State v. Parsons

• Decision Date: 18 January 2005
• Docket Number: No. WD 63112.,No. 63378.,WD 63112.,63378.
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Raymond L. PARSONS, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

152 S.W.3d 898

STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Raymond L. PARSONS, Appellant.

No. WD 63112.

No. 63378.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

January 18, 2005.

Melinda Kay Pendergraph, State Public Defender, Columbia, MO, for Appellant.

Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Atty. Gen., Karen L. Kramer, Asst. Attorney General, Jefferson City, MO, for Respondent.

Before HAROLD L. LOWENSTEIN, P.J., JAMES M. SMART, JR., J., EDWIN H. SMITH, C.J.

JAMES M. SMART, JR., Judge.

Raymond Parsons appeals his conviction following a jury trial for stealing, for which he was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. He contends that the evidence was not sufficient to support the conviction. The judgment is affirmed.

Factual and Procedural Background

Raymond Parsons was charged in Platte County with burglary, section 569.170, RSMo 2000,¹ stealing a rifle, section 570.030, and stealing a motor vehicle, section 570.030. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence at trial was as follows:

Early in the afternoon on December 5, 2002, Michelle Geiler and April Chamberlain were driving north on Waukomis Street in Kansas City, when a red Saturn came "whipping" around them. As it passed, one of the occupants of the Saturn threw coins out the window at them. The driver of the Saturn ran a red light at the next intersection, almost getting hit by a car, then turned left onto 68th Street. Geiler and Chamberlain watched as the driver then drove into a field off a gravel road. Geiler followed the Saturn in her car and pulled off the road near the field. She called the police on her cell phone, reported the incident, and gave their location. Geiler and Chamberlain lost sight of the Saturn when it drove into a tree line. Eventually, they saw two young men running through the field, into a creek bed, and under a bridge. Chamberlain ran to the bridge and "hollered" down at them that she had called the police. The two young men continued to run up the creek bed toward a nearby house. Geiler and Chamberlain called the police again to update the location of the young men.

Two officers patrolling in the area received a call reporting that a red Saturn that had been "driving erratically" and "trying to run parties off the road" was now parked in a field near 68th and Waukomis. When the officers arrived at the field, they found a red Saturn driven into a creek bed. On closer inspection, the officers found that the engine was still running and concluded that the car had been crashed there. Assuming the vehicle had been stolen, the officers called in the license plate number. They determined that the vehicle belonged to David and Arlene Perry.

When the officers were unable to reach the Perrys by telephone, they drove to the Perry residence. The house was in a slightly remote location, only about a half mile from where the Saturn had been wrecked. The officers knocked on the door, but received no answer. The Perrys and their teenage daughter all had left home early that morning for work and school. David Perry left last, at around 7:00 a.m., locking the doors of the residence behind him. The red Saturn was left in the driveway. Walking around the house, the officers discovered that the door leading into the garage had been forced open and the garage door also was open. The door leading from the garage into the house had a foot mark on it, and there was debris on the ground. The officers suspected a burglary. They notified the dispatcher, drew their weapons, and entered to investigate further. They found the house in complete disarray: drawers in each room had been opened, food and other items were scattered throughout the house, and several packages under the Christmas tree had been opened. The officers did not find anyone at the residence.

While processing the scene, the officers received a call stating that two white males with short hair had been spotted running southbound through the creek bed where the Saturn was wrecked and were hiding in a nearby culvert. The officers left the Perry residence to go check the culvert, which was only a short distance away. While at the culvert, the officers heard yelling coming from a house up on a nearby hill. One officer heard the word "cop" and some other "mumbling." The officers returned to their car and drove to the house.

There, the two officers were met by another officer. After receiving no answer at the front door, they walked around the residence and found the garage door open. Believing they were walking into another burglary, the officers drew their guns, announced their presence, and entered the residence. They proceeded upstairs, again announcing their presence. The officers, at first, found no one and received no response. Then, one of the officers found Ryan Parsons and Raymond Parsons (the appellant) hiding in a closet in an upstairs bedroom. Neither of the Parsons lived in the house. Both were cuffed and detained. A third individual, Kamel Elburki, who did live at the house, was detained after he came out of a nearby barn.

After getting the owner's consent, the officers conducted a thorough search of the Elburki residence. There, they found the following items that had been taken from the Perry residence: various food items, a .22 rifle, a jar full of coins, a car stereo, and a Honda motorcycle. The property stolen from the Perry residence evidently had been taken to the Elburki house earlier that day. The officers also found some wet clothes and shoes in one of the bedrooms.

The officers asked Michelle Geiler and April Chamberlain to meet them at the Elburki residence to identify the two young men they had seen running through the creek bed. Both Chamberlain and Geiler identified Raymond Parsons and his brother, Ryan Parsons, as the ones they had seen riding in the red Saturn and running in the creek. Neither thought Elburki was one of them. Chamberlain was positive that Raymond Parsons was in the Saturn when it passed them, but she did not know if he was the driver or the passenger. She was "[a] hundred percent positive" that Raymond Parsons and Ryan Parsons were the two she had seen earlier. She stated that Kamel Elburki, who was five feet tall and sixteen years old, was "entirely too little and entirely too young" to have been one of the two.

At trial, the defense called two witnesses: a latent print examiner, who testified that no latent prints of any value were recovered from the Perry residence, and Kamel Elburki. Elburki, who apparently had already been convicted and sentenced prior to Raymond Parsons' trial, testified that he and Ryan Parsons stole the Perrys' red Saturn, crashed it in the field, and stole the other items. He stated that both Ryan and Raymond Parsons had stayed at his house the night before the burglary, but denied that Raymond had been involved in the burglary or in stealing the car. He also said that Raymond was not in the stolen car at all that day. Evidence also was introduced in the State's case that, in an interview after his arrest, Raymond admitted spending the night at the Elburki residence the night before the burglary.

The jury was instructed based on a theory of accomplice liability. After deliberating for nearly four hours, the jury acquitted Raymond Parsons of burglary and stealing the rifle, but found him guilty of stealing the motor vehicle. In accordance with the jury's recommendation, the trial court sentenced Parsons to seven years. The court also imposed a $500 fine and ordered Parsons placed in the Regimented Discipline Program, pursuant to section 217.378. The Department of Corrections later informed the court that because Parsons has "significant" mental health issues, he does not qualify for the Regimented Discipline Program. The court resentenced Parsons to seven years and imposed the $500 fine.²

On appeal, Parsons contests the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction.

Standard of Review

On a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, appellate review is limited to determining whether there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Dulany, 781 S.W.2d 52, 55 (Mo. banc 1989). This court is charged with determining whether all of the evidence, direct and circumstantial, is sufficient to provide any rational juror with proof beyond a reasonable doubt as to each element of the crime. State v. Grim, 854 S.W.2d 403, 405 (Mo. banc 1993). In making this determination, we accept as true all evidence that is favorable to the State, including all favorable inferences therefrom, and disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary. State v. Chaney, 967 S.W.2d 47, 52 (Mo. banc 1998).

Argument

In his sole point on appeal, Parsons argues that the evidence was insufficient for a reasonable jury to find him guilty of stealing the vehicle or of acting in concert with another to steal it. He contends that the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, shows only that he was riding in a recently stolen vehicle with another, ran from the car after it crashed, and hid in a closet under a pile of clothing while the police searched his friend's house. This, he claims, is sufficient only to establish guilt of second-degree tampering,³ at most. To support his contention, Parsons relies on Elburki's testimony that it was Elburki and Ryan Parsons who actually stole the car. This ignores the standard of review, however, under which the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, and evidence and inferences to the contrary are ignored.

Accomplice Liability

All three counts against Parsons were submitted to the jury on a theory of accomplice liability, which is based on the premise that all persons who act in concert to commit a crime are equally guilty. See State v. Meuir, 138 S.W.3d 137, 143 (Mo.App.2004). Under that theory, a person with the required culpable mental state may be held criminally...