State v. Paschall
| Citation | 606 S.W.3d 653 |
| Decision Date | 15 May 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. SD 35688,SD 35688 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Christopher L. PASCHALL, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Missouri (US) |
Attorney for Appellant: William J. Fleischaker of Joplin, MO.
Attorneys for Respondent: Eric S. Schmitt, Atty. Gen., and Daniel N. McPherson, Asst. Atty. Gen., of Jefferson City, MO; Amy L. Boxx of Monett, MO; Steven M. Kretzer of Jefferson City, MO; and Travis J. Lillie of Springfield, MO.
Christopher Paschall (Defendant) was charged by amended information, as a prior and persistent offender, with two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action (ACA), and one count of parental kidnapping. See § 565.020 RSMo (2000); § 571.015 RSMo (2000); § 565.153 RSMo Cum. Supp. (2014). These six charges were based upon allegations that: (1) Defendant knowingly shot and killed Casey Brace, the mother of his two children (Mother); (2) Defendant knowingly shot and killed Mother's grandfather, Herbert Townsend (Grandfather); and (3) Defendant kidnapped his youngest child (Child). After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to imprisonment terms of two life sentences without parole for the murder convictions; 60 years, 20 years and 90 years for the ACA convictions; and 7 years for the kidnapping conviction. All sentences were to run consecutively.
Defendant presents one point for decision. He contends the trial court erred by admitting testimony from two witnesses that Grandfather told them the person who shot him was Defendant. According to Defendant, "the statements were inadmissible hearsay and did not fall into the dying declaration exception[.]" Finding no merit to this argument, we affirm.
We view the evidence and all reasonable inferences derived therefrom in the light most favorable to the verdict. State v. Belton , 153 S.W.3d 307, 309 (Mo. banc 2005). All contrary evidence and inferences are disregarded. Id . We defer to the fact-finder's "superior position to weigh and value the evidence, determine the witnesses’ credibility and resolve any inconsistencies in their testimony." State v. Lopez-McCurdy , 266 S.W.3d 874, 876 (Mo. App. S.D. 2008). Viewed from this perspective, the following evidence was adduced at trial.
Defendant and Mother had two children together. Child was born in August 2012. The couple initially lived in Springdale, Arkansas. The relationship soured, and Mother left with the children. In September 2014, Mother moved into the home of her mother, Cathy Townsend (Cathy), who lived in Washburn, Missouri.
Between October 2014 and early January 2015, Defendant sent numerous text messages to Mother. Defendant asked Mother to talk to him and expressed a desire to resume their relationship. He made several requests for a meeting. He also expressed anger about not being able to talk to his children. Mother rebuffed Defendant's requests.
On January 5, 2015, Cathy was driving in Cassville, Missouri at about 8:30 in the morning. She encountered Defendant, who was driving a Nissan Rogue. Cathy had an order of protection in effect against Defendant, and she was concerned enough to call law enforcement and to call Mother. Cathy arrived home about 9:00 a.m. to find Barry County Sheriff's Deputy Bill Watkins (Deputy Watkins) talking to Mother. Deputy Watkins asked his partner to patrol the area while he responded to an incident at the other end of the county.
Cathy left the house again and went to Monett, Missouri. She arrived home about noon. About a half hour later, Mother left with Child to visit Grandfather, who lived about a mile away. Mother had gone there to help Grandfather with an issue concerning his Dish Network account. Mother's phone records showed that she called Dish at 12:51 p.m.
About 1:30 p.m., a 911 call was placed from a landline phone at Grandfather's address. The male voice on the other end was barely audible, but could be heard to haltingly ask for an ambulance to be sent. The operator disconnected the call after getting no further response. She made repeated attempts to call the number back, but got a busy signal.
Deputy Watkins was dispatched to Grandfather's house. He found Mother's body lying on the floor near the rear door. Deputy Watkins checked for a pulse and did not find one. Various items were strewn around, suggesting a struggle. Smears of blood tracked across the living room from the fireplace to a bar separating the living room from the kitchen. A large smear of blood sat below the bar, where a landline phone had been knocked off and disconnected from its base.
Deputy Watkins heard moaning from the other side of the room. He looked over to see Grandfather lift up off the floor and point a rifle at him. Deputy Watkins took cover behind the furniture. He heard a thump a few seconds later. Deputy Watkins looked and saw that the rifle had hit the floor, and that Grandfather was lying on his back. Deputy Watkins could see that Grandfather was severely injured.
