State v. Taylor
| Decision Date | 26 August 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. A14–0942.,A14–0942. |
| Citation | 869 N.W.2d 1 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Kemen Lavatos TAYLOR, II, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Lori Swanson, Attorney General, Saint Paul, MN, and Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, Jean E. Burdorf, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, MN, for respondent.
Kemen Lavatos Taylor, II, Stillwater, MN, pro se.
Considered and decided by the court without oral argument.
Kemen Lavatos Taylor, II, was convicted of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder related to the shooting of three teenagers. On direct appeal, he alleges eight errors committed by the trial court. We affirm the convictions.
On October 4, 2012, a grand jury indicted Taylor on two counts of murder related to the shooting death of Rayjon Gomez: first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree murder while committing a drive-by shooting. Taylor was also indicted on attempted first-degree murder charges related to two victims who survived the shooting.
The State's theory of the case at trial was as follows. On the night of August 24, 2011, Taylor drove a group of individuals associated with the Young–N–Thuggin gang (“YNT”) to a certain neighborhood (known as “the lows”) in north Minneapolis in a blue van to look for an individual known as Skitz. Skitz was affiliated with a rival gang and had allegedly shot Taylor's younger brother. Taylor sought to retaliate against Skitz and other members of the rival gang. Besides Taylor, 25 years old at the time, the van's occupants included Derrick Catchings, Donquarius Copeland, M.L., T.B., and Taylor's younger brother, all teenagers. As they drove through the neighborhood, somebody in the van thought he saw Skitz. Taylor drove a little further and parked the van. Catchings and Copeland got out and fired shots at several people in an alley. The shots hit Gomez, age 13, who died at the scene, wounded D.T., and missed D.H. Skitz was not among the victims.
D.T. and D.H. testified that they had been riding bikes in the lows that night with Gomez. While they were in an alley, they heard shots come from behind them. Gomez exclaimed that he had been hit. D.T. was hit in the shoulder by one of the bullets. Neither D.T. nor D.H. saw who fired the shots into the alley. Later that night, Skitz, who was D.T.'s cousin, told D.T. that the shooters were looking for Skitz because he had shot Taylor's brother.
Testifying as part of a plea agreement, Catchings acknowledged that he was a member of YNT and that he had killed Gomez. He testified that, on the afternoon of August 24, 2011, he was at a house known as the “Nest,” where he hung out with T.B., M.L., and Copeland. At some point, the group got into a blue van, driven by Taylor. The van went to Taylor's house to pick up Taylor's younger brother, who associated with people from YNT. Taylor's brother got in the van, and the group talked about how he had been shot by Skitz, who affiliated with an “opposition” gang.1 According to Catchings, Taylor suggested that the group go to the lows to look for Skitz, or if they could not find Skitz, to look for rival gang members. Catchings had a semi-automatic handgun with him, which he showed to the group, including Taylor.
Catchings testified that Taylor drove the van to the lows. As they drove through the lows, M.L. said that he saw Skitz. Taylor drove to the next block and parked. Catchings and Copeland got out to find Skitz. Catchings and Copeland approached an alley and saw people riding bikes, one of whom Catchings thought was Skitz. Catchings handed the gun to Copeland, who shot at the individual. Copeland handed the gun back to Catchings, who fired several more shots. Copeland and Catchings then returned to the van, and Copeland said that he thought he had shot Skitz. Taylor told the group “to keep [it] between the people in the van.” Taylor drove the group back to the Nest, where everybody but Taylor and his brother got out. Catchings hid the gun in the Nest, but it was seized by police several days later during a raid.
Copeland also testified as part of a plea agreement, and his testimony generally mirrored that of Catchings. Copeland testified that the same group of four was hanging out at the Nest on August 24, 2011. Copeland was a member of YNT, and testified that Catchings and M.L. associated with YNT. According to Copeland, a significant amount of fighting between YNT and Skitz's gang had occurred that summer.
