State v. Perry, 44413
| Decision Date | 12 October 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 44413,44413 |
| Citation | 643 S.W.2d 58 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Mack PERRY, Respondent-Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Joseph W. Downey, Public Defender, Erica Leisenring, Asst. Public Defender, St. Louis, for respondent-appellant.
John Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., Kristie Green, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, George Peach, Circuit Atty., St. Louis, for plaintiff-respondent.
A jury found defendant guilty of two counts of assault in the first degree and one count of burglary in the first degree. The court found defendant to be a persistent offender, and it sentenced him to a term of 15 years' imprisonment on the burglary charge, a concurrent 15-year term on one charge of assault, and a consecutive 20-year term on the second assault charge. Defendant appeals. We affirm.
Defendant raises three points on appeal. He contends that the trial court erred by permitting him to be retried on the assault charges because defendant had already been acquitted of those charges. He also contends the trial court erred in submitting an instruction regarding assault as a class A felony because there was not sufficient evidence to support a finding that defendant assaulted Marjorie Kendall by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument. Finally, defendant contends the trial court erred in overruling his objections to the introduction of evidence about the medical treatment of victim Margaret Wetsel and about the cause of her death several months after the assault.
In August of 1980, defendant was charged by indictment with one count of burglary in the first degree, one count of assault in the first degree, and a count in the alternative of assault in the first degree or felony murder. His first trial commenced on January 27, 1981. The jury retired on Friday, January 29, and, after several hours of deliberations, the jury foreman notified the judge that the jury could not reach a verdict. The court recalled the jury into the courtroom and delivered the "hammer" instruction, MAI-CR2d 1.10. The jury informed the judge a few hours later that they were still unable to reach a verdict. The judge recalled the jurors into the courtroom and inquired of them whether additional time would aid them in reaching a verdict. None responded in the affirmative. The court declared a mistrial and discharged the jury.
The following morning the judge discovered that the verdict forms for acquittal on the first degree assault charge and the alternative assault or felony murder charge had been signed by the jury foreman. The judge notified the parties, and on February 2, 1981, defendant moved for acquittal on the charge of assault and the charge of assault or felony murder. On February 4, 1981, defendant filed a motion for an evidentiary hearing to set aside the court's declaration of a mistrial and submitted in support an affidavit by the jury foreman. In the alternative, defendant moved to reconvene the jury. The foreman's affidavit stated that the jurors had unanimously agreed to acquit on the two charges, but, believing they could not return a "partial verdict," had declared themselves deadlocked. The judge denied defendant's motion for an evidentiary hearing or to reconvene the jury stating that, because the attorneys had spoken with some of the jurors after the mistrial had been declared, there was a good chance the impartiality of the jurors had been compromised. The trial court denied the motion to set aside the mistrial because the signed verdict forms did not constitute final verdicts because they were not rendered in open court and none of the parties had the opportunity to poll the jurors. The court stayed its decision for seven days, and defendant sought a writ of mandamus in this court. We denied defendant's petition.
At the beginning of defendant's second trial, his counsel moved to dismiss the assault charges on double jeopardy grounds, and the trial court overruled that motion. At the second trial, the state produced evidence of the following facts.
At approximately 4:30 a.m. on February 6, 1980, Margaret Kendall, visiting in the home of her 80-year-old aunt, Margaret Wetsel, was awakened by a voice outside her bedroom door. She asked if it was Aunt Margaret, the voice replied "yes," and Ms. Kendall opened the door. When she opened the door she saw a large black man, approximately six feet tall and weighing 200 pounds, holding a machete. He immediately punched her in the face with his fist, knocking her down. The assailant knocked Ms. Kendall down approximately 15 times and kicked her at least once. He also grabbed her head under his arm and twisted her head roughly. When Ms. Kendall freed herself from his grasp, the assailant ran from the bedroom, but he returned and beat her again, hitting her in the face and knocking her down. He then ran from the house. Ms. Kendall looked out in the hall in the direction the assailant had run and saw her 80-year old aunt lying unconscious with a cut on her head. When Mrs. Wetsel regained consciousness, she said, "Oh my God, he hit me." Ms. Kendall discovered a deep cut on her own arm which required stitches. Mrs. Wetsel died on June 10, 1980, as the result of myocardial failure. The medical examiner testified, over defendant's objection, that the large subdural hematoma he found in Mrs. Wetsel's skull had contributed to her death. The doctor who had treated Mrs. Wetsel for the hematoma concluded the hematoma could have been caused by a blow to the head in February of 1980. Further, he testified regarding the seriousness of the injury and the surgery and other treatments made necessary by the injury. From an array of seven photographs, Ms. Kendall selected one of defendant as a photograph of the man who had assaulted her. She later picked defendant out of a line-up, and she identified him in court as the man who had assaulted her. The defense presented no evidence.
