State v. Baum

714 S.W.2d 804, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4336
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 30, 1986
DocketNo. 14201
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 714 S.W.2d 804 (State v. Baum) 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. Baum, 714 S.W.2d 804, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4336 (Mo. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

FLANIGAN, Judge.

A jury found defendant Herschel Baum guilty on two charges of stealing by deceit and one charge of arson in the second degree. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for each stealing offense and five years’ imprisonment for arson, the sentences to run concurrently. Defendant appeals. In general defendant claims that the trial court erred in giving Instruction 6, in rejecting evidence offered by defendant, and in not granting a new trial based on alleged misconduct affecting a juror.

Each of the three counts of the indictment arose out of a separate transaction. Count I charged the defendant with obtaining money by deceit from Great American Insurance Companies, the fire insurer of Buttons and Bows Children’s Shop, a retail store in Joplin operated by defendant’s wife Janice Baum and owned by a closely held corporation of which Janice Baum was president and defendant was treasurer. A fire occurred on June 2,1981, causing damage to the shop. The state’s evidence showed that defendant arranged for the setting of the fire and falsely represented to the insurance company that he had not done so, thereby inducing payment of the loss.

Count II, like Count I, involved stealing by deceit from Great American Insurance Companies. Defendant’s claim for the insurance proceeds was based on a fictitious burglary and theft which allegedly occurred on September 10,1981, at Hershey’s Western Wear, a retail store owned and operated by defendant in Joplin. The state’s evidence showed that although goods were taken from the store, defendant had arranged the incident and falsely represented to the insurer that he had not done so.

Count III charged the defendant with committing arson in the second degree by starting a fire on December 5, 1983, in a retail store located in Joplin and occupied by Western Wardrobe, a business competitor of defendant. The state’s evidence showed that defendant arranged for Valerie Cooper to set this fire.

Defendant’s first point is that the trial court erred in giving Instruction 6, the state’s verdict-director, on Count I. Instruction 6, with the portion of it concerning punishments deleted, reads:

“INSTRUCTION NO. 6
A person is responsible for his own conduct and he is also responsible for the conduct of another person in committing an offense if he acts with him with the common purpose of committing that offense, or if, for the purpose of commit[806]*806ting that offense, he aids or encourages the other person in committing it.
As to Count I, if you find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt:
First, that between June 18, 1981 and May 4, 1982, in the County of Jasper, State of Missouri, the defendant and Janice B. Baum appropriated money owned by Great American Insurance Companies, and
Second, that the defendant and Janice B. Baum did so by means of deceit by purposely representing that a fire loss occurring at Buttons and Bows Chil-drens Shop occurring on June 2, 1981 did not originate by any act, design or procurement on defendant’s part, a representation defendant knew was false and did not believe to be true, and Great American Insurance Companies relied on defendant’s false representation, and
Third, that the defendant and Janice B. Baum in such manner obtained such property for the purpose of withholding it from the owner permanently, and
Fourth, that the property so appropriated had a value of at least one hundred and fifty dollars,
then you are instructed that the offense of stealing has occurred, and if you further find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt:
Fifth, that with the purpose of promoting or furthering the commission of stealing, the defendant aided or encouraged Janice B. Baum in committing that offense,
then you will find the defendant guilty under Count I of stealing.
However, if you do not find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt each and all of the propositions submitted in this instruction, you must find the defendant not guilty of that offense.”
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Defendant asserts that it was error to give the instruction because: (a) “To find the defendant guilty under the instruction, the jury had to find the defendant’s wife guilty and there was no evidence to support such a finding and no evidence that the defendant in any way aided and abetted his wife in the commission of the submitted offense,” and (b) “The prejudice to the defendant created by the use of the instruction permeated the defense with regard to Counts II and III” because defendant’s wife was called as a defense witness and the giving of the instruction “undermined illegally her credibility as a defense witness with regard to all counts.”

With respect to Count I, the state’s evidence showed that the Buttons and Bows Children’s Shop was actively managed by Janice Baum. It was owned by a corporation of which Janice was president and defendant was treasurer. Each held 50 percent of the stock. The business was not prosperous and defendant told state’s witness Valerie Cooper that it was “bankrupting” him.

Great American Insurance Companies carried fire insurance on the store, providing coverage for loss of inventory and for loss occasioned by business interruption. The fire of June 2, 1981, which caused damage to the inventory of the store and caused it to be closed for three months, was set by state’s witness Calvin Moore who admitted setting it. Valerie Cooper, at the instance of defendant, had made arrangements for Moore to set the fire. Defendant gave Valerie $300 which she in turn paid to Moore for committing the arson.

Defendant admitted that he signed proofs of loss with respect to losses occasioned by the fire, sent them to the insurance company and was paid $72,029. The state’s evidence showed that the proof of loss which defendant filled out and submitted to the company contained a representation that the loss did not originate by any act, design or procurement on his part.

Separate proofs of loss were submitted with respect to the inventory loss and the business interruption loss. Janice Baum, [807]*807as president of the insured corporation, Buttons and Bows Children’s Shop, Inc., signed the proof of loss with respect to the inventory loss. There was no evidence that Janice Baum was involved in or had any knowledge of the planning or execution of the arson.

After the court had read Instruction 6 and the other instructions to the jury, Prosecutor Rouse, near the outset of his opening argument, said:

“Ladies and gentlemen, the first one I want to go into is Buttons and Bows, and that’s Instruction Number 6. Uh, first of all, you, as you heard the Judge read to you, and as you will read, the name Janice Baum comes in here, comes in throughout this instruction. Janice Baum is not charged with any crime here. The State is not intending to prove that Janice Baum had any participation in this crime. The reason Janice Baum is in this instruction is, as you heard Otis Thomas testify, she was a co-owner of Buttons and Bows along with Hershey Baum. She was also on the check.

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Related

Hanna v. State
398 S.W.3d 125 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. Gateley
907 S.W.2d 212 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1995)
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781 S.W.2d 249 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1989)
State v. Welsh
775 S.W.2d 557 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1989)
State v. Cooper
735 S.W.2d 85 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
714 S.W.2d 804, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4336, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-baum-moctapp-1986.