State v. Newberry

Decision Date11 March 2005
Docket NumberNo. 26398.,No. 25907.,25907.,26398.
Citation157 S.W.3d 387
PartiesSTATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Ronnie L. NEWBERRY, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals

Melinda K. Pendergraph, Columbia, MO, for appellant.

Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Atty. Gen., Adriane Dixon Crouse, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, MO, for respondent.

JEFFREY W. BATES, Chief Judge.

In May 2002, Ronnie Newberry ("Defendant") was charged by information with committing four felonies. Count I charged Defendant with murder in the second degree for killing Clarence Winters ("Clarence") by striking him with a hammer.1 § 565.021.1.2 Count II charged Defendant with armed criminal action for committing second degree murder with a dangerous instrument. § 571.015.1. Count III charged Defendant with assault in the first degree for attempting to kill or cause serious physical injury to Bill Vaughn ("Bill") by striking him with a hammer. § 565.050.1. Count IV charged Defendant with armed criminal action for committing first degree assault with a dangerous instrument. § 571.015.1.

As required by § 557.036 (Cum.Supp.2004), the case was tried to a jury in a bifurcated proceeding. In the first stage of the trial, the jurors only decided whether Defendant was innocent or guilty of the submitted offenses. See § 557.036.2 (Cum.Supp.2004). On Count I, Defendant was convicted of the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter for killing Clarence. See § 565.025.2(2)(a). On Count III, Defendant was convicted of the lesser-included offense of assault in the second degree for seriously injuring Bill. See MAI-CR 3d 319.06; MAI-CR 3d 319.10. Defendant also was found guilty on both counts of armed criminal action. In the penalty phase of the trial, the jury recommended the following terms of imprisonment as punishment: 15 years for Count I; 10 years for Count II; 7 years for Count III; and 7 years for Count IV. The trial court followed the jury's recommendations when entering judgment. The sentences on Counts I and II were ordered to run concurrently. The sentences on Counts III and IV were ordered to run concurrently with each other, but consecutively with the sentences imposed on Counts I and II.

Defendant has appealed the judgment and sentences, presenting two points for decision. The first point asserts that the trial court erred in refusing to give Defendant's tendered Instructions A and C. Instruction A would have submitted the lesser-included offense of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree for the jury's consideration. Instruction C would have submitted the offense of armed criminal action with involuntary manslaughter hypothesized as the underlying felony. Defendant claims these instructions should have been given because there was an evidentiary basis upon which the jury could have found that Defendant acted recklessly in killing Clarence with a hammer. The second point asserts that the trial court erred in overruling Defendant's objection to the testimony of two police officers about statements Defendant made to them before his arrival at the police station. Defendant claims these statements were inadmissible because he was subjected to custodial interrogation without being given his Miranda warning.3 We affirm.

Defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his convictions. In this appeal, we consider the facts and all reasonable inferences derived therefrom in a light most favorable to the verdict, and we reject all contrary evidence and inferences. State v. Cravens, 132 S.W.3d 919, 921 (Mo.App.2004); State v. Campbell, 122 S.W.3d 736, 737 (Mo.App.2004). Viewed from that perspective, the favorable evidence supporting the State's case against Defendant is summarized below.

Mary Winters ("Mary") and Martha Barton ("Martha") are sisters. In February 2002, Mary was married to Clarence. They lived in a house on Douglas Street in Springfield, Missouri, along with their 10-year-old grandson, H.R. Winters ("H.R."). Martha lived in Mansfield, Missouri, with her boyfriend, Bill. Although Bill lived with Martha, he was still married to the Winters' daughter, Velma Vaughn ("Velma"). Bill and Velma were estranged and had been separated for five years. Velma lived in Versailles, Missouri, with Defendant and their two children, Violet and Lena.

On February 3, 2002, Defendant came to Springfield with Velma and Lena, who was then four months old. They arrived at the Winters' home before noon. That same day, Martha and Bill drove from Mansfield to Springfield. They arrived at the Winters' home around 2:15 p.m.

The adults visited with one another in the living room of the Winters' home while H.R. played outside. Clarence, who had suffered a stroke six years earlier, was seated in a chair. He could no longer walk and used a walker or wheelchair to get around. He had also lost the use of his left hand as a result of the stroke. Bill was sitting on a couch near Clarence's chair. Defendant, Velma and Lena were sitting together on another couch in the same room. The plan was to eat supper together and watch the Super Bowl on television.

Everything was calm while all of the adults were together. No one was fighting or arguing with anyone else. Clarence and Bill had known each other for 15-20 years and always got along well. Around 5:00 p.m., Mary and Martha left the Winters' home to visit their brother, who lived about five minutes away by automobile from Mary's house. They were gone about 15 minutes.

While Mary and Martha were out, Defendant severely injured Clarence and Bill. Velma and H.R. each testified about what happened. H.R. was playing in the backyard when he heard Clarence yell for help. H.R. ran around to the front of the house and up onto the porch. Once there, H.R. saw Defendant hit Clarence with Defendant's yellow-handled hammer. Bill was still sitting on the couch and yelled at H.R. to call the police. Defendant then struck Bill with the hammer. After doing so, Defendant threatened to kill H.R. if he told anyone what he had seen. Despite the threat, H.R. ran down the street to call the police.