When Deputy Watkins approached, he saw that Grandfather's face was covered with blood and that he might have had a bullet wound over his right eye. The deputy asked Grandfather if he could tell him what happened. Grandfather was unable to respond. Deputy Watkins then asked Grandfather who had injured him. He answered that it was Defendant. The deputy, unsure of where the suspect might be, then stood up and pulled his revolver. He called dispatch and requested that back-up officers be sent to the house. Deputy Watkins told the dispatcher that Defendant was the suspect. The deputy gave Defendant's name to the sheriff when he arrived on the scene. Deputy Watkins later returned to the sheriff's department and typed out a probable cause affidavit for Defendant's arrest.
EMT Tyler Matchett (Matchett) also responded to a dispatch to Grandfather's house. Matchett found Grandfather lying on his left side in a semi-fetal position. Matchett saw several injuries and also saw blood on Grandfather's shirt, and blood coming out of his mouth. Grandfather was groaning. Matchett asked Grandfather a number of questions, such as his name and where he was injured. Grandfather could not answer those questions, and only groaned. Matchett asked those questions to stimulate Grandfather and keep him breathing.
Deputy Watkins, with his gun at the ready, told Matchett to watch his back because he did not know if the shooter was still there. Concerned about the safety of himself and Grandfather, Matchett asked Grandfather who shot him. Matchett said that Grandfather "mumbled something that was unintelligible and then took a very deep breath and in a very animated way said, Paschall." Matchett observed that Grandfather's demeanor then changed, and he became unstable. His body relaxed, his respirations changed, and his level of consciousness changed. Grandfather's condition worsened, and "[i]t was very apparent that something dire was fixing to happen." Grandfather was immediately placed in the ambulance. He was placed on a helicopter that airlifted him to a hospital, where he died. Matchett returned to the house and told law enforcement officers about Grandfather's statement.
Cathy received a call from a relative who said something was wrong at Grandfather's house. When Cathy arrived there, she asked the officers about Child. Until then, the officers had been unaware that a child had been in the house. Cathy gave officers a picture of Child, and an Amber Alert was issued.
Defendant took Child to his parents’ home in Springdale that same day. He first went upstairs to pack a backpack. Springdale police arrived shortly thereafter and arrested Defendant. The police had been alerted to go to that location after a ping of Defendant's cellphone number showed that the cellphone was at the house.
An autopsy showed that Mother died from a gunshot wound to the back of her head that cut her spinal cord. She was also shot in the right breast and the left shoulder.
Grandfather was shot six times. He was shot in the head twice. One of the gunshots resulted in a flesh wound below the right eyebrow, while the other entered Grandfather's forehead above that eyebrow. That bullet went through a part of Grandfather's brain and caused his right eye to explode. The bullet traveled into the sinus, causing bleeding that would have gone down into Grandfather's nose and throat.
Finally, the bullet traveled through Grandfather's voice box and windpipe, and hit his left lung before it eventually lodged in his chest. The damage to the voice box and windpipe would have made it difficult for Grandfather to make vocal sounds. The damage to the lung caused bleeding that pressed down on the lung and could have caused leakage of air. Grandfather was also shot in the chest, right elbow, left forearm, and his left shoulder, with that bullet coming to rest in his chest. The gunshot wounds to the chest caused his death.
The bullets recovered from each victim were .38 caliber. Grandfather owned a .38-caliber revolver that he normally kept on top of a gun safe. The gun and the holster in which it was kept were missing after the murders.
At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found Defendant guilty on all charges. This appeal followed. Additional facts will be included below as we address Defendant's single point on appeal.
Defendant challenges the admission of Grandfather's statements made to Deputy Watkins and Matchett that identified Defendant as the shooter. Procedurally, the following facts are relevant to this issue.
Prior to the presentation of testimony about this issue at trial, defense counsel argued that Grandfather's statements were inadmissible hearsay and did not fall into the dying-declaration exception. Counsel argued there was no indication "that [...
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In re Interest of D.E.W.
...and value the evidence, determine the witnesses’ credibility and resolve any inconsistencies in their testimony." State v. Paschall, 606 S.W.3d 653, 655 (Mo. App. S.D. 2020) (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the Family Court examined Kline's credibility and determined her testimony ......