State v. Wren
| Decision Date | 11 January 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 63485,No. 1,63485,1 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Anthony WREN, Defendant-Appellant |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Kevin C. Curran, St. Louis, for defendant-appellant.
John Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., John C. Reed, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for plaintiff-respondent.
Defendant's appeal from his conviction for second degree murder and life imprisonment sentence raises two points of alleged trial court error: (1) failing to declare a mistrial by reason of the prosecutor's summation comments on defendant's criminal record; (2) submitting MAI-CR2d 3.58 at the behest of the state, as it served to highlight defendant's record of convictions. We find no reversible error and affirm the judgment.
From the evidence, the jury could find the following beyond a reasonable doubt: The defendant and the victim, Melvin Crawford, were neighbors living across the street from each other in north St. Louis. On the fateful day, Crawford and his fiancee, Vickie Gunn, had run various errands and purchased a couple of bottles of soda and a few items of food--tripe and french fries. When they reached Crawford's home in early afternoon, Crawford indicated to Ms. Gunn that defendant owed him $20 and that he was going to collect it. Crawford went to defendant's house and demanded the money owed him. An argument ensued outside with defendant using his finger to poke Crawford's back or shoulder once or twice. Defendant was seen to go back into the house and return outside with both hands behind his back. As Crawford stood facing him with both hands occupied in holding the sacks of food and soda, defendant brought forward a large butcher knife and plunged it deeply into the chest of Crawford. The wound was fatal. The entire incident was witnessed by Ms. Gunn and another person, who was sitting in a parked auto at the front of defendant's house.
Defendant's version of the event was that he had been peeling potatoes when Crawford approached him in an extremely bellicose manner. Crawford's comments to defendant became strident and vituperative, and, according to defendant, Crawford attacked him with a broken bottle and cut him on the hands and under the chin. To prevent further harm to himself and to "get him off me," defendant averred that he had been forced to wield the butcher knife, which he acknowledged had a 12 to 13 inch blade. While Crawford's mortal wound was being administered to at a hospital, defendant was treated with bandaids and mercurochrome for a superficial cut on one hand, allegedly caused by Crawford's swinging bottle.
During the trial, defendant took the witness stand on his behalf and on direct examination admitted conviction for certain crimes. Cross-examination revealed several additional convictions not initially mentioned.
Defendant's first point on appeal relates to the prosecutor's closing argument in which reference was made to the prior convictions. Primary emphasis is made to the following:
The Court tells you that someone who's convicted of crimes like this, that you take that into consideration in credibility, and they tell you that for good reason. And why is it? Because he's a lawbreaker, he's broken the law in the past.
Now what--I mean, it's more than just stealing, it's more than just committing a crime. When you break the law, you violate people's rights. When you burglarize, you go into somebody's house or business.
MR. CURRAN [Defendant's counsel]: I'm going to object to this line of argument.
MR. SULLIVAN [Circuit attorney]: We are talking about someone who's broken the law. What does that oath mean to them? And the Court tells you and warns you that that oath is not going to mean very much.
And, again:
And he says, I spent a lot of time, you know, on cross-examination, on his prior convictions. It's true, I did. He has enough of them. He's been convicted, convicted, folks, four or five times. And you know what? He doesn't even remember when. You know these dates mean nothing to him. What sort of person is that? I mean, if you are convicted of a crime, if you are going to try to rehabilitate yourself, aren't you going to remember, aren't those things going to mean something to you, being convicted?
If you were going to be the kind of person who's going to try to turn themselves around to try to be a good citizen on the street, to try to be a good neighbor, you would remember those things.
Defendant argues that the foregoing statements fall within the "professional car thief" type of characterization condemned in State v. Stockbridge, 549 S.W.2d 648, 651 (Mo.App.1977), were unrelated to his credibility and amounted to argument that present guilt and harsher punishment...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Johnson v. Steele
...of a conviction only if it is established that the argument in question had a decisive effect on the jury's determination. State v. Wren, 643 S.W.2d 800, 802 (Mo. banc 1983). The defendant bears the burden to prove the decisive significance. State v. Parker, 856 S.W.2d 331, 333 (Mo. banc 19......
-
State v. Storey
...the jury and injected evidence of uncharged crimes. Storey testified at guilt phase, putting his credibility into issue. State v. Wren, 643 S.W.2d 800, 802 (Mo. banc 1983). The prosecutor's reference to perjury was a rhetorical means of arguing that Storey's testimony was not believeable. W......
-
State v. Petary, 71189
...is established that the argument had a decisive effect on the jury verdict or that the trial court abused its discretion. State v. Wren, 643 S.W.2d 800, 802 (Mo.1983); State v. Williams, 646 S.W.2d 107, 109 (Mo. banc 1983). The prosecutor's argument here was for society's need for strict la......
-
State v. Johnson
...of a conviction only if it is established that the argument in question had a decisive effect on the jury's determination. State v. Wren, 643 S.W.2d 800, 802 (Mo. banc 1983). The defendant bears the burden to prove the decisive significance. State v. Parker, 856 S.W.2d 331, 333 (Mo. banc 19......