State v. Searcy

• Decision Date: 21 December 2005
• Docket Number: No. 2004AP2827-CR.,2004AP2827-CR.
• Citation: 2006 WI App 8,709 N.W.2d 497
• Parties: STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Jeffrey Lorenzo SEARCY, Defendant-Appellant.<SMALL><SUP>†</SUP></SMALL>
• Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals

709 N.W.2d 497

2006 WI App 8

STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Jeffrey Lorenzo SEARCY, Defendant-Appellant.^†

No. 2004AP2827-CR.

Court of Appeals of Wisconsin.

Submitted on Briefs October 14, 2005.

Opinion Filed December 21, 2005.

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On behalf of the defendant-appellant, the cause was submitted on the briefs of Joseph L. Sommers, Madison.

On behalf of the plaintiff-respondent, the cause was submitted on the brief of Aaron R. O'Neil, Assistant Attorney General, and Peggy A. Lautenschlager, Attorney General.

Before SNYDER, P.J., NETTESHEIM and ANDERSON, JJ.

¶1 ANDERSON, J

Jeffrey Lorenzo Searcy appeals from a judgment convicting him of two counts of burglary, one as party to a crime, and an order denying his postconviction motion. He challenges his conviction on several disparate grounds. First, he argues that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of either of the two counts of burglary. Second, he claims that the jury received prejudicial extraneous information relating to his prior convictions. Third, he mounts a constitutional challenge to the admission of statements his cousin, Leisa Adams, made to police officers at the scene of his arrest. Searcy complains that the admission of the statements, which tied him to the residence where the police found stolen items, through the testimony of an officer violated his confrontation rights under the analysis of "testimonial" statements announced in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). Finally, he raises two additional constitutional challenges.

¶ 2 We hold that there was sufficient evidence to support Searcy's convictions on both counts of burglary. We uphold the trial court's finding that Searcy failed to satisfy his burden of proving by clear, satisfactory and convincing evidence that the jury had been exposed to improper extraneous information regarding his prior convictions. The trial court simply made a credibility determination with which we cannot quarrel. We hold that the admission of the officer's testimony concerning Adams' statements about the location of Searcy's residence did not violate Searcy's confrontation rights. Adams initiated the contact with the police officers and spontaneously made the unsolicited statements; therefore, her statements were not "testimonial" within the meaning of Crawford. We also reject as harmless Searcy's other two claims of constitutional error. We affirm.

I. FACTS

¶ 3 On July 8, 2001, the State filed a criminal complaint against Searcy charging him with burglarizing the home of Darrin and Michelle Hoffman. Later in July, the State filed an amended complaint charging Searcy with burglarizing the home of Brad and Lauri DuRocher.

¶ 4 A multiple-day jury trial on the two charges was held in December 2002. The State called to testify: several of the officers involved in the investigation of the burglaries, an employee of the Department of Justice Crime Laboratory, Darrin and Michelle Hoffman, and Lauri DuRocher. Searcy presented the testimony of his friend, Kimberly Jackson. Because Searcy challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to convict him, we recount the pertinent portions of each witness' testimony below.

¶ 5 The State first called Darrin Hoffman. Darrin testified that when he returned home on May 19, 2001, he found the front screen door and interior door open and some of the framework broken. He testified that he called the police before entering the home because he had left a loaded .357 magnum in his home and was worried the intruder was still in the house. After the police arrived, Darrin discovered that the gun, a VCR, jewelry and a pillowcase were taken from his home. He stated that he had not given anyone permission to take the items from his home. He also testified that the bedroom window was left wide open and the window screen was mangled and lying on the bed. He stated that the only way to remove the screen from the window was from inside the house.

¶ 6 The State then called several of the officers involved in the investigation of the Hoffman burglary. Charles Ashbeck, a Racine Police Department Patrol Sergeant, testified that he responded to the Hoffman burglary complaint. When he arrived at the Hoffman residence, he observed: "The front door appeared to be kicked in, so it looked to me as that was the point of entry." Ashbeck testified that he came to the conclusion that the door had been kicked in because "the door jamb, where the door connects, that was broke and the wood was all split off, and there was a footprint on the door." He also observed that the window screen from the back bedroom was "all bent" and lying on the bed.

