State v. Winters

• Decision Date: 17 February 2021
• Docket Number: No. 19-2130,19-2130
• Citation: 957 N.W.2d 727 (Table)
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jeffrey Lynn WINTERS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Court of Appeals

957 N.W.2d 727 (Table)

STATE of Iowa, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Jeffrey Lynn WINTERS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 19-2130

Court of Appeals of Iowa.

Filed February 17, 2021

Martha J. Lucey, State Appellate Defender, and Stephan J. Japuntich, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Genevieve Reinkoester and Douglas D. Hammerand, Assistant Attorneys General, for appellee.

Heard by May, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.

SCHUMACHER, Judge.

Jeffrey Winters appeals his conviction for murder in the first degree following a jury trial. Winters argues the district court abused its discretion in declining to strike two potential jurors for cause and in overruling his motion for a mistrial following certain questioning by the prosecution implicating his right to remain silent. Winters also asserts the identification evidence is insufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict. Upon our review, we find no abuse of discretion in the district court's refusal to strike the jurors and in denying Winters's motion for a mistrial. The record contains substantial evidence to support the jury's verdict. Accordingly, we affirm.

I. Background Facts .

Randy Page was killed on August 27, 2018. At the time of his death, Randy lived with his wife, Linda Page, in Lu Verne—a city of roughly 250 people. He worked in Clarion, which was thirty miles from his home. Winters lived in Livermore, located approximately eight miles from Lu Verne. Typically, Randy left for work at 4:30 a.m. and returned home by 3:30 p.m. On the day of his death, while at work, Randy received a text message from Winters at 1:47 p.m. that read, "I'm gonna swing by after u get home." Randy responded at 2:43 p.m., "On way now. Be there in 45 min." Randy clocked out of work at 2:38 p.m. On his way home, around 3:30 p.m., Randy stopped at David Parsons's house in Lu Verne. Randy and Parsons worked on a truck together for a "little over an hour," and Randy left and continued home. At 4:44 p.m., Parsons texted Randy that Randy had left his wallet at his house. At 4:45 p.m., City of Lu Verne cameras¹ captured Randy's vehicle heading through the downtown area towards the direction of his home, then two minutes later, the opposite direction towards Parsons's home, and finally, at 4:47 p.m., traveling back through downtown towards his home.²

At 4:12 p.m., City of Lu Verne cameras recorded Winters's vehicle, a 2005 silver Ford Explorer SUV, entering the downtown area of Lu Verne and turning towards the Page residence. Just past 4:00 p.m., Rebecca Kramer, who lives across the street from the Page home with her son, Noah, and husband, Mark, saw a man she identified as Winters standing in front of the Page home. Near 4:45 p.m., Mark Kramer and Randy were returning home. As Mark drove down the street, he saw Randy getting out of his vehicle and noticed someone matching Winters's description sitting outside on the Page patio. Clarence Hauf, who lives "kiddy corner" to the Page residence and who was familiar with Winters, saw Randy and Winters sitting in lawn chairs around this time. He heard Randy and Winters arguing, with Randy yelling at Winters. Beth Hinz, who was at her parents’ house next door to the Page home, saw a man matching Winters's description sitting on the Page patio using his cellphone. Hinz later heard four or five gunshots. Noah Kramer saw a vehicle he identified as belonging to Winters leave the Page driveway around 5:00 p.m. at a "high rate of speed." Finally, at 4:53 p.m., surveillance cameras record Winters's vehicle coming from the direction of Randy's home, "southbound this time leaving the area."

Linda Page found her husband's body on the floor of their garage shortly before 5:30 p.m. After finding Randy's body, Linda went to her neighbor Clarence Hauf's home and called 911. Deputy Mark McGregor was dispatched to the scene and observed three shell casings, gunshot wounds to the body, and "a lot of blood around the head area." Randy's wallet and cellphone were not found on his body and were never recovered. The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) collected evidence from the scene, including a bullet, four shell casings, and cigarette butts. None of the physical evidence collected at the scene implicated Winters.³ As law enforcement continued their initial investigation, neighbors congregated around the home. Law enforcement began interviewing those present and canvassing the area. Linda Page overheard Rebecca Kramer describe a man she saw earlier and identified Winters as matching the description. Winters had previously been to the Page home "five or six times" while Linda was there and she knew him by the nickname "Hawk."

