State v. Smith

• Citation: 669 N.W.2d 19
• Decision Date: 25 September 2003
• Docket Number: No. C8-02-1292.,C8-02-1292.
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Darnell Christopher SMITH, Appellant.
• Court: Supreme Court of Minnesota (US)

669 N.W.2d 19

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Darnell Christopher SMITH, Appellant.

No. C8-02-1292.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

September 25, 2003.

Mark D. Nyvold, St. Paul, for Appellant.

Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney, Linda K. Jenny, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, and Mike Hatch, Attorney General, St. Paul, for Respondent.

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

OPINION

MEYER, Justice.

Appellant Darnell Christopher Smith was convicted in Hennepin County of premeditated murder in the first degree and murder in the first degree while committing kidnapping, and was sentenced to life without possibility of release for the death of Bobby Dee Holder. On appeal, appellant alleges that both convictions should be reversed because the district court erred when it admitted evidence of the dismemberment of Holder's body and evidence of appellant's past crimes. Appellant also asserts that the evidence supporting both convictions was insufficient as a matter of law. Appellant further alleges certain errors in his sentencing. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the district court.

The state's case against appellant was largely based on the testimony of appellant's brother Chaka Smith, who pleaded guilty to second-degree felony murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his part in the crime. According to Chaka, on July 5, 2001, appellant told him "that he was going to have Bobby [Holder] come over so he could f___ him up." Appellant believed that Holder was trying to set him up to be robbed of some wheel rims appellant had purchased from Holder. Appellant asked Chaka to be a standby and a lookout when Holder came to appellant's house. Chaka understood his role as standby to mean that he would make the fight uneven.

Chaka testified that he and appellant hid in the bathroom as appellant's girlfriend, Tina Leja, greeted Holder at the front door of the house. Appellant had a police flashlight in his hand and a handgun in his waistband. After Holder was in the house, Chaka sneaked out the back door to confirm that no one else had come with Holder.

When Chaka returned, he saw Holder in the bedroom and appellant holding the police flashlight above his head and creeping up on Holder. Appellant pushed open the door to the bedroom and struck down with the flashlight. Chaka did not see appellant hit Holder but did hear a loud thud. Chaka heard struggling and fighting and then went to the door of the bedroom, where he saw appellant chasing Holder around the room, hitting him with the flashlight. Holder tried to flee the room, but Chaka blocked his means of escape by standing in the doorway and putting his hands on the walls. Appellant then shot Holder in the lower back and Holder fell to the floor. According to Chaka, Holder said: "Let me go to the hospital. I don't know you, and if I get questioned I'll say I don't know." Appellant responded, "You're not going anywhere."

Chaka then attempted to leave the house but was told to return by appellant. While standing in the living room, Chaka looked into the bedroom and saw appellant point the gun at Holder's face and pull the trigger. The gun did not fire. Appellant chambered a round, put the gun on Holder's shoulder blade and pulled the trigger again; this time the gun fired, killing Holder. Appellant then dragged Holder's body from the bedroom into the living room. He went through Holder's pockets; took Holder's cash, car keys, a small bag of marijuana, and cell phone; and gave everything but the cash to Chaka. Appellant stripped the body and, using a pocketknife found in Holder's pants pocket, cut off Holder's penis. He then told Chaka to help him clean the area where the murder had occurred.

Later, Chaka drove Holder's car to Woodbury so it would not be found near appellant's house. Early the next morning, appellant called Chaka and told him to return because Holder had relatives in the Woodbury area who might recognize his car.

Chaka returned to the house and found appellant in the basement with Holder's body. Appellant told Chaka that he had intended to bury the body there but could not dig through the concrete, so decided to chop the body up. Appellant began to dismember the body, which caused Chaka to vomit, and Chaka went back upstairs. Appellant called Chaka back downstairs and Chaka watched as appellant completed the dismemberment. Appellant then stabbed the body with a pocketknife. Chaka testified that at one point appellant shook the hand of Holder's dismembered arm while saying, "How are you doing?" According to Chaka, appellant used a box cutter to carve "Bloods Rule" into the back of Holder's body to make the murder look gang affiliated. Appellant also unsuccessfully attempted to remove the tattoos from Holder's body. He placed Holder's remains in a cooler, a plastic bag, and a bed sheet.

