State v. White

• Decision Date: 04 September 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-0919.,02-0919.
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Larry Dean WHITE, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

668 N.W.2d 850

STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Larry Dean WHITE, Appellant.

No. 02-0919.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

September 4, 2003.

Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and David Arthur Adams, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Laura Roan, Scott Brown, and Cristen C. Odell, Assistant Attorneys General, and Brent Symens, County Attorney, for appellee.

STREIT, Justice.

In a bone-chilling ordeal of life-threatening intimidation, Heather Nelson was held at gunpoint by her estranged husband, Larry White, for over three hours. During this time, White forced Nelson to watch a videotape in which White repeatedly threatened Nelson with violence and murder. White did not physically abuse Nelson during the terrorizing event. White appeals his convictions of first-degree burglary and kidnapping. He argues the infliction of mental anguish alone is not sufficient to constitute the "torture" element of first-degree kidnapping. White also contends the district court erred in admitting evidence of a prior assault between him and Nelson. White claims his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to move for a judgment of acquittal based on the lack of evidence to prove White confined Nelson with the specific intent to inflict serious injury and to torture her. Because we find the court properly admitted the prior acts evidence, mental anguish alone is sufficient to constitute "torture" for first-degree kidnapping, and there is substantial evidence in the record to support White's convictions, we affirm.

I. Background and Facts

Larry White and Heather Nelson separated after nine years of marriage. In September 2001, two days after Nelson moved out, White went to Nelson's home and the two fought.¹ White slammed Nelson's head into the side of the house. Later that day on the telephone, White threatened to get a gun and shoot Nelson.

One month later on October 20, 2001, during the early morning hours, White broke into Nelson's home while she was gone. He brought with him a camcorder, a package of videotapes, a shotgun, and shells. White set up the camera in Nelson's bedroom and videotaped himself for two-and-a-half hours. The State accurately characterized the contents of the tapes as a "repetitive litany of self-pity, obsession, and homicidal ideation directed toward his wife and her male friends." After Nelson came home around 8:00 a.m., White forced her into the upstairs bedroom. While the video camera was still recording, White threatened to shoot off Nelson's knee. He ordered her into a chair and questioned her about her sexual activities since their separation. Nelson screamed and pleaded for her life. White turned the tape off and forced Nelson downstairs to view the videotapes in their entirety. As Nelson watched, White pointed the gun at her. Nelson admitted their marital problems were her fault and said other things "to make White feel good." Nelson asked White for the videotape and he gave it to her before leaving the house.

White was charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary in violation of Iowa Code sections 710.1, 710.2, and 713.3 (2001). The court denied White's motion in limine seeking to exclude evidence of the assault that occurred two days after their separation. A jury convicted White and he appeals.

II. The Merits

White argues the district court erred in admitting evidence of a prior assault between him and Nelson and in finding sufficient evidence to support a finding that he intentionally inflicted torture and serious injury upon Nelson. White also brings a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for his attorney's failure to move for a judgment of acquittal based on the lack of evidence to prove White confined Nelson with the specific intent to inflict serious injury.

A. Prior Bad Acts

White argues the trial court erred in admitting evidence of White's assault on the victim one month prior to the crime. He asserts the evidence was more prejudicial than probative. We review rulings on the admission of evidence of prior bad acts for an abuse of discretion. State v. Brown, 569 N.W.2d 113, 116 (Iowa 1997).

The circumstances surrounding the prior assault are as follows. Two days after Nelson moved into her own house, White showed up unannounced and uninvited. He called her a "slut" and a "whore." Nelson and White got into a physical struggle on her porch. Nelson slapped White. He held her by her wrists up against the house. He held her wrists so tight Nelson heard one of them "pop." White "gritted his teeth and held his breath and just got red in the face and started to shake in anger." White let go of Nelson's wrists, but then put his hands on her head. He drew Nelson close and then hit her head against the side of the house. Nelson "saw stars" and collapsed. After White left, Nelson called him. White said he had a gun and as soon as he could find some shotgun shells, he was going to come back to Nelson's house and shoot her. While Nelson and White were on the telephone, Nelson heard White rummaging through drawers and objects breaking. When White eventually returned to Nelson's house, he was arrested by the police.

