State ex rel. Reynolds v. Kendrick

868 S.W.2d 134, 1993 Mo. App. LEXIS 2008, 1993 WL 540864
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 28, 1993
DocketNo. 64607
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 868 S.W.2d 134 (State ex rel. Reynolds v. Kendrick) 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
State ex rel. Reynolds v. Kendrick, 868 S.W.2d 134, 1993 Mo. App. LEXIS 2008, 1993 WL 540864 (Mo. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

CARL R. GAERTNER, Presiding Judge.

Relator, Glen Reynolds, seeks our writ prohibiting respondent from proceeding with the relator’s trial for assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. Relator alleges that such a trial would be in violation of his constitutional right against double jeopardy. We granted a preliminary writ of prohibition which we now make permanent.

This cause was originally assigned to the Honorable Richard T. Enright of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. On April 14, 1993, a jury was sworn, and the State called its first witness, Carroll Harper. Harper testified to the following facts.

Harper said he worked as a part-time caretaker at a Laundromat. On February 21, 1992, the defendant, Glen Reynolds, entered the Laundromat. Harper asked the defendant to leave, but he refused. Harper then called the police and locked the door. At that point, the defendant went into the bathroom. Harper opened the bathroom door and told the defendant to come out. The defendant made a threatening gesture with a pair of needle-nose pliers, but Harper hit the defendant first with a lead pipe. With the blow to the head, the defendant fell to the floor. Harper backed up, and both men kept their distance. But when Harper looked out the front door to see if the police had arrived, the defendant stabbed him in the back of the head with the needle-nose pliers.

Upon cross-examination, Harper admitted his testimony at the defendant’s preliminary hearing contradicted his trial testimony. During the preliminary hearing, he had testified that the defendant stabbed him before he struck the defendant. To explain this inconsistency, Harper said a police officer who questioned him had implied that Harper should testify that the defendant stabbed him first. The following exchange took place:

Q So when you testified at the preliminary hearing under oath, that was not the truth?
A It wasn’t the way it happened.
Q So you committed perjury on that date, didn’t you?

At this point in the proceedings, the court called for a recess.

During this recess, the trial judge and counsel held a discussion off the record. When they came back on the record, the prosecutor asked the judge to recuse himself. The prosecutor based this request on an off-the-record statement by the judge that a directed verdict in favor of the defendant at the end of the State’s case would be appropriate. The trial court questioned whether he could disqualify himself in the middle of a trial but stated that he did want to end the proceedings.

THE COURT: Well, I want to do this in such a way that the State can appeal my ruling. I want to get rid of the case, but I don’t want to do it in such a way that the State can’t appeal it; I want to be sure that they can appeal. And I guess if I sustain a motion to strike the complaining witness’s testimony—
DEFENSE COUNSEL: Then he can put on whatever other evidence he has, and then we would make a motion for dismissal or acquittal at the close of the State’s evidence.
THE COURT: Well, how can we wind it up right now, though? I’m in no shape to hear any more evidence in this case.
DEFENSE COUNSEL: I have no further suggestions.

At that point, the judge decided to declare a mistrial sua sponte. The assistant prosecuting attorney asked the judge to state the specific reasons for the mistrial, but the judge refused. The judge told the parties [136]*136that they could proceed in whatever manner they thought appropriate.

On June 19, 1993, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. A hearing was held on defendant’s motion, and the motion was overruled. The case was then assigned for trial to the Honorable Larry L. Kendrick of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. This proceeding in prohibition ensued.

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that no person shall “be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb.” U.S. ConstAmend. V. The Double Jeopardy Clause applies to state trials through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 787, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 2058, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969). The defendant maintains that retrying this matter would violate his due process rights by twice placing him in jeopardy.

Whether double jeopardy bars retrial after the trial court has declared a mistrial depends largely on the defendant’s position at the time the mistrial was declared. If the defendant requested or consented to the mistrial, then double jeopardy does not bar a second trial unless the prosecutor intentionally goaded the defendant into making the request. Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 675-76, 102 S.Ct. 2083, 2089, 72 L.Ed.2d 416 (1982). On the other hand, where the defendant did not consent to the mistrial, double jeopardy does bar retrial unless the declaration of a mistrial was justified by “manifest necessity.” United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 481, 91 S.Ct. 547, 555, 27 L.Ed.2d 543 (1971); State v. Tolliver, 839 S.W.2d 296, 299 (Mo. banc 1992).

Neither party contends that the defendant requested or expressly consented to the mistrial. In fact, the mistrial was declared only after the State insisted that the trial judge remove himself from this matter because he had displayed a fixed prejudgment of the issues in the case. The State argues that the defendant implicitly consented to the mistrial by failing to make a specific objection. The State also maintains that the mistrial was justified by a “manifest necessity” — the trial judge’s prejudgment of the issues before him.

I. CONSENT

Relying on State v. Tolliver, 839 S.W.2d 296 (Mo. banc 1992), the State argues that the defendant consented to the mistrial by failing to make a specific objection. See, Tolliver, at 300. Implied consent to a mistrial is as effective as express consent in vitiating any double jeopardy bar to retrial. Id. at 299. However, determining consent does not turn on any mechanical formula, but on a careful analysis of the facts of each case. Id. at 299. The State contends that the instant case is factually similar to Tolliver. We disagree.

In both Tolliver and the present case, the trial court declared a mistrial on its own motion. However, in other respects, Tolliver and the present case could not be farther apart. In Tolliver, the trial court had granted the defendant’s motion to prohibit a police detective from mentioning his assignment with the “sex crimes unit.” Tolliver, at 297. The prosecutor failed to inform the detective of this, and the detective testified that he worked for the sex crimes unit. Id. Defense counsel objected and asked to approach the bench. At this sidebar, defense counsel began to argue about the impropriety of the prosecutor’s conduct. Id. at 298. The trial court interrupted defense counsel to declare a mistrial.

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Bluebook (online)
868 S.W.2d 134, 1993 Mo. App. LEXIS 2008, 1993 WL 540864, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-reynolds-v-kendrick-moctapp-1993.