State v. Osborn
| Decision Date | 07 March 2023 |
| Docket Number | SD37305 |
| Parties | STATE OF MISSOURI, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. DERIK CLAYTON OSBORN, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF GREENE COUNTY Honorable Calvin R Holden
Derik Clayton Osborn ("Defendant") appeals the judgment that convicted him of two counts of second-degree felony-murder and one count of second-degree domestic assault for killing his girlfriend, V.W. ("Victim"), along with her unborn child. In two points on appeal, Defendant claims: (1) the admission of "hearsay statements" by two law enforcement officers regarding Defendant's prior acts of domestic abuse against Victim violated his constitutional right to confront the State's witnesses and (2) the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to prove the second-degree domestic assault charge, the underlying felony necessary to support the second-degree felony-murder convictions. Finding no merit in either claim we affirm.
The State charged Defendant with one count of domestic assault in the second degree and two associated counts of second-degree murder under a felony-murder theory. The State alleged that Defendant struck or pushed Victim, which resulted in the death of Victim and her unborn child. Defendant waived his right to a jury trial, and the circuit court convicted him on all counts after a bench-trial. The circuit court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment on the murder counts and a concurrent, seven-year sentence on the assault.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the outcome, the evidence at trial established the following.0F[1] At 1:44 a.m. on March 1, 2017, Defendant called 9-1-1, asking that police respond to the Kelly Greens apartments (the "Kelly Greens") in Springfield. When officers arrived, Victim was unconscious, and Defendant was in the bedroom with her. Victim required emergency medical attention, including the administration of CPR.
Defendant told officers that approximately 30 minutes before police had arrived, Victim and Defendant had come home upset with one another, and they had argued. Defendant said that Victim had fallen to the floor during the argument, and she appeared to have fallen asleep. Defendant said Victim was unresponsive, so he moved her to the bed, where Victim began taking "gasping breaths." Defendant told the officers that Victim was pregnant. Defendant had an injury to his toe, which he told officers had occurred during the incident, and he had a small scrape to his left ring finger.
There were red marks on the right side of Victim's neck, a "pattern" abrasion with underlying contusions was present on her left arm, a fresh scrape was on her right knee, and she had a "red raised welt" on her lower back. Dr. Carl Stacy ("Dr. Stacy"), a medical examiner, testified that the autopsy revealed hemorrhage of the muscles under Victim's neck where the abrasions were, indicating that force may have been applied there, although not enough force to have caused Victim's death. Victim also had a spinal fracture under the abrasion on her lower back, indicating a blunt-force injury to that area. The most substantial injury was a recent Grade-3 laceration to her liver that was also consistent with blunt-force trauma. Finally, Victim had also suffered injuries that indicated she had sustained blunt-force trauma to the front of her head on the right side.1F[2]
Dr. John Mace ("Dr. Mace"), a neurosurgeon, and Dr. Matthew Simpson ("Dr. Simpson"), Victim's trauma surgeon, both testified that Victim suffered a linear skull fracture from the parietal area down to the base of her skull, a subdural hematoma, and severe brain swelling. Dr. Stacy confirmed these injuries during the autopsy, as well as the presence of substantial subarachnoid hemorrhages. Dr. Mace testified that Victim was comatose and neurologically unresponsive because her intracranial pressure was so great that the blood flow to the brain was cut off, causing the brain to die. Dr. Mace opined that Victim had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury that was consistent with broad, blunt force - such as being slammed against a wall - and that force had caused Victim's death.
Drs. Simpson and Stacy both agreed that Victim's head injuries were caused by blunt-force trauma, and those injuries led to her brain swelling and resulting death. Drs. Mace and Simpson both testified that Victim's injuries were caused by significant force, similar to what one might expect from a high-speed automobile accident.
Dr. Stacy testified that the cause of Victim's death was homicide, given the multiple injuries to different parts of Victim's body.
Victim was 16-weeks pregnant at the time of her death. While Victim's child was still alive after Victim was declared brain-dead, the unborn child died the following day.
