State v. Miller

• Decision Date: 21 August 2008
• Docket Number: No. A05-2519.,No. A07-2195.,A05-2519.,A07-2195.
• Citation: 754 N.W.2d 686
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Franklin Alan MILLER, Appellant, Franklin Alan Miller, Petitioner-Appellant, v. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

754 N.W.2d 686

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Franklin Alan MILLER, Appellant, Franklin Alan Miller, Petitioner-Appellant, v. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

No. A05-2519.

No. A07-2195.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

August 21, 2008.

Lawrence Hammerling, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Michael F. Cromett, Assistant State Public Defender, Office of the State Public Defender, St. Paul, MN, for appellant.

Lori Swanson, Minnesota Attorney General, Kelly O'Neill Moller, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, St. Paul, MN, and Melanie S. Ford, St. Louis County Attorney, Duluth, MN, for respondent.

OPINION

ANDERSON, PAUL H., Justice.

A Saint Louis County jury found Franklin Alan Miller guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of kidnapping for the July 2004 kidnapping and death of Travis Holappa. The district court convicted Miller for first-degree murder committed in the course of kidnapping, Minn.Stat. § 609.185(a)(3) (2006), and sentenced him to life in prison. Miller filed a direct appeal, which was stayed pending the filing of a petition for postconviction relief. After holding an evidentiary hearing, the postconviction court denied relief and Miller has appealed that decision. We now consider both Miller's direct and postconviction appeals. Miller argues that (1) the grand jury indictment should have been dismissed because the State withheld exculpatory evidence from the grand jury; (2) the court committed reversible error when it excluded reverse-Spreigl evidence; (3) the court committed reversible error in admitting the victim's hearsay statements; (4) the State's discovery violations warrant a new trial; (5) the State committed misconduct by not correcting false testimony; and (6) he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. We affirm.

In the early morning hours of June 15, 2004, Travis Holappa stole appellant-petitioner Franklin Alan Miller's pickup truck while both men were attending a party at Jesse Ridlon's home in Aurora. When the truck was stolen, it contained a camcorder belonging to Ridlon, Miller's backpack containing methamphetamines and several thousand dollars, and an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) in the pickup bed. Holappa was not heard from until later that morning when he called a friend to ask for a ride home. Holappa's friend picked him up in Cotton, where Holappa was waiting for him at a gas station without Miller's truck or ATV. On June 19, the police found Miller's truck in a rural area between the cities of Aurora and Cotton. When the police recovered the vehicle, Ridlon's video camera was in the truck but Miller's ATV was not. No methamphetamines or money were found in the truck.

A few days later, Holappa returned to the Cotton area with a friend to look for Miller's ATV, which had not yet been recovered. Holappa located Miller's ATV in a wooded area and rode it to Ridlon's house to return it to Miller. Holappa's friend followed him by car. After returning the ATV to Miller, Holappa got into his friend's car and said, "[a]t least I know [Miller] can't hit very hard." Holappa's friend did not witness the exchange between Holappa and Miller.

Sometime in mid-July, Miller talked to Jason Anderson about recovering the money Holappa had taken in June. Anderson had collected drug debts for others in the past using violence or threats. Anderson agreed to help collect the money in exchange for forgiveness of Anderson's own drug debt to Miller.

Miller and Anderson Kidnap Holappa

On July 24, Anderson, Miller, and Ridlon were at Ridlon's house smoking methamphetamines along with Jeremy Finke, Miller's brother Sam Miller, and a few other people. That evening Anderson and Finke drove to Virginia to pick up an ATV for Ridlon that Ridlon had planned to purchase through an acquaintance. When the two men arrived in Virginia, they were informed that the arrangement to get the ATV had fallen through and were told to return the next day. Before returning to Ridlon's house on the evening of July 24, Anderson and Finke stopped by a party in Virginia where Anderson saw Holappa smoking methamphetamines. At that time, Anderson threatened Holappa to "pay up."

When Anderson and Finke returned to Ridlon's house that evening, Anderson told Miller that he had seen Holappa in Virginia. Miller was angry to learn that Holappa was partying and smoking methamphetamines when he still owed Miller money. At Miller's suggestion, Anderson called Holappa, and they agreed to meet at the Gladiator bar in Gilbert that night. Miller and Anderson drove to the bar in Miller's Cadillac. When Miller and Anderson arrived at the bar, Holappa had not yet arrived. Anderson testified that Miller became quite angry upon learning that Holappa was not there.