Additional incriminating testimony was provided by Andre Parker, who pleaded guilty to the felony offense of aiding an offender for his involvement in this crime. Parker testified that he was a friend of appellant and lived in the same house. The day after the murder, Parker went into appellant's room and appellant showed him Holder's dismembered remains. He told Parker that they belonged to someone who had tried to rob him. He asked Parker to help him take the body parts out to appellant's car and take a ride with him and Leja. The three drove to a park in St. Paul intending to dispose of Holder's remains, but returned to the house because there were too many people at the park. They moved Holder's remains from appellant's car to Leja's car. On appellant's instruction, Leja drove her car containing Holder's remains to Wisconsin and Parker followed behind in Holder's car. Parker and Leja went to a property in rural Wisconsin where they dug a shallow grave in a swampy area and buried the torso. Appellant and Chaka remained at the house. They then headed west; at one point they turned off onto an unpaved road and dumped the rest of Holder's remains in a densely wooded area.

Appellant's younger brother, Ramon Smith, testified pursuant to a plea agreement granting him immunity from prosecution in the case and favorable treatment on an unrelated criminal charge. Ramon testified to certain admissions made by appellant concerning Holder's death. Appellant told Ramon that he first pointed the gun at Holder's head and pulled the trigger but the gun did not go off. He "re-racked" the gun (chambered a round) and shot Holder "in the hip, right around * * * the kidney area." Holder fell to the floor and begged for help; appellant responded with derisive remarks, then pointed the gun at Holder's shoulder and shot him again. As Holder "flopp[ed] around" and lay dying, appellant knelt beside him and ridiculed him. Appellant told Ramon that he was going to bury Holder's body in the basement, but when he started digging he saw other bones, panicked, and ended up dismembering the body. Appellant also told Ramon that he was leaving town because the police were on to Chaka and would eventually catch both of them.

Katrina Valley, Ramon's girlfriend, testified that the night of the murder she saw appellant's girlfriend talking on the phone (presumably to Holder) while appellant whispered in her ear, "Tell him I don't live here. That this is your house." She also testified that when she entered the house the night of the murder, appellant was sitting on his bed cleaning his gun.

Maynard Cross, an acquaintance of appellant, testified concerning certain admissions made by appellant pursuant to a plea agreement. Appellant told Cross that he had killed and robbed a man and then cut the man up. Cross testified that the day after the killing he saw some spots of blood inside appellant's house and heard appellant say that he had missed some blood when cleaning up. Cross also testified that appellant showed him Holder's penis located in the bushes outside appellant's house. The Hennepin County medical examiner testified that Holder had received two gunshot wounds, one in the flank area and the other in the neck area, which resulted in his death.

Appellant testified as the sole defense witness. He claimed that he knew Holder because he bought some wheel rims from him. After appellant put the rims on his car, he had been followed periodically, and started to receive telephone calls in which the caller mentioned the wheel rims and threatened to shoot him. Appellant understood this message to mean that he had bought stolen wheel rims or that someone was going to steal the wheel rims from him. Appellant claimed that later, while in his car waiting at a traffic light on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, four men, one of whom had a gun, walked toward appellant's car. Appellant showed his own gun and the men ran off.

Appellant testified that he never intended to kill Holder and the reason he called Holder over to his home was to confront Holder about setting him up to be robbed. His plan was to beat Holder up if he determined that Holder had set him up. Appellant had Leja call Holder to come to appellant's house to pick up some tools Holder had left behind after helping put the wheel rims on appellant's car. Appellant knew Holder had been calling Leja and that she would be able to persuade him to come to the house.

Appellant testified that when Holder came in the house, Holder went into the bedroom with Leja. Appellant waited and watched from outside the bedroom. He testified that Holder was giggling, laughing, and fondling Leja, and Holder told her that he had helped set up appellant. Appellant testified that when he heard this he attacked Holder. Holder pulled a knife, appellant grabbed Holder's arm, and the two exchanged punches. Appellant yelled for Chaka to help him. Chaka hit Holder with a flashlight while appellant wrestled with him. Holder then turned on Chaka with the knife and Chaka started screaming "shoot him, shoot him." Appellant...