State v. Watkins
| Decision Date | 14 November 2022 |
| Docket Number | A21-0284 |
| Parties | State of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Randall Jermaine Watkins, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Court of Appeals |
This opinion is nonprecedential except as provided by Minn. R Civ. App. P. 136.01, subd. 1(c).
Hennepin County District Court File No. 27-CR-19-29686
Keith Ellison, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, Peter R. Marker Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, Minnesota (for respondent)
Cathryn Middlebrook, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Davi E. Axelson, Assistant Public Defender, St. Paul, Minnesota (for appellant)
Considered and decided by Gaïtas, Presiding Judge; Worke, Judge; and Jesson, Judge.
Appellant Randall Watkins appeals his convictions, following a jury trial, for second-degree intentional murder and unlawful gun possession. Watkins argues that his trial counsel violated his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel by failing to ask him on direct examination whether he intended to kill the victim. He also contends for the first time on appeal that the district court erred when it gave the jury a justifiable-taking-of-life instruction for an intentional killing because his defense was that he unintentionally killed the victim in self-defense. Watkins also raises multiple issues in a pro se supplemental brief. We conclude that (1) Watkins's ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim fails because he cannot show that trial counsel's mistake was prejudicial, (2) the district court's justifiable-taking-of-life instruction was plain error but did not affect Watkins's substantial rights, and (3) the issues raised in Watkins's pro se supplemental brief do not warrant a new trial. We therefore affirm Watkins's convictions.
On Thanksgiving Day in 2019, Watkins shot and killed R.G., his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child. He was charged with second-degree intentional murder, Minn. Stat. § 609.19, subd. 1(1) (2018), second-degree unintentional murder, Minn. Stat. § 609.19, subd. 2(1) (2018), and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, Minn Stat. § 624.713, subd. 1(2) (2018). During his jury trial, Watkins argued that he acted in self-defense and did not intend to kill R.G. when he shot her. The jury found him guilty of all counts, and the district court sentenced him to 480 months in prison.
Watkins filed a direct appeal but then stayed the appeal to raise a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in a postconviction proceeding in the district court. He now challenges the district court's rejection of his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel-claim and the district court's self-defense jury instructions, and he raises additional issues in a pro se supplemental brief.
Watkins and R.G. were in a romantic relationship for approximately three years, which ended about a month before Watkins killed R.G. They had a daughter, who was two years old and present during the shooting.
At trial, respondent State of Minnesota presented evidence through the testimony of R.G.'s mother, father, and friend that Watkins had physically abused R.G. multiple times during their relationship. Watkins was never convicted of any crimes related to the alleged physical abuse of R.G.
While they did not live together at any point in their relationship, R.G. kept some of her belongings at Watkins's Minneapolis home. During the afternoon on Thanksgiving, R.G. went there to retrieve her clothing. She was unsuccessful, and there was a confrontation during which R.G. allegedly struck Watkins's car with her own car and then followed him. Watkins called 911 during this incident.
Responding to the 911 call, Officer Partyka arrived at Watkins's house around 5:00 p.m. The officer testified that R.G. was "frustrated" but "calm." Officer Partyka offered to accompany R.G. into Watkins's house so she could retrieve her clothes, but Watkins rejected this idea. The officer then suggested that the parties pick a specific date and time for R.G. to pick up her clothes. Watkins again refused. Eventually, R.G. returned to her parents' house.
Around 9:00 p.m., R.G. told her parents she would be "right back," and she returned to Watkins's house with their toddler to get her belongings. Before she left her parents' home, she told her friend that she was going to "box it out" with Watkins.
At 9:37 p.m., Watkins and R.G. both called 911 from Watkins's house. R.G. told the 911 operator that Watkins would not let her take her clothes and would not let her leave. When asked if there were weapons in the house, R.G. said she believed Watkins had a gun and a knife. During R.G.'s phone call, Watkins was audibly yelling in the background while making his own 911 call. Officers responded to these 911 calls, but no one answered Watkins's door, and officers did not see any lights on inside or hear any noise.
