State v. Yang, C6-01-1362.

• Decision Date: 06 June 2002
• Docket Number: No. C6-01-1362.,C6-01-1362.
• Citation: 249 Neb. 539,644 N.W.2d 808
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Steven YANG, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

644 N.W.2d 808

249 Neb. 539

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Steven YANG, Respondent.

No. C6-01-1362.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

June 6, 2002.

Melissa Sheridan, St. Paul, MN, Attorney for Appellant.

Mike Hatch, Minnesota State Attorney General, Susan Gaertner, Ramsey County Attorney, Mark Nathan Lystig, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney, Toni M. Lee, Certified Student Attorney, St. Paul, MN, Attorneys for Respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

PAUL H. ANDERSON, Justice.

On the morning of November 25, 2000, a man wearing a ski mask and armed with a sawed-off shotgun approached Xia Mee Vang, her husband Lue Lee, and their two-year-old daughter in Mounds Park in St. Paul. The man shot and killed Vang and then fled the scene. The police subsequently arrested appellant Steven Yang and charged him with Vang's murder. A grand jury indicted Yang for first-degree premeditated murder, a jury found him guilty of that charge, and the district court sentenced him to life in prison. Yang appeals, arguing that the court erred when it admitted evidence regarding his gang affiliation and when it refused to give a jury instruction on the defense of duress. We affirm.

Lue Lee arranged to meet his estranged wife, Xia Mee Vang,¹ in Mounds Park in St. Paul on the morning of November 25, 2000, ostensibly so that he could spend some time with their daughter. It was the day before the daughter's second birthday. Sometime later that morning, Vang and her daughter arrived at the park and met Lee by a large monument. Just before noon, 15-year-old Steven Yang approached the three family members wearing gloves and a ski mask and armed with a loaded, 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun. Yang told Vang and Lee "it was a stickup" and demanded money and jewelry, first pointing the gun at Lee and then at Vang. Although testimony varies about exactly what happened next, it is undisputed that Yang was 3 to 4 feet away from Vang, pointing the gun at her head when the gun went off, destroying a large part of her face and skull. Yang then fled the scene.

The police received a 911 call from Lee shortly before noon telling them that his wife had been shot. When the police arrived, they found Vang's body lying in front of the monument and Lee crouching behind the monument holding his daughter. Vang was later positively identified by dental records because her facial features were unrecognizable. Dr. Susan Roe, Assistant Ramsey County Medical Examiner, performed an autopsy on Vang and concluded that she died as a result of the injury sustained from the gunshot wound to her head.

The police considered Lee a suspect from the beginning, and therefore brought him directly from the crime scene to the homicide unit where he was interviewed for six hours. Based on information obtained during the interview and through other sources, the police determined that Thao Vue and Yang were involved in the shooting and arrested them the following day.

Sergeant Joseph Younghans interviewed Yang three times. Each interview was recorded. During the first interview on November 26, Yang denied any involvement with the shooting, claiming that he had slept until noon and then had gone to the Hmong New Year. After Younghans expressed continued disbelief about Yang's story, Yang said that he wanted to change his story and then admitted to being involved in the shooting. The details of Yang's involvement also changed during the course of the interview. Yang first explained that Lee wanted his wife killed so that Lee could get his daughter back and had hired Yang to commit the murder. Yang then explained that it was not supposed to be a murder and that Lee just wanted to scare Vang, as a warning, so that Lee could get his daughter back. He also stated that Lee was going to pay him $600 to kill Vang, but had not done so yet. Yang explained throughout the interview that the gun went off by accident when he was pointing it at Vang and that he did not intend to shoot her.

After the first interview, Yang guided the police to where he had thrown away the gun, shotgun shells, ski mask, and his clothing as he fled from the park. The police recovered the shotgun used in the shooting, one shotgun shell, two ski masks, and various articles of clothing. After Yang helped the police collect this evidence, he was taken back for another interview with Younghans. During the second interview, Yang clarified some of the confusion resulting from the first interview. Specifically, Yang admitted that the plan was to kill Vang—not just to scare her. Nevertheless, Yang stated that he changed the plan on his own and decided to go through with only the fake robbery part of the plan because he did not want to shoot anyone. Yang stated that when he was staging the fake robbery the shotgun went off by accident.

