State v. Winfrey

• Decision Date: 31 May 2011
• Docket Number: No. SC 90830.,SC 90830.
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent,v.Eric WINFREY, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

337 S.W.3d 1

STATE of Missouri, Respondent,

v.Eric WINFREY, Appellant.

No. SC 90830.

Supreme Court of Missouri, En Banc.

April 12, 2011.Rehearing Denied May 31, 2011.

Melinda K. Pendergraph, Public Defender's Office, Columbia, for Winfrey.Jayne T. Woods, Attorney General's Office, Jefferson City, for the State.PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE, Judge.

Introduction

Eric Winfrey appeals his convictions and sentences for first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. After being found guilty by a jury, Mr. Winfrey was sentenced as a prior offender to consecutive sentences of life imprisonment without parole on the murder charge and life imprisonment on the robbery charge. Because the trial court erred by refusing to allow Mr. Winfrey to cross-examine a witness who previously had admitted to shooting the victim and Mr. Winfrey was prejudiced as a result, the judgment of the trial court is reversed. The case is remanded for a new trial.

Factual and Procedural Background

This Court reviews the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict. State v. Taylor, 298 S.W.3d 482, 491 (Mo. banc 2009). Viewed in that light, the facts of the case are as follows: On June 2, 2004, Christopher Hanneken was working a shift as the manager at Storage USA, a storage-unit rental company. The last person to speak with Mr. Hanneken that day was a friend; their telephone conversation ended at 2:42 p.m. Just before 3 p.m., a delivery truck driver made a stop at Storage USA and found Mr. Hanneken's body in an employee-only area of the business. Mr. Hanneken had been fatally shot in the head with a .38 or .357 caliber gun. Investigators discovered that surveillance tapes were missing from the Storage USA security system and $395 in cash was missing from the company's register.

The day following the murder, police interviewed Eric Winfrey. Prior to the murder, Mr. Winfrey lived in an apartment above Storage USA, occasionally performed tasks around the business, and was familiar with its operations. During the interview, police questioned Mr. Winfrey regarding his whereabouts on the day of the murder. Although police had not informed Mr. Winfrey of the timeframe for the murder and robbery, he immediately responded by stating his location between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Upon further questioning, Mr. Winfrey specified that after leaving a gas station at 2 p.m., he returned to his apartment complex, where he encountered one of his friends. He stated that he accompanied the friend to the friend's apartment, where they smoked marijuana together. Mr. Winfrey stated that, after leaving the friend's apartment, he returned to his own apartment, watched television, and woke up his girlfriend at 3:15 p.m. so she could get ready for work.

During the interview, police asked Mr. Winfrey if he owned a gun. Although he denied owning a gun, Mr. Winfrey admitted that he had tried unsuccessfully to obtain a gun from several individuals, including a person named Justin Lewis. It also came to light during the interview that Mr. Winfrey was more than $8,500 in debt and that he had an argument with his girlfriend about finances on the day of the murder and robbery.

Police later interviewed Mr. Winfrey's girlfriend, Corener Harris. Ms. Harris stated that on the day the crimes were committed, Mr. Winfrey left their apartment at approximately 2 p.m. When she asked him why he was leaving, Mr. Winfrey did not respond. Ms. Harris stated that she did not see Mr. Winfrey again until he picked her up from work early the following morning. She denied that Mr. Winfrey woke her up for work at 3:15 p.m. as he had told police.

In a subsequent interview, police questioned Ms. Harris about whether Mr. Winfrey ever had possessed or owed a gun. Ms. Harris stated that Mr. Winfrey told her he had obtained a gun from a friend. Initially, Ms. Harris denied ever seeing Mr. Winfrey in possession of a firearm, but she subsequently changed her story and stated that she saw him with a gun at their apartment before the murder and robbery took place. She stated that when she saw the gun, she asked him why he had it. Mr. Winfrey responded by stating, “I got to do what I got to do.”

Thereafter, police confronted Mr. Winfrey with Ms. Harris' statements concerning his whereabouts at the time of the murder and about his possession of a gun. When police informed Mr. Winfrey that Ms. Harris said she did not see him after 2 p.m. on the day of the crimes, he agreed with her recollection of the time. He further admitted that he did not wake her up at 3:15 p.m., as he had originally told police. When confronted with Ms. Harris' statements regarding the gun, Mr. Winfrey admitted that he told Ms. Harris he had a gun. However, he stated that he also told her that he gave the gun back to Justin Lewis.