Copeland testified that Taylor, his cousin, picked the group up in his blue van and went to Taylor's house to pick up Taylor's brother. The group discussed how Skitz had shot Taylor's brother. Catchings suggested they go to the lows to shoot at members of the rival gang. Taylor responded: “If that's what you all want to do, then that's what you all gonna do,” and drove the group to the lows. Upon arriving, Copeland noticed two individuals from the rival gang. M.L. also said he saw Skitz. Taylor parked the vehicle, Copeland and Catchings got out, and the two ran to an alley. Catchings stopped at the alley because he said he saw Gomez, with whom Catchings had a “beef.” Catchings shot several times at Gomez and the other two victims. He then handed the gun to Copeland, who fired several more shots. Catchings and Copeland returned to the van, and Copeland told the group: “I think I shot somebody.” Taylor replied “[y]ou all didn't pop nobody.” Taylor then drove the group back to the Nest and dropped off Copeland, Catchings, M.L., and T.B.
Both Copeland and Catchings acknowledged that they did not initially implicate Taylor when talking with police. Catchings did not implicate Taylor because he “didn't want to bring nobody else in it.” Copeland was concerned about getting the others in trouble, and believed that only the shooters should get in trouble. Copeland and Catchings agreed to testify against Taylor when they negotiated guilty pleas to second-degree murder.
T.B. also testified for the State, but he was a hostile witness. At the time of trial, T.B. had not been charged with a crime for his participation in the Gomez shooting, and he was not testifying as part of a plea agreement. His version of events generally echoed the testimony of Copeland and Catchings: M.L., T.B., Copeland, and Catchings were hanging out at the Nest. Copeland and Catchings were members of YNT. Taylor picked them up in a van, and eventually drove them to pick up his younger brother. The group talked about how Skitz shot Taylor's brother. Taylor then drove to the lows, where T.B. saw a rival gang member; Taylor drove a little further and parked. Copeland and Catchings jumped out of the van with a gun. T.B. heard some shots; Copeland and Catchings got back in the van, and one of them exclaimed: “I think I got ... Rayjon!” As the group drove away, Copeland and Catchings joked about what had just happened. Taylor reportedly told them to “[s]top talkin' about it, be about it.”
The other two alleged members of the group in the van, M.L. and Taylor's brother, did not testify at trial. The record does not explain why.
Three jailhouse informants testified. The first jailhouse informant, M.P., testified that he and Taylor shared a cell during November 2012. Taylor told M.P. that he was the driver of the vehicle used in the murder of Gomez, and that the group had been looking to retaliate against Skitz. Taylor told M.P. that, before Catchings and Copeland got out of the van to shoot, they advised Taylor's brother that: After the shooting, Taylor told those in the van: “Be quiet, don't say nothin' if we caught.” Generally, M.P. displayed considerable knowledge about the specific facts of the crime, testifying about the gun used and the neighborhood.
The second jailhouse informant, H.P., agreed to testify as part of a plea agreement for an unrelated offense. At trial, he changed his story and claimed that Taylor had not told him anything about the case. A police investigator later testified that H.P. told him that he was “extremely afraid to testify [that day] in court,” and was worried that when he went back to prison “he would be attacked.”
The third jailhouse informant, C.R., testified that he had known Taylor for around 10 years and that Taylor was affiliated with YNT. Taylor told C.R. that he was driving a group to look for members of Skitz's gang to shoot in retaliation for the shooting of somebody that Taylor knew. According to C.R., he decided to testify against Taylor because he was upset that Taylor would use his influence over “juveniles” to have them commit crimes: “He could have prevented it, but he put them in that situation to do what they did.” Taylor apparently could coerce the “juveniles” to be the shooters, because he was a “big homey,” or their superior.2
The district court also admitted two phone calls made by Taylor while in jail. In the first phone call, Taylor called an individual and expressed regret for not posting bail: The individual responded: “They would've came and tried to pick your ass up for that charge.” Then Taylor said: “But I would've been gone.”
In the second phone call, Taylor called his girlfriend and discussed having her call his attorneys. His girlfriend asked: “Alright, and, and I'm just, I was wit' you that day all that shit happened.” Taylor responded: “Tell ‘em yea, any questions they have, tell you (inaudible).” Taylor's girlfriend was not called as a witness by either side.
Taylor took the stand in his defense. He denied that he was in a gang or clique. He also denied any involvement in the shooting of Gomez. He acknowledged that he had previously been convicted of two unrelated felonies: fifth-degree possession of narcotics and possession of a firearm. At the time of the trial, he was in prison for the latter offense.
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