Commonwealth v. Douglas

553 S.W.3d 795
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 16, 2018
Docket2017-SC-000024-DG
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 553 S.W.3d 795 (Commonwealth v. Douglas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Douglas, 553 S.W.3d 795 (Mo. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE CUNNINGHAM

On February 24, 2005, Appellant, Johnnie Ray Douglas, robbed a Check Advance store in Louisville, Kentucky, at gunpoint. He left the clerk handcuffed to a pipe. On June 25, 2005, Douglas robbed $2,700 cash from Cash Tyme at gunpoint. This was another check-cashing business just up the road from his prior robbery. His unidentified accomplice left two Cash Tyme employees tied up in a back room. The victims and other eyewitnesses identified Douglas as one of the robbers.

*798On August 4, 2005, a Jefferson County grand jury indicted Douglas on multiple counts relating to the two incidents: two counts of first-degree robbery, three counts of kidnapping, one count of being a first-degree Persistent Felony Offender ("PFO"), and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The latter charges stemmed from Douglas' prior convictions, including his conviction for a bank robbery in 1985. Ultimately, the two charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon were severed.

Voir dire was conducted in 2006 to empanel a jury. During voir dire, Juror 151651 (henceforth "juror") informed counsel and the trial judge that he had been the victim of an armed robbery when he worked as a bank teller many years ago. The only follow-up question anyone asked him was whether he could be fair despite his personal experience, to which he answered in the affirmative. Later, defense counsel attempted to use a peremptory strike to remove that juror. However, counsel accidentally struck the juror sitting next to the juror in question instead. He had already used his allotted peremptory strikes and the trial judge denied his request for an additional peremptory strike. As a result, the juror at issue sat on the jury.

There was overwhelming evidence of Douglas' guilt at trial, including: eyewitness testimony from his robbery victims; testimony that an eyewitness tailed him after the Cash Tyme robbery and gave his vehicle's description to the police; and the robbery weapon, about $1,200 cash, and other evidence obtained from his traffic stop. After hearing the evidence, the jury deliberated and returned guilty verdicts for one count of robbery and two counts of kidnapping. Then the jury heard evidence regarding Douglas' PFO charge and the corresponding sentencing options. After further deliberation, the jury found Douglas to be a PFO and recommended an enhanced sentence of 35 years to run concurrently.

Following the jury's release, the juror in question approached the trial judge and informed him that a document introduced to the jury during the PFO consideration and sentencing phase-Douglas' indictment for the 1985 bank robbery-listed that juror by name as the victim of the robbery. The juror told the judge that he did not recall Douglas being the man who robbed him until Douglas' 1985 indictment refreshed his recollection during the PFO consideration and sentencing phase.

Afterward, the judge informed Douglas, defense counsel, and the Commonwealth of the juror's recollection. The judge instructed counsel to address the issue at the sentencing hearing. At the sentencing hearing, defense counsel told the judge that Douglas had decided to appeal his conviction rather than ask for a new trial based upon the potential bias of the juror at issue. The trial court adopted the jury's recommended 35-year sentence.

On a matter of right appeal to this Court, Douglas argued for reversal of his conviction because the jury was tainted by the juror in question. He alleged that the trial judge committed reversible error when he denied defense counsel's request for an additional peremptory strike, so the juror could have been removed. We rejected his arguments because any issue related to the jury's composition was not preserved by post-verdict objections during the sentencing phase. Douglas v. Commonwealth, 2006-SC-000882-MR, 2007 WL 4462309, at *4 (Ky. Dec. 20, 2007). As noted, Douglas instructed defense counsel to make no post-verdict motions.

Further, we held that the trial court acted within its discretion when it denied Douglas an extra peremptory strike.

*799Douglas, 2007 WL 4462309, at *4. In so ruling, we noted that, at the time Douglas requested an additional peremptory strike, everyone knew the juror at issue was a bank robbery victim, but no one knew that he was Douglas' former victim. Considering the juror's statement that he could be fair and impartial, we held that the juror's disclosures up to that point were not disqualifying. Although we reversed the two kidnapping charges against Douglas and remanded them for a new trial to consider exemptions to the kidnapping instructions, we upheld his conviction and enhanced PFO sentence for first-degree robbery. Id. at *11.

After we rendered our opinion on Douglas' direct appeal, and before he was retried on the kidnapping charges, he filed an RCr 11.42 motion pro se in 2009 and requested new counsel. The trial court appointed counsel from the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy ("DPA"), who filed a supplemental motion. These motions alleged Douglas received ineffective assistance of counsel for two reasons: (1) for counsel's alleged failure to properly question the juror at issue during voir dire about the details of the robbery he was the victim of; and (2) for counsel's failure to move for a new trial when the juror revealed he was a victim of Douglas' prior robbery, rather than appealing on an unpreserved issue.

In 2014, the circuit court held a hearing and denied Douglas' RCr 11.42 motion. The circuit court concluded that even though defense counsel was likely deficient for failing to ask the juror follow-up questions, Douglas was not prejudiced by counsel's deficient performance. The circuit court further reasoned that the overwhelming evidence against Douglas meant he was likely to be convicted. Thus, the court said the juror did not affect the trial's outcome. Lastly, the circuit court found that defense counsel's decision to appeal the case rather than move for a new trial was a trial strategy that Douglas could not attack under RCr 11.42.

Douglas appealed the circuit court's denial of his RCr 11.42 motion to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. On appeal, the court reversed the circuit court and remanded Douglas' case for a new trial. The court agreed that defense counsel should have questioned the juror further to determine if his robbery was connected to Douglas' former robbery. However, the Court of Appeals found that the presence of a biased juror like the juror in question is a structural error from which prejudice is presumed. Moreover, the court stated that, even if the error were not structural, Douglas' relationship to the juror was sufficient proof of prejudice to warrant reversal. Further, the court proposed that defense counsel's failure to move for a new trial was ineffective assistance, rather than a sound trial strategy.

The Commonwealth petitioned this Court for discretionary review of this case, which we granted.

Analysis

Structural Error and Harmless Error

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
553 S.W.3d 795, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-douglas-moctapp-2018.