In Re the Welfare of D.D.R.

713 N.W.2d 891, 2006 WL 1320123
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedMay 16, 2006
DocketA05-658, A05-752
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 713 N.W.2d 891 (In Re the Welfare of D.D.R.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re the Welfare of D.D.R., 713 N.W.2d 891, 2006 WL 1320123 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

[896]*896OPINION

RANDALL, Judge.

D.D.R. was charged with first- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct and designated an extended-jurisdiction juvenile (EJJ). A jury convicted D.D.R. of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. The court imposed a juvenile disposition, and the state appealed the dispositional order. D.D.R. then moved to dismiss the state’s appeal under Minn. R. Juv. Delinq. P. 21.04, subd. 1, and filed his own appeal. This court denied the motion for dismissal and consolidated the appeals. D.D.R. argues that (1) the state’s multiple discovery violations entitle him to a new trial; (2) the prosecutor committed prejudicial misconduct; (3) the court’s evidentiary rulings denied him a fair trial; (4) the jury instructions violated his right to due process and a fair trial; (5) the cumulative effect of the court’s errors denied him a fair trial and requires that his conviction be reversed; and (6) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. In addition to appellant’s arguments, the state also appeals from the district court’s findings and rulings, arguing that the district court erred by refusing to impose a stayed adult sentence and failing to rank appellant’s offense. Reverse and remanded.

FACTS

D.D.R., appellant, was charged with first- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct and designated an extended-jurisdiction juvenile (EJJ). A jury convicted D.D.R. of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

J.B. alleged she was raped by appellant, a juvenile. At trial, J.B. testified that prior to playing basketball she walked alone to the local library. On her way home from the library, she saw appellant at the corner bus stop near her home. J.B. testified that she “kind of’ knew appellant from previous occasions at the local park while playing basketball. Appellant asked J.B. if she wanted to play basketball. J.B testified that she received permission to go to the park and that she and appellant walked to the park. After briefly staying at the park, J.B. left alone to walk home while appellant remained at the park. As she walked home on the sidewalk, J.B. testified that appellant approached her from the rear of his house and asked her if she wanted to have sex and smoke marijuana. J.B. told appellant “No” and testified that he then grabbed her. After grabbing J.B., appellant picked her up and carried her to the garage of his house. J.B. testified that appellant first entered the garage through a hole in the wall and next, while holding her hand, pulled her through the hole into the garage. Once inside the garage, J.B. and appellant sat next to each other on a couch. While on the couch, appellant did not hold or touch J.B. Appellant then instructed J.B. to stand up and pull down her pants. J.B. complied, appellant stood up, approached J.B. from behind, and J.B. claims she was anally penetrated.

After the assault, in a telephone conversation with a friend, J.B. told her friend that she had been raped by appellant. J.B. explained that she had gone to the local park to play basketball with appellant and after playing basketball, appellant raped her on her way home. J.B. next telephoned her mother. Police eventually responded and J.B. was taken to the hospital for a physical examination.

The day after the assault, Sergeant James Spencer interviewed J.B. Spencer testified at trial that J.B. told him that she and appellant had gone to the library together, left the library together, dropped items off at J.B.’s house, and proceeded to the park to play basketball. Spencer testified that J.B. told him appellant left the [897]*897park before she did and that the assault happened as she walked home.

J.B.’s mother testified at trial. She testified that it was only during J.B.’s testimony that she learned that J.B. had been at the library on the morning before her assault and walked to the park with appellant. J.B. testified during her examination that she did not tell her mother these facts because she was afraid she would be punished.

Appellant was initially charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The state moved the court to designate appellant under the court’s extended juvenile jurisdiction (EJJ). Appellant opposed the motion. After a four day trial, the court designated appellant under the court’s EJJ. During the EJJ trial, respondent amended its complaint, adding a count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

A jury found appellant not guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct but guilty of third-degree criminal "sexual conduct, an offense that can be committed only by a juvenile. As a result of his conviction, appellant was placed on juvenile probation and ordered to adhere to specific conditions. This appeal followed.

Appellant alleges that state committed various discovery violations and that the district court made several prejudicial errors during the proceedings. First, appellant objected to the admission of evidence collected from J.B.’s clothing, arguing that the evidence had been sent for analysis only in late January 2005, five months after the assault. Appellant argued that he demanded disclosure of the evidence soon after the assault. The district court found no discovery violations. Second, after J.B. testified, appellant argued that her testimony showed that J.B. admittedly lied to the police regarding the facts of the assault. Appellant moved for a mistrial reasoning that the state knew of the inconsistency of J.B.’s testimony and failed to disclose -exculpatory evidencfe. -The district court denied the motion. Third, appellant moved the district court to allow him to use the video recording of J.B.’s interview with police as impeachment evidence but the motion was denied. Fourth, appellant moved in limine to preclude the prosecutor from asking the forensic scientist whether 15-year-olds can ejaculate and what she had found in all her other sexual assault cases. Appellant argued that this was beyond the scope of discovery. The district court denied appellant’s motion. Next, appellant elected not to testify and requested that a jury instruction be read informing the jury of his right not to testify. The district court denied his request. Finally, appellant objected to several remarks made during the prosecutor’s closing argument. Although the district" court found the remarks to be inappropriate, it stated that it would give the jury a curative instruction. The district court then failed to give the promised curative instruction.

On appeal, appellant maintains that the district court’s evidentiary rulings and jury instructions, combined with the state’s discovery violations and prosecutor’s misconduct during her closing argument, denied him a fair trial. He also argues that the evidence was insufficient to justify the jury’s verdict. . He seeks reversal and dismissal of his conviction, or in the alternative, a new trial.

ISSUES

I. Did individual violations of discovery rules, prosecutorial misconduct, and erroneous jury instructions occur, warranting a new trial?

II., Was there a cumulative effect of errors prejudicing appellant that warrants a. new. trial?

III. Was the evidence sufficient to support the jury’s verdict?

[898]*898IV. Did the juvenile court err when it refused to impose a stayed adult sentence?

DECISION

I.

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In Re the Welfare of D.D.R.
713 N.W.2d 891 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
713 N.W.2d 891, 2006 WL 1320123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-welfare-of-ddr-minnctapp-2006.