When the police interviewed Defendant, he told them the following. Defendant had moved into a new apartment at the Kelly Greens a few days before Victim died, and Victim was going to live with him as they worked on their relationship. On the night of the incident, he and Victim had been in a fight that had escalated throughout the day. When Victim told him that she hoped that her baby was someone else's, Defendant got upset and left for Big Whiskey's, where surveillance footage showed that he remained and drank beers for two-and-a-half to three hours. Victim came to pick Defendant up from the bar, and he pushed her out of the driver's seat.
Once Victim and Defendant were home, they started yelling and screaming at each other, and Victim sprayed him with some pepper spray that she had on a keychain.2F[3]Defendant said that when he went to grab the canister, Victim pulled away and fell to the floor. Defendant thought that Victim was sleeping. Eventually he took Victim to the bed. Defendant noticed that she was having trouble breathing and her lips were turning purple, and he called 9-1-1. Police responded to the apartment while Defendant was performing CPR on Victim.
At around 1:00 a.m. that same morning, approximately 45 minutes before Defendant had called 9-1-1, Defendant's neighbor, Carl Foerstner ("Mr. Foerstner"), heard arguing and loud screaming coming from the apartment next door. He then heard a very loud sound of something crashing into the shared wall between their apartments that made his dining room table and pictures shake. Mr. Foerstner thought it sounded like someone had been slammed against the wall. Everything was quiet after that.
We will recite additional evidence in the context of our analysis of Defendant's points on appeal.
Defendant's first point claims the circuit court erred in permitting police officers Michael Carney and Dana Bishop to testify to hearsay statements Victim made to them, in which she accused Defendant of prior incidents of domestic assault against her arguing that those statements were testimonial hearsay in violation of the Confrontation Clause in the Sixth Amendment and their admission prejudiced Defendant because the State used the statements to show "a pattern of domestic assault by [Defendant] so as to characterize [Victim's death] as another example of this pattern[.]"
At trial, Officer Dana Bishop ("Officer Bishop") testified, over Defendant's hearsay objection, to an incident that occurred on February 6, 2017, approximately three weeks before Victim's death. Officer Bishop went to the Grand Regency Resort in response to a report of a domestic disturbance. Officer Bishop made contact with Defendant and Victim at the resort. Defendant was not injured, but Victim had blood running down her face from a cut above her eye, and she had blood on her arm. Victim was crying, visibly upset, and scared. Officer Bishop testified that Victim told her that Defendant had cornered her in the kitchen and poured spices and laundry powder all around. Victim said that she had escaped to call for help, but Defendant came out and grabbed her. Victim grabbed a pocketknife, and Defendant pushed her, causing her to hit something and "black[] out." Victim told Officer Bishop that Defendant "had to go to jail" because "he was going to kill her."
Officer Michael Carney ("Officer Carney") also testified, over Defendant's hearsay objection, that he spoke with Victim on October 28, 2016, approximately four months before Victim's death, when Victim came to police headquarters to make a complaint about domestic violence. Officer Carney said that Victim had a bump on her forehead, a bruise near her left elbow, and cuts inside her lip and on the back of her right shoulder.
We review the circuit court's admission of evidence for an abuse of discretion. State v. Shaddox, 598 S.W.3d 691, 694 (Mo. App. S.D. 2020). We will not disturb that broad discretion unless the ruling is against the logic of the circumstances and is so unreasonable as to show a lack of careful consideration. Id. If such error occurred, we will reverse only if there is a reasonable probability that it affected the outcome of the trial. Id.
"Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered for the truth of the matter asserted[.]" State v. Shade, 657 S.W.3d 282, 295 (Mo. App. W.D. 2022). At trial, and on appeal, the State argues that the exception to the hearsay rule allowed the statements to be admitted into evidence. But "falling within a hearsay exception does not resolve the Confrontation Clause issue because Crawford [v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004)] divorced the hearsay exceptions from the Confrontation Clause analysis." State v. March, 216 S.W.3d 663, 665 (Mo. banc 2007).
Under Crawford, the analysis usually involves determining...
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