State v. Moua Her, No. A06-1743.
| Court | Supreme Court of Minnesota (US) |
| Writing for the Court | Gildea |
| Citation | 750 N.W.2d 258 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. MOUA HER, Appellant. |
| Docket Number | No. A06-1743. |
| Decision Date | 29 May 2008 |
v.
MOUA HER, Appellant.
[750 N.W.2d 261]
1. Victim's statements to family members were nontestimonial and their admission at trial did not violate appellant's Confrontation Clause rights.
2. The State failed to prove that victim's statement to police was nontestimonial, but appellant forfeited his right to confront victim by intentionally killing her.
3. The district court acted within its discretion when it admitted at trial victim's out-of-court statements of abuse to family members under the residual hearsay exception.
4. The district court acted within its discretion when it admitted at trial victim's out-of-court statement of abuse to police under the excited utterance hearsay exception.
5. The State provided sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find that appellant engaged in a past pattern of domestic abuse that supported his conviction for first-degree domestic abuse murder.
6. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied appellant's motion for a mistrial.
Suzanne Marie Senecal-Hill, Assistant State Public Defender, St. Paul, MN, for Appellant.
[750 N.W.2d 262]
Mitchell Lewis Rotham, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney, Attorney General, St. Paul, MN, for Respondent.
Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.
GILDEA, Justice.
Following a jury trial in Ramsey County District Court, appellant Moua Her was convicted of first-degree domestic abuse murder for the stabbing death of his estranged wife, Sheng Vang. Her filed a direct appeal to this court, arguing that the district court erred on Confrontation Clause and hearsay grounds by admitting Vang's out-of-court statements to family and police, that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to convict him of first-degree domestic abuse murder, and that the district court erred when it denied his motion for a mistrial. We affirm.
The evidence at trial established that Her and Vang met during high school in the late 1990s and that they married in a traditional Hmong ceremony in January 2000. Sometime in February 2001, Vang moved out of the home in which she was living with Her because of "marital difficulties." A short time later, on March 10, the couple, along with family members, held a meeting to address "problems" in the couple's marriage. Family members explained that they were present "to help mediate" the discussion. Her came to the meeting "to beg [the family] to ask Sheng to go back home with him."
One of the problems addressed at the March family meeting was Her's alleged physical abuse of Vang. Vang's cousin testified at Her's trial that during the family meeting Vang said that her husband "kept abusing her." Vang's uncle testified that Vang reported three incidents of abuse at the meeting. First, Vang claimed that Her hit her and when she left, he became so upset that he poured curry juice on her ceremonial wedding garments, damaging them. Second, Vang claimed that Her hit and kicked her.1 Third, Vang claimed that Her "electrocuted" her.
In response to Vang's allegations at the family meeting, Her cried and admitted that some were true, but said that some were not. Her and his father did agree, however, to pay Vang for the wedding clothes Her allegedly damaged as part of the first incident of abuse. The document reflecting this agreement was introduced into evidence at trial.2
Soon after the March meeting, Vang returned to live with Her. The couple's daughter was born in January 2002. But at the end of 2003 or the beginning of 2004, Vang took their daughter and left Her again. Vang left this second time because she was having "a difficult time with her relationship" with her husband.
The evidence showed that the couple continued to have difficulties even after they were no longer living together. One of Vang's coworkers described an incident that occurred in late winter or early spring of 2004 when Her visited Vang at work. The coworker testified that the couple had an agitated conversation and that Vang
asked Her three times to leave the office. Her walked away only after the coworker stepped into the conversation.
Another incident took place during approximately this same time frame when Her and Vang met at a restaurant in Saint Paul. While at the restaurant, Vang phoned her cousin and asked the cousin to pick her up. The cousin picked up both Her and Vang, then dropped Her off at a bus stop and Vang at her car. The cousin testified that Vang appeared to be afraid when she arrived.
The final incident took place on March 23, 2004, and resulted in Vang calling the police. Saint Paul police officer Amy Baumhofer and her partner were called to a Saint Paul restaurant around 6 p.m. where they met Vang. Officer Baumhofer described Vang as "very upset," "crying," "shaking," and having "a hard time completing sentences." Vang told Baumhofer that Her assaulted her just before the officers arrived. She said that she met Her at the restaurant to talk. During their conversation, Her "pulled [Vang] into the car by her hair and, as she fell into the passenger seat, [he] hit her with what she thought was a metal nightstick several times." As he hit her, Vang screamed and tried to get away. She tried to leave the car, but it was locked. As Her began to back up the car, Vang was able to unlock the door, exit, and call police. Baumhofer testified that she observed "fresh" injury marks under Vang's chin and on her clavicle and stomach. Upon receiving Vang's statement, Baumhofer issued a probable cause pick-up for Her for domestic assault and called for a camera car to photograph Vang's injuries.3 The photographs documenting Vang's injuries were admitted as evidence during the trial.
As a result of this incident, Her was charged with domestic assault in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.2242 (2004), but the charge was dismissed for reasons not reflected in the record. Vang also obtained a No Contact Order against Her and on April 26, 2004, she received an Order for Protection against Her.
Approximately 3 months later, on July 18, 2004, Vang was found dead in the garage of the home in which Her was living. That morning, Vang had told relatives that she was going to Her's home to retrieve her citizenship papers, which she needed in order to obtain a passport for a family trip to Thailand. Just before 10 a.m., Vang called her mother and told her that she was almost at Her's house. Sometime between 10 and 10:15 a.m., Her's neighbor heard a "younger woman's voice saying, No," then a "skin-on-skin type slap." The neighbor was standing 25 to 30 feet away from Her's garage at the time. At 11:08 a.m., police were called to Her's home. When the police arrived, Her's mother directed them to the detached garage in back of the house. Inside, officers discovered Vang's body lying face down on the floor with a white handled knife protruding from the side of her neck. Vang had been stabbed 63 times in her head, neck, shoulder, abdomen, back, and hand. The most serious wounds pierced her jugular vein, heart, and lungs. Vang's estimated time of death was approximately 10 a.m.
Police apprehended Her 6 days later at a hotel in Addison, Illinois. He had been driving Vang's car. Along with a check written by Vang and her driver's license, Her's wallet contained Vang's credit cards and receipts from those credit cards for Her's food and lodging while in Illinois. Vang's citizenship papers were also found in the car.
Her was arrested and charged in connection with Vang's death. Specifically, the indictment charged Her with first-degree premeditated murder in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.185(a)(1) (2006); first-degree domestic abuse murder in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.185(a)(6) (2006); and, second-degree intentional murder in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.19, subd. 1(1) (2006).
Her's jury trial took place June 5 to 16, 2006. At the end of June 13, the second day of testimony, the district court was notified that several jurors' personal property had been stolen from the jury deliberation room. The court then adjourned for the day in order for jurors to work with sheriff's deputies regarding the investigation into the thefts. Property was stolen from four jurors, including $5-8 from an organizer, a video iPod with a leather case, a driver's license and debit card, and $75 in cash.
The following morning, on its own initiative, the court interviewed each juror regarding the theft. Every juror stated that notwithstanding the theft he or she could continue to pay attention, focus on the trial, listen to the evidence, and fairly consider the case based on the facts. After jury questioning, Her moved for a mistrial. The district court denied the motion and found that the jurors appeared to be handling the situation well, had high spirits, seemed fully engaged in the process, indicated an ability to separate the thefts from their duties as jurors in determining the facts in the case, were giving full attention to the case, and could continue to be fair and impartial. On June 15, the Saint Paul Pioneer Press printed an article about the incident. Shannon Prather, We the Jury ... Just Got Ripped Off, St. Paul Pioneer Press, June 15, 2006, at A1. No juror was quoted in the article, and no evidence was presented that any juror read the article.
The jury found Her not guilty of premeditated murder, but guilty of first-degree domestic abuse murder and second-degree intentional murder. The district court convicted Her of first-degree domestic abuse murder and sentenced him to life in prison. This direct appeal follows.
We first address Her's argument that the admission of Vang's statements at the March 10, 2001, family meeting and to police after the March 23, 2004, incident violated Her's right to confrontation. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the accused...
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State v. Matt, No. DA 06-0134.
...defendant to make after consultation with counsel." (internal quotation marks omitted)), abrogated on other grounds, State v. Moua Her, 750 N.W.2d 258, 265 n. 5 (Minn.2008); see also Bradshaw v. State, 806 A.2d 131, 137 (Del.2002) ("The general rule is that the right to be present is a righ......
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State Of Minn. v. Morales, No. A07-2401.
...that these statements are not testimonial and therefore their admission did not violate the Confrontation Clause. See State v. Her, 750 N.W.2d 258, 265 (Minn.2008) (stating that the admission of nontestimonial hearsay statements does not violate a defendant's confrontation rights), vacated ......
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Ponce v. Felker, No. 08-56218.
...People v. Giles, 40 Cal.4th 833, 55 Cal.Rptr.3d 133, 152 P.3d 433, 443 (Cal.2007) (same), vacated, 128 S.Ct. at 2693; State v. Moua Her, 750 N.W.2d 258, 270-74 (Minn.2008) (same), vacated, --- U.S. ----, 129 S.Ct. 929, 173 L.Ed.2d 101 (2009); State v. Sanchez, 341 Mont. 240, 177 P.3d 444, 4......
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Davis v. State, No. SC11–1122.
...Amendment right of confrontation); State v. Martin, 695 N.W.2d 578, 585–86 (Minn.2005), abrogated on other grounds by State v. Moua Her, 750 N.W.2d 258, 265 n. 5 (Minn.2008) (holding "that the admission into evidence of a dying declaration does not violate a defendant's Sixth Amendment righ......
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State v. Matt, DA 06-0134.
...defendant to make after consultation with counsel." (internal quotation marks omitted)), abrogated on other grounds, State v. Moua Her, 750 N.W.2d 258, 265 n. 5 (Minn.2008); see also Bradshaw v. State, 806 A.2d 131, 137 (Del.2002) ("The general rule is that the right to be present is a righ......
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Ponce v. Felker, 08-56218.
...People v. Giles, 40 Cal.4th 833, 55 Cal.Rptr.3d 133, 152 P.3d 433, 443 (Cal.2007) (same), vacated, 128 S.Ct. at 2693; State v. Moua Her, 750 N.W.2d 258, 270-74 (Minn.2008) (same), vacated, --- U.S. ----, 129 S.Ct. 929, 173 L.Ed.2d 101 (2009); State v. Sanchez, 341 Mont. 240, 177 P.3d 444, 4......
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Jones v. Basinger, 09–3577.
...not apply to any out-of-court statements admitted under that rule because they are not hearsay under state law. Cf. State v. Moua Her, 750 N.W.2d 258 (Minn.2008) (adopting a short-lived “murder exception” to the Confrontation Clause), vacated and remanded, Moua Her v. Minnesota, ––– U.S. ––......
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State Of Minn. v. Morales, A07-2401.
...that these statements are not testimonial and therefore their admission did not violate the Confrontation Clause. See State v. Her, 750 N.W.2d 258, 265 (Minn.2008) (stating that the admission of nontestimonial hearsay statements does not violate a defendant's confrontation rights), vacated ......