State v. Todd
Decision Date | 22 January 2002 |
Docket Number | No. WD 58855.,WD 58855. |
Citation | 70 S.W.3d 509 |
Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. David A. TODD, Appellant. |
Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Ellen H. Flottman, Asst. Public Defender, Columbia, for appellant.
Philip M. Koppe, Asst. Atty. Gen., Kansas City, for respondent.
Before: NEWTON, P.J., LOWENSTEIN and SMART, JJ.
Appellant, David A. Todd, appeals from his conviction and sentence of a total of twenty-one years for four counts of possession of ephedrine with intent to manufacture, § 195.246,1 seven counts of creation of a controlled substance, § 195.420, five counts of the unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, § 195.233, and five counts of the attempt to manufacture methamphetamine, § 195.211. The judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part.
In the summer of 1999, Mark A. Morgan (Morgan), a Pettis County deputy sheriff, was working as an undercover narcotics officer in Sedalia, Missouri. Morgan got a job at Rival Manufacturing in Sedalia and began socializing with fellow employees after work, mainly at Ed Nowell's (Nowell's) house. In July of 1999, Morgan met the appellant, Todd, for the first time at Nowell's house when Todd showed up there and announced he wanted to "do a cook." Approximately a month later when Morgan went to Nowell's house, Todd, Nowell and David L. Paxton (L.Paxton) were there, the house was full of smoke and it smelled like chemicals. Morgan saw Todd take some glass jars containing a liquid out to an older model tan or yellow van. Todd announced that he was "going to finish it."
Morgan also met a woman named Andrea while working at Rival. In August of 1999, when Morgan and Andrea were at Nowell's house, Andrea stated that she wanted some "speed" and Nowell suggested that she ask Todd for some. Morgan drove Andrea to Todd's house. When Andrea asked Todd if he had any speed, he said he did not and suggested that she try back later.
On September 7, 1999, Morgan was at Nowell's house when Todd stopped by to get some coffee filters. Approximately two weeks later, on September 23, 1999, Morgan had a conversation with Todd concerning a portable spotlight Todd had with him. Todd told Morgan that he planned to use the spotlight to shine it in the eyes of law enforcement if they were pursuing him so that he could throw things out the window of his vehicle.
On October 3, 1999, Morgan was at Nowell's house when Todd arrived carrying a couple bottles of pills. Todd asked if either Nowell or Morgan had any lithium batteries. Morgan gave him the battery from his flashlight in exchange for $11. Todd peeled the outer casings of the battery off with a pair of pliers. He then crushed the pills with a car antenna, put the powder in a bottle, and placed the bottle in his van. When he returned to Nowell's house he was carrying candy jars under his coat. He took the jars to a back bedroom and asked Nowell and Morgan to go buy him some kerosene and more pills. Morgan drove Nowell to a Conoco gas station where Nowell obtained a can of kerosene and one bottle of pills. When they returned to Nowell's house, Nowell took the kerosene and bottle of pills to Todd. When Todd came out of the bedroom he was carrying some jars and coffee filters. He shook a white substance off of the coffee filters onto a mirror, and then chopped it up into a powder with Morgan's driver's license. Todd divided the powder giving half to himself and half to Nowell.
This sequence of events gave rise to Todd's charges for Counts I through IV. Count I, possession of pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine § 195.246; Count II, creation of a controlled substance by possessing lithium with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, § 195.420; Count III, unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, by possessing pliers, a car antennae, and coffee filters with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, § 195.233; and Count IV, attempt to manufacture methamphetamine, § 195.211.
On October 7, 1999, Morgan was at Nowell's house when a dark green Lincoln Navigator, driven by someone named "Ricky," pulled in front of the house. Todd, his girlfriend LaCrista Neel (Neel), and L. Paxton all got out of the vehicle. Todd had two cans of Toluene that he put in L. Paxton's blue four-door Chevrolet Impala.
On the following evening, October 8, 1999, two Pettis County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the Longwood area in the northeast part of Pettis County to investigate reports of suspicious activity at a trailer. It was dark when they arrived. They observed a Chevrolet Caprice parked on one side of the trailer. David W. Paxton (W.Paxton) and L. Paxton, were standing on each side of the car. When the deputies announced themselves, they heard a vehicle start. A white van drove around the north end of the trailer.