At 10:08 p.m., R.G. called her father. She told him that Watkins would not let her leave. Simultaneously, Watkins made another 911 call. During this call he repeatedly told the operator that R.G. had punched him in the face. He also stated that R.G. had kicked him twice. On the audio recording of the 911 call that was played for the jury, Watkins yelled at R.G. that she was "not taking nothing out here," and R.G. responded, "if you would just let me leave, I don't want to stay here."
Watkins then reported to the 911 operator that R.G. had a knife and had "stabbed him." While the 911 call continued, Watkins told R.G. to "move outta my way," and there was a single gunshot. Watkins told the 911 operator that R.G. had been shot, and the operator transferred Watkins to an emergency medical services dispatcher for instructions on how to begin CPR.
Officer Partyka responded to the shooting. While Officer Partyka waited for other officers to arrive, Watkins exited the house with his hands up and asked for help. Watkins was arrested. A gun, which was later determined to be a .357 revolver loaded with hollow- point bullets,[1] was found in his back pocket. Watkins did not appear to be injured. Photos of Watkins taken after his arrest show that, apart from a small cut on the inside of his upper lip, he was unharmed. Watkins had no visible bruising or swelling on his face, and there were no stab wounds anywhere on his body.
Officer Partyka entered the house and found the toddler crying in the front room. R.G. was lying on the floor, unresponsive, between the kitchen and dining room. After repositioning her so he could administer aid, Officer Partyka saw blood, detected a faint pulse, and began CPR. Another officer pointed out a knife on the floor, which Officer Partyka later collected as evidence. R.G. was taken to North Memorial Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
R.G.'s cause of death was a gunshot wound, and her death was deemed a homicide. According to the medical examiner, the bullet struck R.G. "on the left side of the back." It traveled from "back to front, left to right, and slightly downward," but the medical examiner was unable to determine exactly how R.G. was standing when she was shot. The medical examiner also noted that there were no injuries to R.G.'s hands.
Forensic testing of R.G.'s jacket revealed that the distance between R.G. and the muzzle of the revolver when it was fired was between 5 and 30 inches, a fact that Watkins acknowledged during his trial testimony. The major male DNA profile found on a swab from the revolver used to shoot R.G. matched Watkins and not R.G. Three other minor DNA profiles were found on the swab from the gun, but none of those could be developed. R.G. could not be excluded as a source of a minor profile.
The knife found next to R.G.'s body was also submitted for forensic testing. Watkins's DNA was on a swab from the knife. Two other minor DNA profiles were found on the swab from the knife. The analyst could not develop the minor profiles and therefore could not exclude R.G. as a source.
At trial, Watkins waived his privilege against self-incrimination and testified on his own behalf. He contested the state's characterization of his relationship with R.G., denying that he physically abused her. Instead, he claimed that R.G. was assaultive. He testified that R.G. stabbed him with a comb, admitted to a conviction for pulling a knife on security officers, and acknowledged stabbing all her previous boyfriends.[2]
Watkins also introduced a cell-phone video of an incident that occurred in 2019, which allegedly showed R.G. punching him. On cross-examination, Watkins admitted that the incident started when he pushed the ignition button of R.G.'s car while she was driving on the highway, forcing her to pull off the road.
According to Watkins, in the week leading up to the shooting, R.G stayed overnight with him a few times but did not take her clothes when she left. R.G.'s ex-boyfriend testified on rebuttal that R.G. stayed with him those nights.
To explain the conflict that Watkins and R.G. had earlier in the day before the shooting, Watkins introduced a video that he made while driving his car. In the video, he states that R.G. is following him. He admitted during his testimony that he refused to allow R.G. to retrieve her clothes, even after Officer Partyka responded and offered to escort R.G. into the house. Watkins explained that he wanted to return to his family for Thanksgiving and he was tired of R.G.'s attitude and harassment. He offered to allow R.G. to retrieve her clothes the next day.
When R.G. returned later that night to get her belongings, Watkins said she kicked him in the face as he bent down to greet his daughter and stated, "I'm in this bitch now, and I ain't going nowhere." After R.G....
To continue reading
Request your trial