDonough in a bedroom, and then the three men left at 11:54 a.m. During the search, the police accidentally disconnected Green's caller ID box erasing its memory.

The police apprehended McDonough on June 13, 1999 after conducting surveillance on McDonough's sister's Minneapolis home. He was then taken into custody and interrogated. The police also found Green's car near the garage of an apartment complex near Green's apartment. McDonough was then taken to St. Paul Police Headquarters where he told an officer that he left the apartment he shared with Green sometime after 12:00 p.m. on the day of the shooting, and that Green would verify that.

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on Rodgers' body. The autopsy revealed entrance and exit gunshot wounds on Rodgers' right forearm and right leg that were fired from at least two feet away and could have been caused by the same bullet. In addition, a separate projectile caused a .9mm or .38mm gunshot entrance wound at the back of Rodgers' neck, and the medical examiner concluded that bullet was also fired from at least two feet away, then entered Rodgers' skull, struck his brain, and exited through Rodgers' upper forehead. The medical examiner concluded that the wound track indicated that Rodgers probably had his head down and may have been bent forward at the waist.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) performed tests on the shell casings and bullet fragments found in Ansera's car and at the crime scene. The BCA determined that the shell casings were fired from one gun and the bullet fragments were fired from one gun, but the BCA could not determine whether the casings and fragments were all fired from the same gun.

McDonough was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, second-degree murder, and second-degree attempted murder. He pleaded not guilty. Before trial, McDonough challenged the indictment by asserting that ...