William J. Connor (Deputy Connor), also a Pettis County sheriff's deputy, received a radio dispatch containing a description and license plate number of the van. Deputy Connor was parked at an intersection and was looking at a map when a van drove by. Deputy Connor began following the van and noticed flashes of light coming from the driver's side. He then activated the lights and siren on his car. The van speeded up and continued to shine the spotlight towards Deputy Connor's vehicle. While following the van, Deputy Connor observed what appeared to be two-gallon jugs or cans being thrown from the van. Deputy Connor's car struck one of the jugs or cans.
After pursuing the van for several miles, it finally stopped when it got stuck in mud. A man and a woman got out of the van and ran. Deputy Connor captured Neel in the woods not far from the van and ordered Todd, who was hiding in the woods, to surrender. Deputy Connor went back to where the two cans or jugs were tossed out of the van and recovered two cans of Toluene.
The Paxton vehicle that was parked next to the trailer was towed and searched. Deputies found coffee filters containing pills in the glove compartment and a receipt from Dugan Paint for Toluene. Inside the trailer the deputies found a tank of anhydrous ammonia, a "For Sale" sign for the white van, coffee filters, a smoker, an empty pseudoephedrine pill bottle, a modified fire extinguisher, a fifty-five gallon drum that had been cut in half, and a pressurized silver container.
Based on this incident, Todd was charged with Counts V through VII: Count V, creation of a controlled substance, by possessing anhydrous ammonia with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, § 195.420; Count VI, attempt to manufacture methamphetamine, § 195.211; and Count VII, unlawful use of drug paraphernalia by possessing coffee filters, anhydrous ammonia, plastic containers and spoons with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, § 195.233.
Morgan was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon by officers who did not know that he was an undercover deputy. Morgan used the arrest to tell Todd that he need to make some fast money to get out of town. Morgan asked Todd what $1,500 "would get him," meaning that he wanted to purchase methamphetamine. Todd told Morgan that he would have to "participate," because he believed that would preclude Morgan from setting him up.
On November 19, 1999, Morgan and Todd went to the Conoco station to purchase pseudoephedrine. Conoco only allowed customers to buy two bottles at a time, so they each purchased two bottles and went back on November 20 and each bought two more. With a total of eight bottles, they had enough to make an ounce of methamphetamine.
At approximately 4:30 a.m. on November 22, 1999, Todd, Morgan, Karen Dixon (Dixon), W. Paxton, and Neel were in Todd's garage when they decided to try and get some anhydrous ammonia. They were unsuccessful. Later that morning, W. Paxton told Todd that he and two of his friends had made a plan to get some anhydrous ammonia and that Todd should get set up for it. Morgan helped Todd find pipes, fittings and parts from a fire extinguisher that W. Paxton could used to tap off the anhydrous ammonia tank. They attached the fittings and a hose from a fire extinguisher to an orange Igloo cooler, in which they planned to store the anhydrous ammonia. Todd put the cooler into the trunk of W. Paxton's car, and Paxton and his companions left.
Two Pettis County sheriff's deputies stopped W. Paxton's car after they determined that the vehicle's license plate was registered to a different car. Before W. Paxton's vehicle stopped, someone threw something out of the right front passenger window. The deputies later recovered a pill bottle that was half full of white crushed powder. They also found another pill bottle that was wrapped in black electrical tape and contained lithium batteries and some crushed pills. Inside the trunk of the car the deputies found a mason jar, a cooler, and some hoses.
Morgan and L. Paxton, were in Todd's garage listening to a police scanner when they learned that the other men had been stopped. They went inside and told Todd. Todd and a man named Danny Lloyd (Lloyd) told Morgan that he should act as a decoy to any other police who came by so that Todd, Lloyd and Neel could leave Todd's house to obtain some anhydrous ammonia. Morgan did as Lloyd said, and was pursued by all the cars patrolling in the area. Morgan went back to Todd's house, and when Todd and the others returned, Todd told Morgan that they had gotten some anhydrous ammonia. Todd took a white bucket out of the back of Lloyd's car and put it in the back of his white pickup truck. Todd told Morgan that he needed to go put the anhydrous ammonia in a container before it evaporated, and asked Morgan to go purchase four lithium...
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