State v. Roland

• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Before NUGENT, C.J., and ULRICH, J., and WASSERSTROM; NUGENT
• Citation: State v. Roland, 808 S.W.2d 855 (Mo. App. 1991)
• Decision Date: 12 March 1991
• Docket Number: No. WD,WD
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Theron Reed ROLAND, II, Appellant. 40883.

Page 855

808 S.W.2d 855

STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Theron Reed ROLAND, II, Appellant.

No. WD 40883.

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.

March 12, 1991.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to

Supreme Court Denied April 30, 1991.

Application to Transfer Denied June 11, 1991.

David S. Durbin, Appellate Defender, Terri L. Backhus, Asst. Appellate Defender, Kansas City, for appellant.

William L. Webster, Atty. Gen., Geoffrey W. Preckshot, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.

Before NUGENT, C.J., and ULRICH, J., and WASSERSTROM, Senior Judge.

NUGENT, Chief Judge.

The defendant, Theron Reed Roland, II, appeals his conviction for the first degree murder of Steven Newberry, the sentence of life in prison without eligibility for parole, and the denial of his postconviction motion for relief in which he claimed ineffective assistance of trial counsel.

In the first of his two points on appeal the defendant argues that the trial court erred in refusing to permit a scholar of the occult to testify about the effects of satanic beliefs on individuals. His second point addresses his claim that the hearing court erred in denying his motion for postconviction relief in which he asserted that his trial counsel used drugs while working on the case. We affirm the judgments of both the trial and the hearing courts.

Testimony at trial showed that defendant Roland's parents came from family backgrounds saturated with violence, sexual abuse and alcohol abuse, all of which they brought into their own marriage and family life. According to defense psychiatrist Dr. William S. Logan, the defendant's father, an alcoholic, sexually abused his daughter and physically abused his wife and son. Mrs. Roland, because of depression, often remained aloof from the boy.

During his early childhood, the defendant's parents separated and his father entered a psychiatric hospital. Reports of abuse reached the state's Division of Family Services, which removed the defendant and his sister from their mother's custody and placed them in foster homes for several months. The family with whom the defendant lived punished his bed-wetting and other manifestations of dysfunction by physical abuse that included rubbing his nose in his urine.

He and his sister returned to his mother's home, where, in his early school years, he slept in his sister's bedroom out of a fear of sleeping alone. According to Dr. Logan, his mother, in pursuit of a husband, frequented taverns until the early morning hours, leaving her children unattended. Meanwhile, his father remarried and had another son, which, according to the psychiatrist, the defendant perceived as rejection.

When the defendant reached age twelve, his mother married a man whose three older boys all excelled in school. Defendant Roland, however, did poorly in school and gradually developed a reputation as the "class clown," someone who would do anything to gain the acceptance and approval of his peers. He began drinking by the seventh grade, graduated to daily marijuana use as a high school freshman and later in high school used other drugs, including amphetamines, cocaine and hallucinogens. As a sophomore, he vandalized property.

His family life remained unhappy. As a child, he felt that no one cared for him, a perception that apparently continued into adolescence, augmented by the hostile relationship that developed between him and his stepfather.

During the first part of his junior year in high school, the defendant had a brief respite, spending that time with a paternal uncle, a farmer, who gave him a disciplined but loving family life. His academic performance skyrocketed, he joined the school wrestling team and "for the most part" stopped using drugs. His uncle's heart disease led to the defendant's return to his mother's home, where he quickly resumed his former ways. He increased his interest in heavy metal music, having first heard the music in the eighth grade under the tutelage of one of his stepbrothers. That interest, according to Dr. Logan, became an obsession. The music, which included the works of Ozzy Ozbourne and the group, "Megadeath," usually contained themes that advocated sexual and other forms of physical violence and excoriated established authority. The combination of drugs and the music resulted in bizarre hallucinations, such as the reflection in a mirror of an "evil" face that he had made supposedly remaining there after he had changed his expression. Where no one spoke, he heard voices. Enter now the defendant's own Mephistopheles, James Hardy, who later led the fatal attack on Steven Newberry. ¹ James, a successful student, professed belief in Satan and satanism and began to show a special interest in the defendant. Accepted for the first time by a popular peer, the defendant responded by first seeking James' approval and by idolizing his popular schoolmate. According to Dr. Logan, the defendant believed that James' success, such as his election as senior class president, stemmed from powers that Satan had given him. Thus, defendant joined in the worship of Satan, hoping for similar results--success and popularity.

His practice of satanism included self-mutilation. He also frequently tortured and killed small animals, returning now and then to worship near their decomposing bodies by playing heavy metal music and chanting prayers. Occasionally, other youths joined in the rituals, but eventually, a "core" group developed, consisting of the defendant, James Hardy, Steven Newberry, and Ronald Clements, who also joined in the Newberry murder. ²

In the autumn of 1987, James Hardy decided that he, the defendant and Ronald Clements should sacrifice the hapless Steven Newberry to Satan. Transportation problems foiled one attempt on his life on Halloween; in November the defendant's refusal to strike the first blow aborted another. Finally, on December 6, the victim and his three would-be killers drove in the defendant's car to an isolated well in Southwest Carl Junction. There, they suspended a cat from a tree, beat it to death with baseball bats provided by the defendant, and tossed it into the well.

The three other youths then began to beat Steven, with James striking the first blow. During the beating, the victim cried, "Why me?" Ronald answered, "Because it's fun." Steven tried to run away, but tripped; the others caught him and clubbed him to death. They then bound his hands with twine, weighted his body with a stone, and dumped him into the well. They hid the bats in nearby brush.

According to Dr. Logan, defendant Roland believed that this human sacrifice would cause Satan to appear to them and perhaps possess them or otherwise give them supernatural powers. After the murder, however, he felt empty, sensing none of the frenzied thrill that he had felt during the killing ritual. Thereafter, according to Dr. Logan, he began to feel remorse and fear.

After a December 7 telephone call from Steven's mother, concerned that her son had not yet returned home, police questioned the three youths, took statements from James Hardy and Ronald Clements, and retrieved the victim's corpse from the well. On December 8, they arrested the defendant, who confessed and took them to the scene of the murder, showed them the bats and recreated the crime for a videotaped recording.

The defendant obtained a change of venue to Pettis County, where he went on trial June 14, 1988. His counsel mounted a statutory defense of mental defect or disease. § 562.086.1. ³ He sought to introduce the testimony of Carl Raschke, Ph.D., a professor of religious studies with a specialization in the occult. In his offer of proof, defense counsel moved to allow Mr. Raschke to testify that satanists abhor everything that Judeo-Christian morality deems good, and deem good everything Judeo-Christian morality abhors. He further offered to prove that the witness would testify that defendant Roland had become so coerced by satanism that he could not distinguish between good and evil and, therefore, did not understand the qualitative nature of his actions in murdering the victim. The court permitted witness Raschke to testify to the general tenets of satanism, but, because he lacked any training in psychiatry or psychology, excluded his proffered testimony as to the effects of satanic beliefs on individuals. The professor did testify that satanic cults often employed violence and terror in enforcing secrecy and loyalty among their members.

Immediately before witness Raschke took the stand, Dr. Logan testified. Father James Lebar, a Catholic priest and a consultant to the Archdiocese of New York on satanism, testified immediately after the professor appeared. Father Lebar divided satanic groups into four categories, ranging from the "dabblers," such as the youths involved in this case, to the most violent satanists, who often "murder for Satan." He explained, however, that even dabblers can become frenzied enough to kill others or themselves as sacrifices. Joseph Stuessy, a musicologist, testified to the lyrics of some heavy metal songs advocating violence and referring to Hell.

Rejecting defendant Roland's defense, the jury found him guilty of first degree murder and recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole. The court imposed that sentence.

The defendant sought postconviction relief under Rule 29.15 ⁴, contending that he had received ineffective assistance of trial counsel owing to counsel's use of drugs during the trial. The hearing court denied his motion on January 19, 1990.

In addressing Mr. Roland's first point on appeal, we employ the standard of review employed in cases involving the admissibility of expert testimony, a question left to the sound discretion of the trial court. An appellate court will not disturb the trial court's ruling absent a clear abuse of discretion. State v. Marks, 721 S.W.2d 51, 55 (Mo.App.1986). Abuse of discretion...