State v. Townsend
| Decision Date | 19 April 2022 |
| Docket Number | ED 109061 |
| Citation | 649 S.W.3d 72 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Carl Justin TOWNSEND, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
FOR APPELLANT: Michael A. Gross, 6350 Clayton Road, No. 306, St. Louis, Missouri 63105.
FOR RESPONDENT: Richard A. Starnes, Eric Schmitt, P.O. Box 899, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102.
Defendant Carl Justin Townsend appeals his convictions for first-degree assault, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm resulting in a 26-year sentence following a jury trial in which Townsend claimed self-defense. This case arose from a July 23, 2018, incident in which Townsend shot and wounded Ricky Koenen, the son of one of Townsend's tenants on property Townsend owned in rural St. Charles County. Ricky Koenen's mother Suzanne Koenen and Townsend's other tenant, Rick Shuttleworth, had agreed to vacate the property that day in exchange for Townsend waiving the last 90 days of rent payment. Before the shooting, Townsend and Suzanne Koenen had engaged in a verbal altercation and Townsend and Ricky Koenen had engaged in a verbal and physical altercation.
Townsend brings multiple points of error. We reverse and remand for a new trial because we find the trial court plainly erred in two respects each of which substantially compromised Townsend's ability to fully assert his defense of self-defense. First, the trial court plainly erred by excluding Townsend's testimony that an hour before the shooting the victim's mother, Suzanne Koenen, threatened Townsend that her son Ricky Koenen was going to come to the scene and "blow your fuckin’ head off, you no good nigger" and that Townsend was "nothing but a no good nigger." Second, the court plainly erred by allowing lay witness Lisa Poe to testify to Missouri's specific legal requirements to carry out an eviction when the undisputed record in this case was that this was not an eviction but an agreed-upon departure of the premises in exchange for waived rent payments. By allowing this testimony, the trial court permitted the State to improperly and without foundation insert the issue into this case that Townsend was unlawfully on the property and therefore had a duty to retreat from his confrontation with Ricky Koenen.
Our holding as to these related issues, which disposes of four of Townsend's seven points relied on, renders moot Townsend's remaining three points though we briefly address the issues raised in those points since they may recur upon retrial.1
Townsend and his wife owned a 7-acre lot in rural St. Charles County. In April 2018, Leo Kruse deeded to Townsend the adjacent lot where Rick Shuttleworth resided as a tenant and Suzanne Koenen resided in a nearby mobile home and reportedly served as Mr. Shuttleworth's caretaker. On the day Townsend assumed ownership of the property, he and Shuttleworth agreed that in exchange for Townsend waiving Shuttleworth's obligation to pay rent for 90 days, Shuttleworth and Ms. Koenen would voluntarily vacate the premises on July 23, 2018.
When Townsend arrived to the property on the afternoon of July 23, 2018, he observed that Shuttleworth and Ms. Koenen were in the process of packing their effects to vacate the property. During Townsend's initial encounter with Suzanne Koenen that day, she became upset and began profanity-laced verbal attacks on Townsend which, according to Townsend, included the threat that "my son is going to come here and blow your fuckin’ head off, you no-good nigger" and "you are nothing but a no-good nigger." Townsend left the property and returned to his own house nearby.
Approximately an hour later, Shuttleworth asked Townsend to come back to the property to unlock a shed so Shuttleworth could retrieve his lawnmower.
Townsend's wife, who was aware of the previous exchange between Townsend and Suzanne Koenen, recommended that Townsend take a firearm with him and he did so. When Townsend returned to the property to unlock the shed, Suzanne Koenen's son Ricky Koenen had arrived to help his mother complete her move-out, He was also armed with a pistol.
When Townsend observed Ricky Koenen throwing onto the ground large quantities of trash from a trailer Koenen owned that was parked on the property, Koenen and Townsend exchanged words regarding the trash. At that point, Suzanne Koenen renewed her verbal attacks on Townsend including "you're a dead nigger," to which Townsend responded, "shut the fuck up and leave."
Ricky Koenen testified that he brought his handgun with him from home to protect himself. He stated that when Townsend came to unlock the shed, Townsend had his gun drawn and was pointing it at Koenen ordering him to pick up the trash. Townsend claimed that when he approached, his gun was lodged in his back waistband. Then, after Townsend told Suzanne Koenen to "shut the fuck up and leave," Ricky Koenen jumped down from the trailer to a position directly in front of Townsend and told Townsend, "don't talk to my fuckin’ mother like that." Koenen testified that Townsend then swung his right arm to hit Koenen but missed. Townsend, for his part, claimed he swung his fist at Koenen only after Koenen had pushed him. Koenen stated that at that point he no longer saw Townsend's gun in either hand and that he put Townsend in a choke hold around his neck for 5-6 seconds. While the two struggled on the ground, Koenen then noticed the gun in Townsend's hand again. At that point, Koenen released his hold on Townsend and said he tried to run or back away when Townsend shot him wounding him in his right arm and buttocks.
Townsend claimed that after he managed to draw his weapon from his back waistband while the two struggled on the ground, Koenen released his hold and scampered away, and that after Koenen separated himself by several yards, he rose to his feet, drew his weapon, cocked it, and pointed it at Townsend, At that point, Townsend fired his gun multiple times.
Townsend was charged as a prior and persistent offender2 with one count each of first-degree assault, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm. After a three-day jury trial beginning on February 4, 2020, in the Circuit Court of St. Charles County, Townsend was found guilty on all counts. The court sentenced him on July 14, 2020, to 26 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. Townsend's motion for new trial was denied and this appeal follows.
On appeal from a jury-tried case, we view the facts in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict. State v. Rice , 504 S.W.3d 198, 200 n.3 (Mo. App. W.D. 2016). "We review trial court decisions regarding the admission or exclusion of evidence for abuse of discretion" that results in prejudice to the defendant. State v. White , 835 S.W.2d 942, 947 (Mo. App. E.D. 1992). A trial court abuses its discretion when its ruling is "clearly against the logic of the circumstances and is so arbitrary and unreasonable as to shock the sense of justice and indicate a lack of careful consideration." Id. "To succeed on appeal, an appellant must also show that the trial court's abuse of discretion was ‘so prejudicial that it deprived the defendant of a fair trial.’ " State v. Culpepper , 505 S.W.3d 819, 828 (Mo. App. S.D. 2016).
Under certain circumstances, we may review unpreserved errors under our plain error standard of review. See State v. Speed , 551 S.W.3d 94, 97 (Mo. App. W.D. 2018) (citing State v. Clay , 533 S.W.3d 710, 718 (Mo. banc 2017) ); Rule 30.20.3 Rule 30.20 states in relevant part that "[w]hether briefed or not, plain errors affecting substantial rights may be considered in the discretion of the court when the court finds that manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice has resulted therefrom." See Speed , 551 S.W.3d at 98 (citing State v. Taylor , 466 S.W.3d 521, 533 (Mo. banc 2015) ).
Plain error review is a two-step process. State v. Baumruk , 280 S.W.3d 600, 607 (Mo. banc 2009). First, we must determine whether the claim of error "facially establishes substantial grounds for believing that ‘manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice has resulted.’ " Baumruk , 280 S.W.3d at 607 (quoting State v. Brown , 902 S.W.2d 278, 284 (Mo. banc 1995) ); State v. McKay , 459 S.W.3d 450, 455-56 (Mo. App. E.D. 2014) ; Rule 30.20. Not every prejudicial error, however, constitutes plain error, as plain errors are "evident, obvious, and clear." Id. If the claim of plain error facially establishes grounds for believing that manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice resulted, we may elect to exercise our discretion and proceed to the second step to consider whether or not a miscarriage of justice or manifest injustice will occur if the error is left uncorrected. Id. ; State v. Smith , 370 S.W.3d 891, 894 (Mo. App. E.D. 2012).
In State v. Nolan , the Missouri Supreme Court recognized that the meaning of the term "manifest injustice" is difficult to articulate, stating:
[T]he cases give the distinct impression that "plain error" is a concept appellate courts find impossible to define, save they know it when they see it. Whether an appellate court should take notice of an error not raised below must be made on the facts of the particular case, and there are no hard and fast classifications in either the application of the principle or the use of a descriptive.
872 S.W.2d 99, 103 (Mo. banc 1994) (overruled on other grounds by Deck v. State , 68 S.W.3d 418, 427 (Mo. banc 2002) ).
Townsend's first three points address the trial court's exclusion on hearsay and relevancy grounds his testimony that approximately one hour before the shooting, Suzanne Koenen threatened him that her son Ricky Koenen was going to come to the property and "blow your fuckin’ head off, you no good...
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