H.R.'s account of what happened was corroborated by Velma. She testified that she was sitting on one couch, feeding Lena a bottle. Clarence was in his chair, and Bill was sitting on the other couch. While they were talking to each other, Defendant left the room and went outside. When he came back into the living room, he was holding his yellow-handled claw hammer. Defendant used the hammer to strike Clarence on the left side of his forehead. Next, Defendant struck Bill on the back of the head with the hammer. Neither Clarence nor Bill had offered any resistance or attempted to fight with Defendant before being struck in the head with the hammer.

About the time Defendant's attack upon the victims concluded, Mary and Martha returned from visiting their brother. As they were getting out of the Winters' van, H.R. ran up and told them Clarence was hurt. Defendant and Velma, who was carrying Lena, ran out of the house and got into the van. They drove to the home of Velma's brother, who also lived in Springfield.

Mary and Martha went inside and found Clarence bleeding profusely with a large wound on his forehead. A portion of Clarence's brain was protruding through the hole in his forehead. He was still sitting in the same chair in which he had been seated when Mary and Martha left. Likewise, Bill was still sitting on the same couch where he had been when Mary and Martha left. He was leaning forward with his head down. The back of his head was cut and bleeding profusely. His eyes were open, but he was unable to move or speak. The women provided first aid until the paramedics arrived. Bill and Clarence were both taken from the scene to St. John's Hospital.

Police arrived at the Winters' home at approximately the same time as emergency personnel. Shortly after 6:00 p.m., Defendant, Velma and Lena returned to the scene in the Winters' van. Officer Kent Bishop ("Officer Bishop") approached the van and asked Defendant if he knew anything about what was going on inside the house. Defendant replied that he came out of the bathroom and "they were trying to rape the baby, so he hit them." Defendant was handcuffed and detained for questioning. While Defendant was riding in a patrol car driven by Officer Jonathan Spaeth ("Officer Spaeth"), Defendant voluntarily stated that when he came out of the bathroom, Bill was trying to rape Lena.

After Defendant arrived at the police station, Defendant was read his Miranda rights. He then voluntarily gave two videotaped statements to police. Each statement was over an hour in length. Edited versions of the statements were played for the jury. In both statements, Defendant claimed Clarence and Bill injured each other during an altercation. Defendant said he was not involved, other than to remove Lena from the living room to keep her from getting hurt. Defendant claimed the altercation resulted because Bill tried to rape Lena, and Clarence tried to stop him from doing so.

On February 4, 2002, Clarence died at St. John's Hospital. Dr. James Shelly, the pathologist who performed an autopsy on Clarence, found only two injuries on Clarence's body, both to his head. He had a small laceration on his upper left eyebrow and a penetrating injury in his left forehead. Brain tissue had extruded into this wound opening. Two pieces of bone, which remained attached to the skull on each side of the opening like a door on a hinge, had been driven backwards at a 45-degree angle about 1 inch into the temporal lobe of Clarence's brain. One bone fragment measured about 3.5 centimeters in length. This fragment was pushed 2.5 centimeters down into the brain. The other bone fragment measured 2 inches in length and 1 inch in width. The penetrating wound to Clarence's skull caused a circumferential fracture, which permitted the parts of the skull above and below the fracture to...

To continue reading

Request your trial
38 cases
  • State v. Cromer
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • 27 Diciembre 2005
    ...are disregarded. Id. Deference is given to the trial court's factual findings and credibility determinations. State v. Newberry, 157 S.W.3d 387, 397 (Mo.App. S.D.2005). The ruling will be reversed only if it is clearly erroneous. Mahsman, 157 S.W.3d at 249. The trial court ruling is clearly......
  • State v. Jackson
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • 20 Febrero 2008
    ...with a definite and firm impression that a mistake was made. State v. Williams, 97 S.W.3d 462, 469 (Mo. banc 2003); State v. Newberry, 157 S.W.3d 387, 397-98 (Mo.App.2005). Our inquiry is limited to determining whether the decision to deny the motion to suppress is supported by substantial ......
  • State v. Kempa
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • 5 Octubre 2007
    ...a definite and firm impression that a mistake has been made. State v. Williams, 97 S.W.3d 462, 469 (Mo. banc 2003); State v. Newberry, 157 S.W.3d 387, 397-98 (Mo. App.2005). We review issues of law de novo. State v. Rousan, 961 S.W.2d 845 (Mo. banc 1998). We give deference, however, to the ......
  • State v. Taylor, ED 96299.
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • 21 Agosto 2012
    ...instruct the jury on a lesser-included offense, we review the evidence in a light most favorable to the defendant.” State v. Newberry, 157 S.W.3d 387, 393 (Mo.App. S.D.2005). An instruction on a lesser included offense is not required “unless there is a basis for a verdict acquitting the de......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT