State v. Sanford

• Decision Date: 22 June 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–0156.,11–0156.
• Citation: 814 N.W.2d 611
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Dontay Dakwon SANFORD, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

814 N.W.2d 611

STATE of Iowa, Appellee,

v.Dontay Dakwon SANFORD, Appellant.

No. 11–0156.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

June 22, 2012.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and David A. Adams, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant, and Dontay Sanford, Fort Dodge, pro se.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Sharon K. Hall, Assistant Attorney General, Thomas J. Ferguson, County Attorney, and Brian J. Williams, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

ZAGER, Justice.

This case requires us to determine whether the State produced sufficient evidence to establish that the victim's automobile constituted an occupied structure as that term is defined in Iowa Code section 702.12 (2009). We conclude that the State produced sufficient evidence to support a finding that the victim's car was an occupied structure. We therefore affirm the district court.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on December 11, 2008, Jasmine Mills, Daniel Harrington, and Marqualis Montgomery pulled into a Kum & Go convenience store in Waterloo and parked in front of the building. Mills and Montgomery exited Mills' Dodge Stratus and entered the store while Harrington remained in the front passenger seat. Almost immediately thereafter, Dontay Dakwon Sanford arrived at the same Kum & Go. Sanford was driving a white Jeep, and Shean Holmes, Javon Collins, Mandy Loge, and Cecillie Miles were passengers in the vehicle. Sanford parked at the gas pumps. A third car pulled up at the gas pumps next to the Jeep and directly behind Mills' vehicle. Anthony Jackson exited the third vehicle, and Sanford and Holmes exited the Jeep, and the three of them walked past Mills' Stratus and towards the store entrance.

As Sanford and Holmes walked past Mills' vehicle, they began to exchange words with Harrington, who then got out of Mills' Stratus. Mills then exited the store and walked to her vehicle, opened the driver's side door, and popped the trunk. Harrington then went to the trunk of Mills' Stratus in an attempt to make the others believe he was retrieving a weapon in order to “scare them off.” As Mills opened the trunk, Collins exited the Jeep and began to approach the Stratus.

While Collins, Holmes, and Sanford continued to exchange words with Harrington, Mills reentered the Kum & Go and shouted for her cousin, Montgomery. She then left the store, went back to her vehicle, and shut the trunk. Harrington then retreated to the passenger's side door while Mills walked to the driver's side door. As they opened their respective car doors, Harrington continued to exchange words with Collins, Holmes and Sanford. Collins and the others surrounded the vehicle with Collins moving from the driver's side of Mills' vehicle to the passenger's side. Harrington and Mills both shut their doors, and Harrington locked his door. Collins pulled at the passenger's side door handle but was unable to open Harrington's door. Holmes and Sanford were able to open the driver's side door and, while Sanford held the door, Holmes reached into the car in an effort to remove the keys from the ignition or possibly to release the lock on the passenger door. As he moved deeper into the car, Holmes struck Mills in the face. While Sanford continued to hold the door open, Holmes took a step back from the car and pointed toward the passenger side. Collins again pulled on Harrington's door handle, and the passenger's side door opened.

Once both doors were opened, Mills' Stratus lurched forward. Sanford released the door and took a step back from Mills' car. Mills then sped backwards and ran into the car that was parked immediately behind her at the gas pumps and pushed it several feet. Collins and Holmes were caught between the car and their respective doors as the car backed up. During this time, Holmes was reaching inside the car trying to get the keys out of the ignition. Holmes struck Mills in the face as the car was backing up. Despitesome vision problems from the blow to the face, Mills was able to put her vehicle in drive and exit the parking lot. After a few moments, Holmes, Sanford, Collins, and Jackson got into the Jeep and the third car that Mills struck when she backed up. The two vehicles then exited the parking lot heading the same direction as Mills and Harrington.

Mills and Harrington drove to the parking lot of Mills' apartment where Harrington called his mother. Mills fell unconscious while waiting for Harrington's mother to arrive. Mills was taken to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma caused by a blow to the head she received from Holmes. She ultimately died from her injuries.

Sanford was charged by trial information with second-degree burglary in violation of section 713.5 on March 30, 2009. He was arraigned on April 9 and pled not guilty. He later waived his right to a speedy trial, and his case was joined for trial with Collins. On October 15, 2010, the State filed a motion to amend the trial information to charge Sanford as either the principal or an aider and abettor to first-degree burglary.¹ That same day, Sanford moved to dismiss the charge claiming that Mills' vehicle was not an occupied structure for purposes of the burglary statute, and therefore, the case should be dismissed as a matter of law. The motion was denied on October 25.

Sanford's trial commenced on October 26. The State rested its case on October 29, and Sanford moved for a judgment of acquittal, again arguing that there was insufficient evidence for the jury to convict Sanford of burglary because the State had not produced sufficient evidence that Mills' vehicle was an occupied structure. The motion was denied. The jury found Sanford guilty of first-degree burglary on November 2.

Sanford filed a motion for a new trial on November 5, arguing, among other things, that the State engaged in prosecutorial misconduct by referring to the act as “premeditated” during closing arguments. Also, Sanford's counsel claimed that he spoke with jurors after the trial and the jurors indicated they believed Sanford and the others planned to go to the Kum & Go at the same time as Mills and their arrival was not a coincidence. Counsel claims this shows the jury was influenced by the improper argument of the State and that Sanford's trial was unfair. According to Sanford's counsel, the jurors believed that Sanford knew Holmes' plan to strike Mills based on Sanford's “apparent lack of candor” in his interview with the police. Since there was no evidence that Sanford knew of Holmes' plan to strike Mills, counsel asserted the verdict was contrary to the weight of evidence.² The motion was overruled on January 24, 2011, and Sanford was sentenced to an indeterminate term in prison not to exceed twenty-five years. Sanford appealed on January 25. We retained jurisdiction.

II. Standard of Review.

Sanford claims there is insufficient evidence to establish that Mills' automobilewas an occupied structure. Sufficiency of evidence claims are reviewed for a correction of errors at law. State v. Keopasaeuth, 645 N.W.2d 637, 639–40 (Iowa 2002). In reviewing challenges to the sufficiency of evidence supporting a guilty verdict, courts consider all of the record evidence viewed “in the light most favorable to the State, including all reasonable inferences that may be fairly drawn from the evidence.” Id. at 640;see also State v. Williams, 695 N.W.2d 23, 27–28 (Iowa 2005). “[W]e will uphold a verdict if substantial record evidence supports it.” State v. Nitcher, 720 N.W.2d 547, 556 (Iowa 2006) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). We will consider all the evidence presented, not just the inculpatory evidence. Keopasaeuth, 645 N.W.2d at 640. Evidence is considered substantial if, when viewed in the light most favorable to the State, it can convince a rational jury that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Williams, 695 N.W.2d at 27–28. “Inherent in our standard of review of jury verdicts in criminal cases is the recognition that the jury [is] free to reject certain evidence, and credit other evidence.” Nitcher, 720 N.W.2d at 556 (citation and internal quotations marks omitted).

III. Discussion.

Through appellate counsel, Sanford claims there was insufficient evidence that Mills' vehicle was an occupied structure for purposes of the burglary statute. Through a pro se brief, Sanford has made several other claims relating to the district court's decision to grant the State's motion to amend the trial information, admit a video of the defendant's interview with police, deny a motion for a mistrial, and deny defendant's motion for a new trial. We will first address Sanford's claim that the State did not produce sufficient evidence to prove that Mills' vehicle was an occupied structure under Iowa Code section 702.12, which is one of the elements of a burglary conviction. SeeIowa Code § 713.1.

A. Was There Sufficient Evidence that Mills' Vehicle Was an Occupied Structure? Though Iowa has historically followed the common law approach to burglary, the legislature rewrote the burglary statute in 1978. State v. Pace, 602 N.W.2d 764, 769 (Iowa 1999). The Iowa Code now defines burglary as follows:

Any person, having the intent to commit a felony, assault or theft therein, who, having no right, license or privilege to do so, enters an occupied structure, such occupied structure not being open to the public, or who remains therein after it is closed to the public or after the person's right, license or privilege to be there has expired, or any person having such intent who breaks an occupied structure, commits burglary.

Iowa Code § 713.1 (emphasis added). A person commits first-degree burglary, a class “B” felony, “if, while perpetrating a burglary in or upon an occupied structure in which one or more persons are present,” the person intentionally or recklessly inflicts bodily injury on any person. Iowa Code § 713.3(1)–(2).

At common law, and under Iowa's pre–1978 sta...