¶ 7 Next, Donald Prudhom, a patrolman and evidence technician with the City of Racine Police Department, testified. He stated that he lifted a palm print and fingerprint from the bedroom window screen. James Yoghourtjian, a forensic criminalist for the City of Racine Police Department, testified that he analyzed the fingerprint impression and it positively matched Searcy's left thumb. Jeffrey May, an employee of the identification unit of the Department of Justice Crime Laboratory, testified that he matched the palm print Prudhom lifted with Searcy's print to a reasonable degree of professional certainty.

¶ 8 Amanda Guth, a deputy with the Racine County Sheriff's Department whose duties included doing bookings at the county jail, was the State's next witness. She initially testified outside the presence of the jury. The State presented Guth with proposed Exhibit 22, which was a report generated from the jail's database showing the personal information of an inmate booked at the county jail. Guth identified the inmate in the report as Searcy. She explained that Searcy's report stated that he was living on Shelbourne Court with his relative, Leisa Adams. When pressed on cross-examination, Guth stated that she was unsure if she was the one who did the intake for Searcy. Following this testimony, Searcy argued that the report introduced through Guth's testimony was inadmissible hearsay. The trial court admitted the evidence, the testimony and the exhibit, under WIS. STAT. § 908.03(6) (2003-04).¹ Guth then testified in front of the jury consistent with her prior testimony.

¶ 9 Following Guth, the State called the police officers who investigated the DuRocher burglary and also called Lauri DuRocher. Brian Smith, a Town of Mount Pleasant police officer, testified that on July 17, 2001, he was called to the DuRochers' home for a possible burglary. He stated that when he entered the home through the front door, it appeared as though someone had kicked the door in— the door and the frame around the door were broken and there was a footprint on the door.

¶ 10 Lauri DuRocher testified that she had not given anyone consent to enter the home and that several pieces of jewelry and a pillowcase were taken from her home. She testified that she and her husband were able to identify the items taken from their home from photographs shown to them by the police.

¶ 11 Mark Sorenson, an investigator with the City of Racine Police Department, then testified about the circumstances surrounding Searcy's arrest and the search of Adams' apartment. Sorenson testified that on July 27 he and other members of the police department's Street Crimes Unit were conducting surveillance in the area of Shelbourne Court because they had received a tip from an informant that Searcy was living in the area. Sorenson stated that the officers spotted Searcy and subsequently took him into custody at gunpoint. According to Sorenson, while the officers were still at the scene, a large crowd gathered and "one lady in the crowd came up and said that she was Mr. Searcy's cousin, and that he was staying with her in the neighborhood there." The following exchange then took place between the prosecutor and Sorenson:

[Prosecutor]: When she provided this information to you, could you describe her demeanor when she gave the statement to you?

[Sorenson]: Um, rather excited.

[Prosecutor]: How so?

[Sorenson]: We had just taken Mr. Searcy into custody at gunpoint and she started screaming, um, wanted to know what we are doing and saying "that's my cousin, you can't do that." She was rather excited in that way.

[Prosecutor]: During this time period when she was excited did she provide or make any statements which led you to believe that Mr. Searcy resided at a particular location?

[Sorenson]: Yes.

[Prosecutor]: What information did she provide to you?

At that point, Searcy's counsel objected on hearsay grounds. The State responded that it was admissible pursuant to the excited utterance hearsay exception. After hearing arguments outside the presence of the jury, the trial court allowed the State to continue with its line of questioning.

¶ 12 The State asked Sorenson how much time had passed between when the officers took Searcy into custody with weapons displayed and when Adams approached the officers and made the statements. Sorenson replied that it had been maybe a minute or two. Then the State again asked, "And during this time period did she provide you again—did she provide you with information as to where Mr. Searcy resided?" Over Searcy's objection, Sorenson quoted Adams as saying, "[s]he said—she—that he had been staying with her from time to time." The trial court overruled Searcy's objection.

¶13 According to Sorenson, approximately thirty to forty-five minutes later, the officers obtained Adams' permission to search her apartment, which was located on Shelbourne Court. Sorenson indicated that during the course of the search another investigator directed his attention to a pillowcase found in the closet in an upstairs bedroom. The pillowcase was white with a flower pattern on it and was secured with a knot. The pillowcase contained numerous pieces of jewelry. Sorenson noted that the...