State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Henry Lee Brown, Appellant

Supreme Court of Minnesota·Decided April 16, 2025·No. A230271·Published

Opinion

STATE OF MINNESOTA

IN SUPREME COURT

A23-0271

Court of Appeals Hennesy, J.

Concurring, Thissen, McKeig, Moore, III, JJ.

Took no part, Gaïtas, J.

State of Minnesota, Respondent,

vs. Filed: April 16, 2025 Office of Appellate Courts Henry Lee Brown,

Appellant.

Keith Ellison, Attorney General, Saint Paul, Minnesota; and

Mary F. Moriarty, Hennepin County Attorney, Britta K. Nicholson, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for respondent.

Cathryn Middlebrook, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Sara J. Euteneuer, Assistant Public Defender, Saint Paul, Minnesota, for appellant.

SYLLABUS

The criminal vehicular homicide statute for leaving the scene, Minnesota Statutes § 609.2112, subd. 1(a)(7) (2024), does not require the State to prove a defendant was operating a motor vehicle at the time of a collision.

Affirmed.

OPINION

HENNESY, Justice.

This case presents an issue of statutory interpretation—specifically, whether the criminal vehicular homicide statute for leaving the scene, Minn. Stat. § 609.2112, subd. 1(a)(7) (2024), 1 requires the State to prove a defendant was operating a motor vehicle at the time of a fatal collision. Appellant Henry Lee Brown pled guilty to violating this statute in connection with a 2021 fatal collision. Before sentencing, Brown filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, which the district court denied. On appeal, Brown argued the district court abused its discretion when it denied his motion. In support of his argument, Brown asserted that Minn. Stat. § 609.2112, subd. 1(a)(7), required the State to prove both that at the time of the collision (1) he was operating the vehicle, and (2) his operation of the vehicle was volitional. Based on that assertion, Brown argued the factual basis for his guilty plea was inaccurate, and therefore constitutionally invalid, because he claimed he

1 The Legislature amended the criminal vehicular homicide statute in 2023. The statutory language that is relevant to this case, however, has not changed. See Act of May 30, 2023, ch. 63, § 39.

was unconscious and incapable of volitionally operating the vehicle at the time of the collision.

The court of appeals affirmed Brown’s conviction, concluding that the statute did not require the State to prove volitional operation of the vehicle at any time. We need not reach the issue on which the court of appeals based its decision, because an act of operating a motor vehicle that takes place before a collision can satisfy the requirements of Minn. Stat. § 609.2112, subd. 1(a)(7), and Brown admitted in the factual basis for his plea that he operated the vehicle volitionally before the collision. We therefore affirm the decision of the court of appeals on other grounds.

FACTS

On March 4, 2021, Brown was driving a motor vehicle near his home in Minneapolis. His girlfriend was in the passenger seat. When they were within blocks of Brown’s home, Brown hit and killed a pedestrian. He did not stop at the scene. He drove home and did not contact the police.

The State charged Brown with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide. In Count I, the State charged Brown with criminal vehicular homicide for operating a vehicle with negligence while under the influence of alcohol under Minn. Stat. § 609.2112, subd. 1(a)(2)(i) (2024). In Count II, the State charged Brown with criminal vehicular homicide for leaving the scene after causing a collision under Minn. Stat. § 609.2112, subd. 1(a)(7). Brown initially pled not guilty to both counts, and the case proceeded to trial.

On June 14, 2021, after the second day of jury selection, Brown’s girlfriend told the prosecution for the first time that Brown had suffered a medical incident at the time of the collision. The next day, Brown pled guilty to Count II, criminal vehicular homicide for leaving the scene after causing the collision.

In providing the factual basis for his guilty plea, Brown admitted that he was driving the motor vehicle that hit and killed the pedestrian. He further admitted that he left the scene of the collision and drove home afterwards without notifying the police. Brown said, however, that he had suffered a “medical incident” and had lost consciousness just before the collision. He acknowledged that he continued driving and regained consciousness a few blocks from the collision. He said he did not recall what happened while he was unconscious. Brown agreed that he “caused the collision” with a pedestrian.

During the plea colloquy, the district court questioned whether the plea should be a Norgaard plea, 2 given that Brown did not recall the collision. The parties agreed a Norgaard plea was unnecessary because Brown acknowledged that he had been aware of his duty to report the accident as soon as possible. The district court remarked that it was “not sure whether this is a Norgaard plea or not,” but agreed to supplement the factual basis of Brown’s plea with his girlfriend’s June 14, 2021 statement to the prosecution.

2 See State ex rel. Norgaard v. Tahash, 110 N.W.2d 867 (Minn. 1961). For a discussion of Norgaard pleas, see State v. Ecker, 524 N.W.2d 712, 716 (Minn. 1994) (“A defendant may also plead guilty even though he or she claims a loss of memory, through amnesia or intoxication, regarding the circumstances of the offense. In such cases, the record must establish that the evidence against the defendant is sufficient to persuade the defendant and his or her counsel that the defendant is guilty or likely to be convicted of the crime charged.”).

In her statement, Brown’s girlfriend reported the following: She had noticed the motor vehicle accelerating as they approached a stop sign. She looked over and saw Brown “convulsing” with “his head nodded down.” She called his name “to wake him up.” She saw a pedestrian and tried to “honk . . . the horn to warn him,” but the vehicle collided with the pedestrian. Brown’s foot remained on the gas pedal, and the vehicle remained in motion. Brown regained consciousness “two short side blocks” from the scene of the collision. When Brown regained consciousness, Brown’s girlfriend was screaming, “I think we hit somebody.” Brown drove home and parked the car. Brown’s girlfriend showed Brown that the car’s windshield was cracked from the collision. She returned to the scene of the collision, which was only four houses away, but did not contact the police. Brown did not return to the scene or contact the police. Brown’s girlfriend returned home and told Brown that the pedestrian was dead. Even after learning the pedestrian had died, Brown did not return to the scene or contact the police.

On November 15, 2022, Brown filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The district court denied Brown’s motion and sentenced him to 58 months in prison.

Brown appealed, arguing that the district court abused its discretion when it denied his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. In support of his argument, Brown asserted that Minn. Stat. § 609.2112, subd. 1(a)(7), required the State to prove both that (1) he was operating the vehicle at the time of the collision, and (2) his operation was volitional at the time of the collision. Based on that assertion, Brown argued the factual basis for his guilty plea was inaccurate, and therefore constitutionally invalid, because he claimed he was unconscious at the time of the collision. The court of appeals affirmed the district court,

holding that “[t]he statute does not require that Brown’s operation of the vehicle include a volitional act,” reasoning that “the act constituting the crime is leaving the scene of the collision and failing to notify law enforcement to enable law enforcement to investigate what occurred.” State v. Brown, No. A23-0271, 2024 WL 1251644 *5 (Minn. App. Mar. 25, 2024). The court of appeals concluded that “Brown’s guilty plea was accurate and therefore valid.” Id.

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