The State sought to introduce the evidence of the prior bad act as being relevant to the issue of White's specific intent. The trial court agreed and allowed the evidence in, subject to a limiting instruction. In general, evidence of one crime cannot be used to prove another crime occurred. Evidence which is intended only to show the defendant is a bad person and should therefore be convicted of the charged crime must be excluded. State v. Delaney, 526 N.W.2d 170, 175 (Iowa Ct.App.1994). However, if the evidence of crimes, wrongs, or bad acts is relevant to issues other than the defendant's propensity to commit crime, it may be admissible. Iowa R. Evid. 5.404(b). For example, the evidence may be admissible as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Id. To be admissible, the evidence must be relevant "`to prove some fact or element in issue other than the defendant's criminal disposition.' " State v. Rodriquez, 636 N.W.2d 234, 239 (Iowa 2001) (quoting State v. Castaneda, 621 N.W.2d 435, 440 (Iowa 2001)). The second requirement for admissibility is that the probative value of the evidence must not be substantially outweighed by the prejudicial effect engendered by showing the defendant has committed other crimes. Id.

Initially, White claimed a defense of diminished responsibility. At trial, he claimed he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from losses in his life that occurred in the early 1990s and that this disorder prevented him from forming specific intent. In the present case, to prove the charge of first-degree kidnapping, the State had to prove White had specific intent to inflict serious injury upon and to torture Nelson. To prove the charge of first-degree burglary, the State had to prove White had specific intent to commit an assault upon breaking into Nelson's house. The State argued the defense of diminished responsibility put White's specific intent in direct issue with the evidence of the prior assault being relevant.

To determine the admissibility of the proffered evidence, we first must analyze whether the evidence was relevant to the crime charged. We agree with the trial court's conclusion that the evidence of the prior act was relevant. A fiercely contested issue at trial was White's specific intent as it was necessary for both the charges of burglary and kidnapping. White's prior acts of banging Nelson's head against a wall and threatening to shoot her are undoubtedly relevant to the charges before us. Evidence of White's prior intentional, violent acts toward the victim, aggravated by his prior death threats, makes it more probable White intended to cause Nelson serious injury on the day in question. See Rodriquez, 636 N.W.2d at 242

(citing State v. Haskins, 573 N.W.2d 39, 45-46 (Iowa Ct.App.1997) (finding evidence of prior assault against victim relevant to intent of defendant charged with attempted murder of victim)). The evidence of the prior bad act is relevant to the instant charge of kidnapping because it tends to negate White's claim of diminished responsibility. That is, the evidence makes it more probable that White's actions were the product of intentional, voluntary decisions to inflict serious injury upon Nelson and to subject her to torture. These were not the actions of a man incapable of forming intent. Rather, White's history shows a pattern of willful, abusive behavior. The concern of more consequence is whether the probative value of the prior act is outweighed by the danger of prejudice.

Having found the evidence is relevant to the charges before us, we now turn to whether the probative value is outweighed by the prejudicial effect. Evidence is unfairly prejudicial if it,

[a]ppeals to the jury's sympathies, arouses its sense of horror, provokes its instinct to punish, or triggers other mainsprings of human action that may cause the jury to base its decision on something other than the established propositions in the case.

2 Joseph M. McLaughlin Weinstein's Federal Evidence § 403.04[1][c], at 403-40 to 403-44 (2d ed.2001). When weighing the probative value of the evidence against the danger of prejudice, the court must consider on the one side, the actual need for the other-crimes evidence in the light of the issues and the other evidence available to the prosecution, the convincingness of the evidence that the other crimes were committed and that the accused was the actor, and the strength or weakness of the other-crimes evidence in supporting the issue, and on the other hand, the degree to which the jury will probably be roused by the evidence to overmastering hostility.

Rodriquez, 636 N.W.2d at 240 (quoting State v. Wade, 467 N.W.2d 283, 284-85 (Iowa 1991)). There must be...