At his second trial, defendant was charged with first degree burglary, first degree assault on Mrs. Wetsel, and first degree assault on Ms. Kendall. In regard to the assault on Ms. Kendall, the court submitted that portion of MAI-CR2d 19.02 that directs the jurors to find the defendant guilty of a class A felony if they find the defendant committed the assault by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument.
The jury found defendant guilty of each of the three charges and assessed punishments of eight years for the burglary, 11 years for the assault on Mrs. Wetsel, and 15 years for the assault on Ms. Kendall. After determining the defendant to be a persistent offender, the court sentenced him to a term of 20 years for the assault on Ms. Kendall, to a consecutive term of 15 years for the assault on Mrs. Wetsel, and to a concurrent term of 15 years for the burglary.
In his first point, defendant contends that the trial court erred by permitting him to be tried a second time on the assault charges because the jury in the first trial had executed verdicts of not guilty on those charges. He argues that the mistrial was not a legal necessity because the judge in the first trial could have accepted the affidavit of the jury foreman or could have recalled the jurors to ascertain their true intent. Therefore, defendant argues, the second trial on the assault charges subjected him to double jeopardy. We rule this point against defendant.
The defendant does not suggest that the trial court erred in declaring a mistrial when the jury foreman announced and the jurors agreed that they were hopelessly deadlocked and that more time would not help them reach a verdict. The judge has broad discretion in determining whether a mistrial is necessary. It is well settled that neither the state nor the federal constitution bars a defendant's retrial after a mistrial resulting from a jury deadlock unless the trial judge abused his discretion in declaring the mistrial. Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 509-10, 98 S.Ct. 824, 832, 54 L.Ed.2d 717 (1978); State v. Holt, 592 S.W.2d 759, 771-72 (Mo. banc 1980); Durham v. State, 538 S.W.2d 881, 883 (Mo.App.1975). It is clear the court's original declaration of a mistrial was not an abuse of discretion. The issue here is whether the court abused its discretion in refusing to set aside the mistrial after the verdict forms were discovered and in refusing to conduct a hearing or reconvene the jury.
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People v. Addison
...v. Justices, N.Y. Sup.Ct., 36 N.Y.2d 53, 364 N.Y.S.2d 874, 324 N.E.2d 348; accord, United States v. MacQueen, 596 F.2d 76; Missouri v. Perry, 643 S.W.2d 58.) Were it in my power, I would set aside this verdict as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice. The jury never intended to ......
-
State v. Thompson
...although not to destroy it, citing, inter cilia, Chrum v. St. Louis Public Service Co., 242 S.W.2d 54, 56 (Mo.1951), and Slate v. Perry, 643 S.W.2d 58, 61 (Mo.App.1982). 7. We realize that in so ruling the trial judge, who consistently displayed a concern for fairness throughout the course ......
-
State v. Phillips, WD
...consent thereof, all elements of the state's case. Compare State v. Johnson, 637 S.W.2d 157, 161[9-11] (Mo.App.1982); State v. Perry, 643 S.W.2d 58, 62[8-10] (Mo.App.1982); and State v. Berry, 609 S.W.2d 948, 954[16-19] (Mo. banc 1980). Since the evidence of the victim's physical and mental......
-
Care and Treatment of Barlow v. State
...See State v. Grim, 854 S.W.2d 403, 411 n. 6 (Mo. banc 1993); State v. Dexter, 954 S.W.2d 332, 334 (Mo. banc 1997); State v. Perry, 643 S.W.2d 58, 61 (Mo.App.1982). It is well settled that nothing bars retrial after a mistrial that resulted from a hung jury unless the court abused its discre......