Mr. Winfrey subsequently was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in connection with the events that occurred at Storage USA. The case went to jury trial beginning October 20, 2008. At trial, Justin Lewis was called to testify on behalf of the state. He testified that he helped Mr. Winfrey procure a handgun from a person named Daniel Cosgrove. Mr. Lewis stated that after Mr. Winfrey took possession of the gun, Mr. Lewis never saw the weapon again. Mr. Lewis' story regarding the gun was confirmed by Mr. Cosgrove, who also testified at trial. Mr. Cosgrove identified the gun he gave to Mr. Lewis as a .38 caliber handgun. Mr. Cosgrove testified that at the time of the exchange, he was under the impression that Mr. Winfrey wanted the gun to rob or scare someone.

At trial, Kevin Covington, an inmate who was incarcerated at the Farmington Correctional Center with Mr. Winfrey, also testified for the state. After Mr. Winfrey was questioned by a detective investigating the Storage USA murder, Mr. Winfrey approached Mr. Covington to discuss the situation. To help secure early release, Mr. Covington later decided to begin gathering information about the murder and robbery to turn over to the state. In an effort to gain Mr. Winfrey's confidence, Mr. Covington falsely reported that his wife had friends who worked in the St. Charles police department who could help Mr. Winfrey if Mr. Winfrey revealed all of the facts concerning the crimes. After hearing this information, Mr. Covington testified that Mr. Winfrey confessed to shooting the victim. Mr. Covington stated that Mr. Winfrey admitted obtaining a gun from a friend named Justin and that Mr. Winfrey disposed of the weapon after the murder by throwing it into the Mississippi River.

On the basis of the aforementioned evidence, the jury found Mr. Winfrey guilty of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. Mr. Winfrey was sentenced by the trial court as a prior offender to life imprisonment without parole on the murder charge and life imprisonment on the robbery charge, to be served consecutively. Mr. Winfrey appeals. After an opinion by the court of appeals, this Court granted transfer. Mo. Const. art. V, sec. 10.

Mr. Winfrey raises 12 points on appeal. Eleven of those points relate to claimed evidentiary errors. First, Mr. Winfrey claims that an African–American venireperson was struck unconstitutionally from the jury on the basis of race. Second, Mr. Winfrey claims that the trial court erred by limiting his cross-examination of Mr. Covington regarding his conduct violations in prison. Next, Mr. Winfrey claims that the trial court erred in sustaining the state's hearsay objection to his proposed cross-examination of Mr. Lewis regarding whether he told another person that he committed the murder. Next, Mr. Winfrey claims nine separate errors, alleging the trial court improperly admitted evidence of other crimes and bad character.

Standard of Review

The issues analyzed in this case involve claims challenging the trial court's limitations on the cross-examination of certain witnesses and its rulings on the admissibility of certain evidence. On appeal, a trial court's ruling regarding the admissibility of evidence and the extent and scope of cross-examination is reviewed for abuse of discretion. State v. Forrest, 183 S.W.3d 218, 223 (Mo. banc 2006); State v. Taylor, 134 S.W.3d 21, 25 (Mo. banc 2004). The trial court abuses its discretion when its ruling is “clearly against the logic of the circumstances and is so unreasonable as to indicate a lack of careful consideration.” State v. Gonzales, 153 S.W.3d 311, 312 (Mo. banc 2005). However, this Court reviews the trial court “for prejudice, not mere error, and will reverse only if the error was so prejudicial that it deprived the defendant of a fair trial.” State v. Middleton, 995 S.W.2d 443, 452 (Mo. banc 1999). Trial court error is prejudicial if there is a “reasonable probability that the court's error affected the outcome of the trial.” State v. Barriner, 111 S.W.3d 396, 401 (Mo. banc 2003).

Justin Lewis' Statement that he Shot the Victim

Because Mr. Winfrey's claim of error regarding his proposed cross-examination of Mr. Lewis is dispositive, it is addressed first. In this claim, Mr. Winfrey argues that the trial court erred by sustaining the state's hearsay objection to his question asking Mr. Lewis if he told a third party that he shot the victim. At trial, the state called Mr. Lewis to testify regarding his role in procuring for Mr. Winfrey the handgun that allegedly was used in connection with the murder at Storage USA. During cross-examination, defense counsel sought permission from the trial court to ask Mr. Lewis if he told a third party, Nick Reynolds, that Mr. Lewis shot the victim at Storage USA. Defense counsel stated that he had a good-faith basis for asking the question based on discovery. After the trial court initially indicated it would allow defense counsel to ask the question, the state objected on the basis that the question sought to elicit hearsay. In response to the objection, defense counsel advised the trial court that he had evidence that Nick Reynolds...