Around 8:30 p.m., Winters stopped at Dana Foss's house in Mason City—about sixty miles from Lu Verne. He took Foss and her daughter out for ice cream and left about twenty minutes later. At 9:53 p.m., Winters received a phone call from his friend and President of the Lu Verne Volunteer Fire Department, Michael Crahan. Crahan had heard speculation that Winters may have been involved in a crime. On the phone, Crahan asked Winters "if everything was all right and what was going on." Winters denied being in Lu Verne that day and stated that he did not shoot anyone. At 10:12 p.m., Winters called Foss and asked if he could come back and spend the night on her couch. Foss agreed. Winters had not stayed at her house overnight on a previous occasion. That evening, law enforcement kept watch over Winters's residence in Livermore; Winters never returned home. Winters returned to Foss's home around 11:00 p.m. He did not bring an overnight bag, his medication, or his dog. Near the same time, DCI Special Agent Chris Callaway attempted to call Winters, but the call went to voicemail. He did not leave a voicemail but texted Winters asking him to "[p]lease call me."

The next morning, around 7:00 a.m., Winters returned the call to Agent Callaway. He told Callaway he had not called the night before because he was having car trouble. Winters asked Callaway "who had gotten shot."⁴ Callaway asked Winters where he was and whom he was with, but Winters refused to answer. Callaway asked to speak with Winters in-person, and they agreed to meet at the Clear Lake Police Department at 8:00 a.m. Shortly after their conversation, Winters texted Callaway and requested they meet in Mason City instead. Callaway obliged and told Winters to meet him at the Mason City Police Department. Callaway arrived at the location on time, waited forty minutes, but Winters never appeared. Callaway attempted to reach Winters by phone several times but his calls were all forwarded to voicemail.

Around this time, Winters asked Foss to drive him to the home of her mother, Judy Graham, also in Mason City. Foss agreed and drove Winters in her vehicle to her mother's house. They arrived at Judy's house sometime around 8:00 a.m. Winters asked Judy to call her son, Lee Graham, so he could talk to him. Judy called her son and connected the two. After the call, Winters asked Foss and Judy to drop him off at Lee's house in Mason City. Winters requested that Foss and Judy pick up his dog at his house in Livermore. They agreed and dropped Winters off at Lee's house about ten minutes later.

Earlier that morning, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Winters's home. During the search, officers found Winters's dog and recovered a gun holster and two cell phones. The DCI crime lab determined the holster could accommodate a 9mm handgun—the type of weapon used to kill Randy—without need for adjustment. Law enforcement continued looking for Winters throughout the day and learned through Foss that Winters was at Lee's house.

Around 7:00 p.m., law enforcement went to Lee's house looking for Winters. Lee came to the door but did not let officers inside. When officers asked where Winters was, Lee motioned with his head towards the back of the house and then yelled over his shoulder that the police were there. Soon after, officers heard someone running through the house and saw Winters fleeing out a back door. An officer stationed at the back door, gun drawn, ordered Winters to stop. Winters complied and was taken into custody without further incident. Law enforcement searched Winters and found his cellphone in his back pocket with the battery separated from the device. Officers brought Winters to the Mason City Police Department for questioning. Winters was "extremely vague" about his recent activities but admitted he had been over to Randy's house the day before. On September 3, Foss found a 9mm bullet where Winters had parked his vehicle in her driveway.

On September 7, 2018, Winters was charged by trial information with murder in the first degree in violation of Iowa Code section 707.2(1)(a) and 707.2(2) (2019). On October 22, 2019, a jury trial commenced, and on October 30, the jury returned a guilty verdict. Winters was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Winters appeals his conviction, arguing the district court abused its discretion in declining to strike two potential jurors for cause and in overruling his motion for a mistrial following certain questioning by the prosecution. Winters also asserts the evidence is insufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict. We address his claims in turn.

II. Challenge for Cause to Strike Jurors .

During jury selection, all but a few members of the venire indicated they had previously heard or read information about Winters's case. The potential jurors were called separately into chambers for individual voir dire. Among those examined were Jurors No. 3 and No. 49. Winters sought to strike these jurors for cause. See Iowa R. Crim. P. 2.18(5)(k) (allowing a party to challenge a prospective juror for cause if the juror has "formed or expressed such an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant as would prevent the juror from rendering a true verdict upon the evidence submitted on the trial"). The challenges were...