State v. Snowden

• Decision Date: 01 June 2009
• Docket Number: No. SD 29210.,SD 29210.
• Citation: 285 S.W.3d 810
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Carlos E. SNOWDEN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

285 S.W.3d 810

STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Carlos E. SNOWDEN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. SD 29210.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Division Two.

June 1, 2009.

Melinda K. Pendergraph, Columbia, MO, for Appellant.

Chris Koster, Attorney General, Daniel N. McPherson, Assistant Attorney General, Jefferson City, MO, for Respondent.

GARY W. LYNCH, Chief Judge.

Carlos Eugene Snowden ("Defendant") appeals his conviction of unlawful use of a weapon, pursuant to section 571.030.¹ Defendant presents three issues on appeal, contending that the trial court erred in overruling (1) his objection to allegedly being led past a potential juror in the hallway outside of the courtroom while still handcuffed; (2) his objection to and the subsequent admission into evidence of his booking photograph; and (3) his objection to and the subsequent admission into evidence of a photograph showing the knife seized from his home on the night of the offense next to a ruler on which the words "D.A.R.E. TO RESIST DRUGS AND VIOLENCE" are inscribed. Finding no merit in Defendant's claims, this Court affirms the judgment of conviction.

Factual and Procedural Background

We view the evidence presented at trial in the light most favorable to the verdict. State v. Storey, 901 S.W.2d 886, 891 (Mo banc 1995). In that context, evidence adduced at trial revealed the following.

Defendant is J.W.'s ("Victim") step-father, and had known Victim for approximately six years at the time of the offense. In the late-night or early-morning hours of March 18 and 19, 2007, then-thirteen-year-old Victim was at home with Defendant; her mother; her cousin, W.W.; and a friend, J.F. Victim was in the back room of the home watching television with W.W. and J.F. Defendant came into the room and asked Victim, "[A]re you ready to get done with my hair[?]" When Victim responded that she had a stomachache, Defendant replied, "I'm going to be up in here in five minutes, and if you ain't up, I'm going to come back in there." Defendant left the room and returned a few minutes later. At that time, Defendant appeared angry and yelled at Victim, telling her, "[Y]ou need to get up and do my hair, you ain't too young to die." Defendant then once again left the room.

When he returned a short time later, Defendant was holding a long knife with a brown handle. Defendant approached Victim, swinging the knife at her face, and yelled, "[Y]ou need to get up and do my hair, right now." Victim felt threatened by Defendant, and was afraid that Defendant was going to cut or stab her; J.F. was also frightened. After approximately five minutes, Defendant again left the room; shortly thereafter, both Victim and J.F. heard what sounded like Defendant throwing the knife into the sink.

At that point, Victim went around the house looking for her mother. After Victim told her mother what had happened, her mother went looking for Defendant. Victim returned to the back room, where W.W. and J.F. still sat watching television. Victim could hear her mother and Defendant arguing elsewhere inside the house, and she heard Defendant yell, "[S]he ain't too young to die." Victim then went to see if her mother was still with Defendant and, when she was not, Victim exited the house through the front door, with Defendant following her. She went around the house to the back door and grabbed the cordless phone, but it did not work. Victim then once again went outside, this time running down the street to a gas station where she used an outdoor payphone to dial 911.

Officers Phillip Caldwell and Al Fisher of the Kennett Police Department responded to Victim's call and met her at the gas station. They found Victim to be "shaken up" and scared. After Victim described what had happened, the officers accompanied Victim back to her home. The officers conducted a cursory search of the inside of the home and discovered a long knife with a brown handle in the kitchen sink. Victim identified it as the same knife Defendant had used to threaten her. After taking statements from the other individuals present during the confrontation, the officers arrested Defendant.

Defendant was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, pursuant to section 571.030. The charge included an allegation that Defendant was a prior and persistent offender, pursuant to section 558.016, RSMo Cum.Supp.2005. Before the start of trial, the State presented evidence of two of Defendant's prior felony convictions for burglary, and the trial court found Defendant to be a prior and persistent offender.

Also before trial, Defendant presented a number of motions in limine; only those relevant to this appeal are discussed here. Defendant challenged the use of two photographs as State's evidence. The first photograph shows the brown-handled knife found by the officers in Defendant's kitchen sink on the night of the confrontation next to a ruler with the "D.A.R.E." logo and slogan on it. The slogan reads, "TO RESIST DRUGS AND VIOLENCE." Defendant argued that the ruler—and in particular, the "D.A.R.E." slogan—improperly injected the idea of violence into the proceedings, and invoked an association with police activity. The trial court overruled the motion, finding that the probative value of demonstrating the length of the knife "would far outweigh any prejudicial impact" that might result from the words on the ruler. The trial court also noted that police activity was already part of the case because officers would be testifying. The second photograph shows Defendant on the night of his arrest, dressed in a striped jail uniform and standing in front of a height chart. Defendant contended that the photograph was unnecessary, as the only relevant physical part of Defendant was his hair, which could be described by witnesses without showing Defendant wearing "jail stripes." The trial court also overruled this motion.

Just before the jury panel was called into the courtroom to begin voir dire, Defendant objected to the manner in which he was brought into the courtroom before the start of proceedings. Although Defendant was not handcuffed during the actual proceedings, he was in handcuffs while being transported to the courtroom. Defendant contended that while handcuffed in the hallway outside of the courtroom, he was led past a potential juror. Defendant claimed that his appearance in handcuffs outside the courtroom "possibly inflamed the jury against [him.]" The trial court overruled his objection, stating that,

[A]s far as this one incident, he was not in shackles, he was ... not in bellybands or leg irons. He did have a set of handcuffs, he was well[-] dressed in trousers ... a dress shirt, tie, a long blazer, and, I, I don't believe that this is an issue that calls for the [trial] [c]ourt to order a mistrial at this time.

The trial court admonished both the bailiff and the sheriff to make sure Defendant was not in handcuffs while in the potential view of the jury again.

Following a brief jury trial, Defendant was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon. Defendant resurrected each of the motions in limine discussed supra, as well as his objection to the use of handcuffs, in his motion for new trial. At a hearing on that motion, the State elicited testimony from the bailiff, Joe Brumley. Brumley testified that it is the policy of the sheriff to handcuff all inmates during transport from the jail and to remove the handcuffs once an individual is inside the courtroom. Brumley further stated that when Defendant was being led through the courthouse and into the courtroom, he was restrained by only a pair of thin, black handcuffs. Defendant was clad in a dark suit jacket, which "basically covered" the handcuffs. Defendant's hands were in front of his body and were clasped together. Brumley testified that he would "have [had] to look close to see" Defendant's handcuffs, and that he was unsure if the handcuffs were visible at all. The trial court then noted that at all relevant times when Defendant was in handcuffs, the jury had not yet been selected and seated, and all potential jurors were outside of the courtroom.

Although the trial court acknowledged that the sheriff's policy of leaving handcuffs on prisoners while inside the courthouse was a "cause for concern" for the trial court, it overruled Defendant's motion on that point. The trial court noted that any potential jury exposure "was very minimum, if any[,]" lasting at most five to ten seconds. It also emphasized that "there may have ... been the possibility that the jurors may not have even realized that [Defendant] was restrained when he was brought up to the courtroom." Finally, the trial court referenced each juror's statement during voir dire that he or she could give Defendant "a fair trial based on the evidence given" and on the jury instructions.

Defendant rested on his motion for his remaining points, all of which were ultimately overruled by the trial court. In its ruling, the trial court mentioned only one other point specifically, that challenging the admission of the photograph showing the knife next to the "D.A.R.E." ruler. It noted that it did not find the picture prejudicial to Defendant and that it did not find the use of either the ruler or the picture to have been "in bad faith." The trial court then proceeded to sentence Defendant. After citing Defendant's thirteen prior felony convictions—implicitly referencing the prior ruling finding Defendant to be a prior and persistent offender—the trial court sentenced him to six years' imprisonment. This appeal followed.

Discussion

Defendant presents three points for our review. We address them in the order presented.

No Error in Overruling Objection to Possible Juror Exposure to Defendant's Handcuffs

Defendant first claims that the trial court erred in overruling his objection to the manner in which he was brought into the courtroom. Defendant argues that "the restraints implied to the jury that he was a...