State v. Baker

40 S.W.3d 392, 2001 Mo. App. LEXIS 247, 2001 WL 117788
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 13, 2001
DocketNo. WD No. 58215
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 40 S.W.3d 392 (State v. Baker) 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 v. Baker, 40 S.W.3d 392, 2001 Mo. App. LEXIS 247, 2001 WL 117788 (Mo. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

HAROLD L. LOWENSTEIN, Judge.

In August of 1999, the appellant, Brett Baker, was charged by information with stalking, § 565.225.2,1 a class A misdemeanor. After a jury trial Baker was found guilty and was sentenced as a prior offender, § 558.016, to five months in the Howard County jail. Because this court finds that there was sufficient evidence to convict Baker of stalking under § 565.225.2, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

I.

In his sole point on appeal, Baker challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. Baker specifically argues that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he engaged in a “course of conduct” to harass Maria Tickner, and to prove that she suffered from “substantial emotional distress.”

Standard of Review

In determining the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, this court views the evidence and all inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the verdict, and it disregards evidence and inferences contrary to the verdict. State v. Ervin, 979 S.W.2d 149, 159 (Mo. banc 1998). An appellate court neither weighs the evidence, nor determines the reliability or credibility of witnesses, but rather limits its determination to whether there is substantial evidence from which a reasonable jury might have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Hill, 970 S.W.2d 868, 872 (Mo.App.1998). “Substantial evidence is evidence from which the trier of fact could reasonably find the issue in harmony with, the verdict.” State v. Gomez, 863 S.W.2d 652, 655 (Mo.App.1993).

To convict Baker of stalking under § 565.225.2, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Baker purposely and repeatedly harassed or followed Maria Tickner with the intent of harassing her. “Harasses” is defined in § 565.225.1(3) as “engag[ing] in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that serves no legitimate purpose, that would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, and that actually causes substantial emotional distress to that person.” The information charging Baker with stalking stated that “on or about March 1999 through April 1999 ... the defendant repeatedly and purposely harassed [Maria Tickner] by following her, looking into her trailer, and/or shining a light into her trailer at night and thereby caused substantial emotional distress to M.T.”

A. Course of Conduct to Harrass

Baker argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to prove that he engaged in a “course of conduct,” under § 565.225.1(1). A course of conduct is defined in § 565.225.1(1) as “a pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose....”

[394]*394Ms. Tickner testified that in January of 1999, Baker, her former boyfriend, called her numerous times. After Baker got out of jail2 in March of 1999, he visited her trailer in Moberly, Missouri, on several occasions, knocking loudly on the door and yelling that he needed to see her. Baker pounded on the trailer so hard that it left dents.

Ms. Tickner also testified that one day, in March of 1999, she came home and noticed that her trailer smelled of gas. Ms. Tickner investigated and found that the pilot lights to all of her gas appliances were blown out. Ms. Tickner also noticed her bathtub and sink fixtures were loosened, the temperature on her freezer had been turned all the way up, and a folder containing some of her personal papers was missing. Ms. Tickner testified that Baker knew the folder was important to her, and that he had taken it from her in the past. Two days after the folder was taken, she found the folder and a- coat hanger wire under the driver’s floor mat of her car.

The next incident occurred when Ms. Tickner went to pick up her son, Chris, from tennis practice at school. On their way home, Chris asked to stop at a Subway sandwich shop. While on their way they saw Baker, who turned in front of them in his vehicle. While at the sandwich shop, Ms. Tickner stayed in her vehicle and she noticed Baker drive by again. After leaving the sandwich shop, Ms. Tick-ner drove through a strip mall parking lot heading towards the Save More grocery store and encountered Baker across from her at a stop sign. Baker passed by again as she waited for Chris to come out of the grocery store.

Approximately two weeks later, Ms. Tickner was taking a walk near her home. She saw Baker’s car stopped at an intersection across from her. Baker’s car was headed in the opposite direction of the way Ms. Tickner was walking. Baker pulled in a driveway and headed down the road in the direction of Ms. Tickner.

On the Saturday morning before Easter at 3:00 a.m., Ms. Tickner awoke to a light shining in her face. She looked out of her window and saw Baker standing outside holding the light. She told him, “Get out of here,” and watched him walk away from the mobile home.

Finally, in April of 1999, Ms. Tickner drove her son to Wal-Mart to return a watch. Ms. Tickner stayed in the car and waited for her son. While sitting in the car, Ms. Tickner saw Baker walk by in front of her car. He pointed down and made an angry expression at her.3

Baker’s acts, such as continued knocking on her door, the intrusions into her trailer, and the shining of a light in her bedroom, were performed with the purpose of frightening and harassing Ms. Tickner. As such, the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that Baker engaged in a “course of conduct” to harass Ms. Tickner.

B. Substantial Emotional Distress

It was also necessary for the state to prove that Ms. Tickner suffered from “substantial emotional distress.” “A verdict of guilty must rest on proof beyond a reasonable doubt of each element of the crime charged against the defendant.’ ” State v. Dawson, 985 S.W.2d 941, 946 (Mo.[395]*395App.1999) (quoting State v. Conway, 786 S.W.2d 165, 168 (Mo.App.1990)).

“Substantial emotional distress” is not defined in § 565.225. State v. Martin, 940 S.W.2d 6, 8 (Mo.App.1997). Since the legislature chose not to define “substantial emotional distress,” the fact finder is to apply the terms in “their commonly understood meaning[s].” Id. at 9. In 1998, this court set out in Wallace v. Van Pelt, 969 S.W.2d 380 (Mo.App.1998) the plain and ordinary meaning of the phrase “substantial emotional distress” as used in § 455.010(10), which defines stalking under the Adult Abuse Act, §§ 455.010 to 455.085. There too, the legislature had declined to define the phrase. As the definition of stalking in § 455.010(10) is substantially similar to that of § 565.225, this court’s interpretation of the plain and ordinary meaning of “substantial emotional distress” in Wallace is instructive.

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Bluebook (online)
40 S.W.3d 392, 2001 Mo. App. LEXIS 247, 2001 WL 117788, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-baker-moctapp-2001.