Holappa arrived at the Gladiator bar shortly after Miller and Anderson. He had walked to the bar from his friend Adam Hill's house in Gilbert. Holappa told Hill he was going to meet Anderson to discuss the money he owed Miller. Hill followed Holappa in his car and parked near the bar in a location where he could continue to observe Holappa. When Holappa saw Miller and Anderson in Miller's Cadillac, he walked over to the car. Hill testified that he saw Anderson get out and shake Holappa's hand just before Anderson "started throwing blows at [Holappa]." When Hill started toward Miller's car to help Holappa, Miller jumped out of the driver's seat and threatened Hill, saying "F* * * it. I'll shoot you right now." Hill did not see a gun but fled the scene.

Anderson testified that when he and Miller confronted Holappa at the Gladiator bar, Miller was armed with a .22-caliber pistol. Anderson stated that Miller displayed the gun when he ordered Holappa into the back seat of the Cadillac. Miller drove the car and while driving he demanded money from Holappa and hit him. Miller drove to a friend's house in Aurora where he picked up a white Mitsubishi that he was considering purchasing. From there, they went to a friend's house in Biwabik; Miller drove the Mitsubishi and Anderson drove the Cadillac. During this trip Holappa remained in the back seat of the Cadillac.

Upon arriving at the friend's house in Biwabik, Anderson went into the house while Miller remained outside arguing with Holappa, who remained in the back seat of the Cadillac. Some time later when Miller went into the house, he told Anderson that Holappa was in the trunk, but did not specify whether he meant the trunk of the Mitsubishi or the Cadillac. Anderson and Miller stayed at the Biwabik house smoking methamphetamines with a few other people until morning. At some point during the night Sam Miller stopped by the Biwabik house with Danielle Frazee. Anderson heard Miller tell Sam Miller that "he had Travis."

On the morning of July 25, Anderson and Miller left Biwabik and drove both cars to Ridlon's house in Aurora. After they arrived, Miller pulled Holappa, who was still alive, out of the trunk of the Mitsubishi and put him on the floor in Ridlon's garage. Holappa was not tied up, but he still had some duct tape on him from being bound. Miller, Ridlon, and Anderson each demanded money from Holappa. Miller, who Ridlon described as "wound up real tight," started "smacking [Holappa] around, pistol-whipping him." According to Anderson and Ridlon, Miller also hit Holappa with a fan belt. Ridlon admitted to kicking Holappa. Anderson claimed he did not strike Holappa, but Ridlon testified that Anderson "slapped him up a little bit." After assaulting Holappa, Miller bound him with duct tape and put him back into the trunk of the Mitsubishi. Miller, Anderson, and Ridlon all smoked methamphetamines, and Miller and Ridlon worked on Miller's ATV.

That afternoon, Anderson and Finke again drove to Virginia in Finke's truck to attempt to pick up the ATV that Ridlon was planning to purchase. Anderson testified that when he left Ridlon's house, Holappa was alive and in the trunk of the Mitsubishi. Anderson and Finke picked up the ATV for Ridlon, and then Finke dropped Anderson off at Anderson's mother's house in Eveleth. Anderson did not return to Ridlon's house on July 25.

While Anderson and Finke were in Virginia, Ridlon and Miller continued to work on their ATVs. Sam Miller and another friend came over to Ridlon's house. Sam Miller smoked methamphetamines and worked on a dirt bike. At this time, the Mitsubishi was parked by a shed on Ridlon's property, and Ridlon testified that from time to time he "could hear [Holappa] banging on the car" from the inside of the trunk. Ridlon and another witness both testified that Miller went out to the Mitsubishi that afternoon. Sam Miller also saw Miller talking to Holappa by the Mitsubishi. During this conversation, Holappa was lying on the ground. When Sam Miller asked Miller about what was going on, Miller told him to "[j]ust mind [his] own business." While at Ridlon's house that afternoon, Sam Miller also heard Miller say that he wasn't "going to have nobody do [his] dirt."

Later that day, Sam Miller, Miller, and a friend made plans to go dirt biking at a friend's house. Miller changed into his dirt biking clothes while Sam Miller and his friend loaded their bikes onto a truck. Sam Miller testified that at this point Miller appeared stressed and angry. Miller told Sam Miller that he would meet the rest of them at the friend's house where they were planning to do their bike riding because he had "some shit to take care of." Sam Miller and his friend drove to the friend's house without Miller.

A couple of hours later, Miller arrived at the friend's house and told Sam Miller that he had "had something to take care of." Sam Miller asked Miller what Miller had done with Holappa, to which Miller said he "emptied a clip in him." At trial, Sam Miller testified that Miller said that he was "just kidding" and that he had "sent [Holappa] to Colorado." At trial, Sam Miller described Miller's mood as "joking." After this exchange, the group went dirt...