State v. Pippitt, C4-01-775.

• Decision Date: 13 June 2002
• Docket Number: No. C4-01-775.,C4-01-775.
• Citation: 645 N.W.2d 87
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Brian Keith PIPPITT, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

645 N.W.2d 87

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Brian Keith PIPPITT, Appellant.

No. C4-01-775.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

June 13, 2002.

Melissa Sheridan, Asst. State Public Defender, St. Paul, MN, for appellant.

Mike Hatch, Attorney General, Kelly O'Neill Moller, Asst. Attorney General, St. Paul, MN, Bradley C. Rhodes, Aitkin County Attorney, Aitkin, MN, for respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

LANCASTER, Justice.

A jury found appellant Brian Keith Pippitt guilty of first-degree murder in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.185(1) (2000), and first-degree murder while committing burglary in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.185(3) (1996), for his role in the death of Evelyn Malin. The district court entered convictions for both crimes and imposed two concurrent life sentences. Pippitt raises six issues in this direct appeal: first, whether the evidence was sufficient to support his convictions; second, whether he is entitled to a new trial because of errors in the jury instructions; third, whether the district court abused its discretion by refusing to admit a letter into evidence; fourth, whether newly-discovered evidence entitles him to a new trial; fifth, whether the state withheld exculpatory information from the grand jury and misled the grand jury to obtain an indictment; and sixth, whether one of his convictions and sentences must be vacated. We affirm in part and vacate in part.

Evelyn Malin owned and operated the Dollar Lake Store in Aitkin County from 1945 until her death in 1998. The Dollar Lake Store was a small convenience store that sold cigarettes, beer, soda, candy, and other items. Malin's residence was attached to the store and consisted of a kitchen, a bedroom, and a living room that she used for storage. A curtain separated the store from the kitchen. A trap door in the kitchen led to a basement she used for additional storage.

Malin was 84 years old when she died. She was deaf in one ear and wore a hearing aid in her other ear. She walked with the assistance of two canes and could not walk down stairs. Because of her physical frailty, Malin's daughter, Norma Horner, and Horner's friend, Jerry Horseman, helped Malin open and close the store every day. Horner and Horseman usually arrived at 8:30 a.m. and returned at 10:00 p.m.

On February 24, 1998, Horner stopped by the store at 8:30 a.m. to help Malin open the store. Horner and Horseman went to the store that evening between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and left between 8:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. At approximately 9:00 p.m., Horner called Malin and Malin stated that she was not feeling well and was going to go to bed early. Malin told Horner that she and Horseman did not have to return to the store that evening.

The next morning, Horner and Horseman arrived at the store at 8:30 a.m. Because the store's open sign was not illuminated and newspapers were still on the steps, they assumed that Malin had overslept. While walking to the back door, they noticed that a screen had been removed from a ground-floor window and that panes of glass had been broken or removed from a basement window. Horner knocked on the back door and yelled in an effort to wake Malin. When Malin did not respond, Horner told Horseman to return to Horner's cabin and call 911. Horner continued her efforts to wake Malin.

Officers from the Aitkin County Sheriff's Office arrived at the store a few minutes after 9:00 a.m. The front and back doors were locked. The frame around the screen that had been removed from the ground-floor window displayed freshly exposed wood. One of the officers kicked in the back door and the officers searched Malin's house and store. An officer found Malin's body in her bedroom, lying in a pile of blankets and clothes. A mattress had been thrown over her. Malin's ankle was cold and she did not have a pulse. The officers left the building and secured the scene.

That afternoon, a team from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrived to investigate Malin's death. The team observed pry marks on wood from the basement window and determined that the basement window was the point of entry. The team concluded that Malin had died at least 12 hours but probably less than 36 hours before 6:30 p.m. on February 25. Two days later, Malin's son walked through the store and noticed that beer, cigarettes, and money were missing.

The medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Malin testified that she displayed injuries associated with manual strangulation and blunt force trauma. Malin had been struck with sufficient force to cause internal injuries to her head. She also displayed defense-type injuries in her upper extremities. The examiner concluded that manual strangulation was the primary cause of Malin's death and that blunt force trauma could have been a contributing factor in her death.

Approximately one year after Malin's death, the investigation focused on a group of individuals, among them Raymond Misquadace (Raymond). During the second of four interviews, Raymond confessed and implicated Pippitt, Keith Misquadace (Keith), Neil King, and Donald Hill in Malin's death. Raymond reached a plea agreement under which the charge against him was reduced from murder to manslaughter, and he agreed to serve 58 months in prison and to testify if called by the state. Hill also confessed to Malin's murder and confirmed that the individuals identified by Raymond were involved in her death.

The state called Raymond to testify at Pippitt's trial. Raymond testified that Pippitt, Keith, and King picked up Raymond and Hill in a two-door car from a house in East Lake between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on February 24, 1998. They planned to go to a party in Cloquet. First, they went to Wanda Misquadace's (Wanda) house on the Sandy Lake Reservation. They arrived at Wanda's between 4:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., stayed there for approximately one or two hours, and then left for Cloquet. On the way, they stopped at the Village Pump in Tamarack where Pippitt bought beer. They continued to drive to Cloquet. When they arrived in Sawyer, they decided to turn around because they were running out of gas. As they passed the Village Pump, they discussed purchasing more beer, but did not stop. They passed several bars but did not consider stopping at them. They arrived at the Dollar Lake Store at approximately 9:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m., but it was closed. The five men exited the car and stretched. After a brief discussion, Keith walked to the left side of the store, Hill walked to the right side of the store, and Pippitt walked to the store's front door. King and Raymond returned to the car. Raymond thought that Keith, Hill, and Pippitt were going to try to enter the store to obtain beer.

A few moments later, Raymond heard a "little thump or crash" and a dog barking. At some point, he noticed the front door open and shadows moving inside the store. Pippitt was no longer standing at the front door. Raymond then saw Pippitt, Keith, and Hill return to the car. Keith and Hill were carrying cigarettes and beer. Pippitt was carrying a bag and a long object. Raymond testified that Keith's hand was bloody and that he wrapped it in his shirt.

Raymond testified that when the five men drove away from the store, Keith was "jittery" and "hyper" and said that he choked Malin while Pippitt hit her. Raymond testified that Pippitt told the group to be quiet about what had happened at the store. The group arrived at a house on the Sandy Lake Reservation approximately 30 to 45 minutes after leaving the store. According to Raymond, Keith continued to talk about what had happened at the store, stating that they had killed Malin.

The state also called Peter Arnoldi to testify. Arnoldi met Pippitt at the Minnesota Security Hospital in Saint Peter in May 1999. According to Arnoldi, he and Pippitt discussed their cases on a daily basis for the two-and-one-half weeks that they spent at the hospital together. According to Arnoldi, Pippitt claimed that a group went to the store in a van to get some cigarettes, and burglarized the store through a window. Arnoldi also claimed that Pippitt stated someone had called for Pippitt's assistance to hold Malin down, and that he did so while they choked or suffocated her by stuffing tissue in her mouth. According to Arnoldi, Pippitt claimed the group then stole some cigarettes and beer. Arnoldi and Pippitt also discussed an alibi that Pippitt planned to offer at his trial — that someone would place him at a casino.

At trial, Pippitt attacked the credibility of both Raymond and Arnoldi. Raymond's uncle testified that Raymond is "not very truthful about anything" and that Raymond would lie under oath to escape trouble. Arnoldi testified that he did not request any deals in exchange for his testimony. The investigating officer who took Arnoldi's statement testified, however, that Arnoldi requested a transfer out of the Saint Cloud prison in exchange for his statement. The investigating officer requested that Arnoldi be transferred, and Arnoldi was transferred from Saint Cloud to Faribault. Pippitt also attempted to impeach Arnoldi by introducing evidence of Arnoldi's prior convictions. From 1989 to 1999, Arnoldi had five convictions for theft, one conviction for theft by false representation, four convictions for check forgery, and three convictions for third-degree burglary.

In addition to attacking the credibility of Raymond and Arnoldi, Pippitt presented an alibi. Michael Misquadace (Michael), Pippitt's nephew, testified that he was with Pippitt on February 24, 1998. Michael and Pippitt went to a pawn shop where Pippitt pawned a cassette, radio, and CD player for $30. They then went to a casino where Michael had an interview at 1:00 p.m. Pippitt spent the afternoon playing blackjack. Michael had another interview at the casino at 5:00 p.m. After Michael's second interview, Michael and Pippitt picked up Michael's brother, Brandon, and...