Younghans interviewed Yang for the third and final time the following day. During this interview, Yang provided more details about the planning and commission of the shooting. Yang explained that he was supposed to steal a car and hide it near Mounds Park so it could be used as the getaway car. Then Yang and Vue were to borrow a car from a friend, drive to Mounds Park, and drop Yang off where they left the getaway car. Next, Yang was to drive the getaway car around the park until he heard an audio signal over a walkie-talkie. At this point, Yang was to drive up to Lee and Vang, stage the fake robbery, and shoot Vang. Yang was then supposed to get rid of the getaway car. During this third interview, Yang also described several other failed attempts to kill Vang.

Yang was subsequently indicted for first-degree premeditated murder in violation of Minn.Stat. §§ 609.185(1) (1998), 609.11 (2000), and 609.05 (2000). On January 18, 2001, Yang was certified to stand trial as an adult under Minn.Stat. § 260B.125 (2000). Yang pleaded not guilty and a jury trial was held, beginning on May 21, 2001.

Yang testified in his own defense and admitted that he went to Mounds Park with a loaded shotgun, staged a fake robbery, pointed the gun at Vang, and that the gun went off accidentally. Yang went on to describe the details leading up to the shooting. Four months prior to the shooting, Yang began living with his friend Vue in a house located on Western Avenue in St. Paul. Lee lived in a room on the third floor across the hall from Yang and Vue. A few weeks after Yang moved in, Lee asked Yang to go cruising. They went cruising and ended up on the east side of St. Paul by an apartment building. At this point, Lee stopped the car, took out a bottle of poison, and gave Yang a key. Lee wanted Yang to go into Vang's apartment and put poison in all of the food, but not to harm the baby. Yang refused and they then drove off.

A few more weeks passed and Lee again approached Yang about killing his wife. This time, Lee wanted to give Yang a gun and have him go to Vang's window and just start shooting into the apartment. Yang refused. The next day, Lee threatened to kill Yang and his family if he did not participate in Lee's plans. A few more weeks passed and Lee came up with a third plan. This time, Vue was also involved. Lee, Vue, and Yang drove to a place near Vang's apartment and planned to wait until Vang and her sister came home. While they were waiting, Yang retrieved two 12-gauge shotguns from the trunk, handed one to Lee, and kept the other for himself. Lee wanted to run up to Vang and her sister when they came home, make it look like a robbery, and force them to drive to Wisconsin where they presumably were to be killed. When Vang ultimately came home, she was accompanied not only by her sister, but by another person. At this point, Vue and Yang were both scared and refused to participate in the plan.

Yang next described the plan to shoot Vang in Mounds Park. On the night before the shooting, Lee, Vue, and Yang stole a car and left it near Mounds Park. Around 10:00 the next morning, they borrowed a second car. Yang and Vue drove the borrowed car and Lee drove his own car back to their home on Western Avenue. Once at home, they loaded the borrowed car with the sawed-off shotgun, ski mask, clothing, and a walkie-talkie. Yang testified that Lee had threatened him three times up to this point.

Yang testified that at some point after he, Lee, and Vue finished loading the borrowed car, Lee called Vang to arrange a meeting in Mounds Park. After arranging the meeting, Lee drove off in his car while Yang and Vue followed in the borrowed car. Both cars went to Target where Lee picked up some toys for his daughter and then they headed toward the park. Although the plan was to drive together until they reached Mounds Park, Yang decided that he and Vue would turn off early and take another path to the getaway car than they had originally planned. Yang said that he had changed plans at this point and no longer intended to go through with the shooting and instead was only going to "fake the robbery and leave the scene." He testified that although the original plan called for Vue to wait and to meet Yang at a location near the park, Yang told Vue to meet him at the home of two friends, which was a location unknown to Lee. Vue dropped Yang off at the getaway car. Yang proceeded to drive this car around Mounds Park, waiting for the signal from Lee over the walkie-talkie. The signal came and Yang drove up and parked near where Lee and Vang were standing.

Yang testified that he approached Lee and Vang, and proceeded to act like he was robbing them. He told them "it was a stickup," pointed the gun at Lee and then at Vang, and demanded money and jewelry. At this point, Yang started looking around and noticed that a car had slowed down and that its occupants had started looking at them. He also noticed two children on a bike riding toward the park and two women heading toward the monument. Yang then put the gun down and turned to hide the gun from the street. At this point, he testified that...