State v. Taylor

Citation602 S.W.2d 820
Decision Date08 July 1980
Docket NumberNo. WD,WD
PartiesSTATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Raymond Lee TAYLOR, Appellant. 30808.
CourtCourt of Appeal of Missouri (US)

Kenneth D. Kyser, Moberly, for appellant.

John Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, Darrell Panethiere, Asst. Atty. Gen., Kansas City, for respondent.

Before WASSERSTROM, C. J., Presiding, and PRITCHARD and KENNEDY, JJ.

PRITCHARD, Judge.

Charged as a second offender, appellant was convicted of the commission of the crime of murder in the second degree by the verdict of a jury. The court sentenced him to 40 years imprisonment in the Division of Corrections.

Appellant's first point is that the trial court erred in refusing to sustain his motions for judgment of acquittal because the state failed to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Appellant and the victim, Fred Lee Shaw, were inmates of the Missouri Training Center for Men in Moberly, Missouri, in June, 1978. At about 10:10 p. m., on June 25, 1978, Shaw was stabbed several times by appellant when Shaw was walking along a bottom walk of a dormitory enroute to his cell from the shower. He was then clothed only in a towel, and according to guard Morris Guerin, who witnessed the incident, appellant had a shiny object in his hand and was striking Shaw in the chest area. Guerin testified also that appellant hit Shaw in the stomach area twice as he was going down. Shaw was going down on the floor and as Guerin got there, he yelled to appellant to move away and he did. Sergeant Dodd yelled "drop the knife" and appellant did so. The knife was admitted into evidence. Guerin turned his attention to Shaw, who was lying on the floor, and noticed that he had a cut above his heart, the upper part of his chest, and he had blood on his left arm and a lot of blood around his stomach. Shaw was taken to the Training Center Hospital where he was treated by Dr. W. H. McCormick, who saw that he was unconscious and had received stab wounds in the left chest, abdomen, and on the left hand. Shaw was taken to the University of Missouri Medical Center in Columbia where he died at about 12:15 p. m., the next day. There was medical testimony that the cause of death was cardiac arrest due to or as a consequence of multiple stab wounds in the right arterial laceration.

There was other eyewitness testimony that appellant attacked Shaw who did not try to fight back, who was unarmed, and who was merely trying to protect himself from appellant's blows.

Appellant claimed the justification of self-defense for the slaying. An instruction was given on that subject. Appellant testified that he feared sexual attack or other physical harm from Shaw or other black inmates. There was one prior confrontation between appellant and Shaw two days before the stabbing, in which, according to appellant, Shaw had threatened to blind him with a razor blade if he would not grant him sexual favors. On the night of the stabbing Shaw came out of the shower, dried off in front of it, and on seeing appellant in the hallway said, "Hey, big guy, come here and give me some", meaning sexual favors. Appellant then decided that upon Shaw's saying that and because of other threats he had made, there was no alternative but to attack. Shaw walked to a point almost directly across from appellant who walked across the wing and stabbed him.

It is doubtful that appellant was even entitled to the given instruction on self-defense as the four elements essential thereto are lacking in the evidence under State v. Jackson, 522 S.W.2d 317, 319(3) (Mo.App. 1975): (1) An absence of aggression or provocation on the part of the slayer; (2) the presence of real or apparently real necessity to kill in order to save oneself; (3) reasonable cause must exist for belief in such necessity; and (4) the slayer must have done everything in his power consistent with his own safety to avoid the danger and avert the necessity, and he must retreat, if retreat be practicable. (Case citations omitted.) In the Jackson case, supra, page 319(1, 2), it is said further, "Only when all the evidence is undisputed and clear should a court dispose of a murder or manslaughter charge by acquittal without tendering the issue of self-defense to the jury. (Citing case.) Rarely, then, is self-defense declared by law so as to bar the submission of the homicide offense altogether." Apparently, in citing only § 559.040, RSMo 1969, appellant is contending that his claim of self-defense was established as a matter of law and thus the state made no submissible case, but under the evidence recited above, and the Jackson case, supra, that simply is not true. The other elements of the offense under § 559.020, RSMo 1969 (now § 565.004, RSMo 1978), are clearly established. See State v. Cook, 560 S.W.2d 299, 305(10) (Mo.App. 1977). Point I is overruled.

During the voir dire examination, the state's attorney asked if there was anyone who had any kind of family or business problem which would cause undue hardship by reason of serving on the case "for however long it takes." One of the panel members, Lorraine McCully, responded that she did not realize the type of case, her supervisor was leaving town, and there was a company policy that when he was gone, she was to be there. Appellant challenged her for cause and it was...

To continue reading

Request your trial
6 cases
  • State v. Ealy
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • October 27, 1981
    ...in order to challenge on appeal the action of the trial court in overruling his challenge for cause. Id. at 447; State v. Taylor, 602 S.W.2d 820, 822 (Mo.App.1980); State v. Watson, 595 S.W.2d 754, 756 (Mo.App.1980). In so holding, the court in Morrison reiterated the well-settled principle......
  • State v. Gilbert
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • August 23, 1982
    ...When the issue of punishment is taken from the jury and vested in the court by statute, the jury is no longer involved. State v. Taylor, 602 S.W.2d 820, 823 (Mo.App.1980). The applicable legal principles relating to punishment are not necessary for the jury's guidance in returning a verdict......
  • State v. Kennedy, 19124
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • March 22, 1995
    ...State v. Bowman, 869 S.W.2d 901, 903 (Mo.App.W.D.1994); State v. Toland, 708 S.W.2d 293, 294-295 (Mo.App.E.D.1986); State v. Taylor, 602 S.W.2d 820, 822 (Mo.App.W.D.1980). In State v. Bowman, it was held that the defendant was not entitled to a self-defense instruction where he was no longe......
  • State v. Bullock, 12648
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • July 12, 1983
    ...The evidence does not establish self-defense as a matter of law. State v. Grier, 609 S.W.2d 201 (Mo.App.1980); State v. Taylor, 602 S.W.2d 820 (Mo.App.1980). It does support the conviction for conventional second degree murder. State v. Ward, supra; State v. Gillam, 588 S.W.2d 13 (Mo.App.19......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT