State v. Buzzard

909 S.W.2d 370, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1816, 1995 WL 632342
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 30, 1995
DocketNos. 18876, 19852
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 909 S.W.2d 370 (State v. Buzzard) 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. Buzzard, 909 S.W.2d 370, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1816, 1995 WL 632342 (Mo. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

MONTGOMERY, Presiding Judge.

A jury found Appellant Buddy Buzzard guilty of second degree burglary, § 569.170,1 and stealing, § 570.030. The trial court sentenced Appellant as a prior offender to two terms of eighteen years’ imprisonment to be served concurrently. Appellant brings appeal No. 18876 from that judgment.

Appellant commenced an action per Rule 29.152 to vacate, set aside, or correct the conviction or sentence. The motion court, after an evidentiary hearing, issued findings of fact and conclusions of law and entered an order denying relief. Appellant brings appeal No. 19852 from that order.

We consolidate the appeals, Rule 29.15(0, but address them separately in this opinion.

No. 18876

The evidence in the light most favorable to Appellant’s conviction is as follows. On August 16, 1991, Appellant’s wife drove Appellant and a friend, David Fleming, to a location near Doug Davis’s home. Appellant and Fleming entered the Davis home through a window. After breaking the lock on a gun case, the two men stole seven firearms consisting of a variety of handguns, rifles, and shotguns. They departed the crime scene carrying the guns. Appellant’s wife picked them up a short distance from the Davis home. They drove to Fleming’s girlfriend’s residence and hid the guns. Then, they decided to return to the crime scene to steal more items.

Davis returned to his home before they could gain reentry. The trio aborted their plan to steal more goods and returned to Fleming’s home. Fleming decided to keep one handgun, as did Appellant and his -wife. They agreed to sell the remaining guns across the state line.

At trial, a Neosho deputy sheriff testified that he found a handgun at Fleming’s girlfriend’s home. Fleming testified that he and Appellant burglarized the Davis home and stole the guns in the manner described [373]*373above. He also identified the gun found by the deputy as one that he and Appellant stole from the Davis home. Fleming’s girlfriend, Lisa Robinson, testified that she was present when Appellant, his wife, and Fleming planned the crime. She was also present when they returned with the stolen guns and when they decided to return to the Davis home to steal more items. She also identified the gun found by the deputy as one stolen by Appellant and Fleming from the Davis home.

Appellant’s first point on appeal is:

The trial court erred in overruling [Appellant’s] objection during the State’s closing argument, because the prosecutor injected into the minds of the jurors matters not proper for their consideration, in that the prosecutor made an indirect reference to [Appellant’s] failure to testify, thereby denying him a fair trial as required by the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 10 and 18(a) of the Missouri Constitution.

Appellant refers to the portions of the prosecutor’s closing argument where she said, “[H]ave you heard one shred of evidence, one shred that the State’s evidence is uncontroverted?” and “Have you heard one witness that testified that the State’s evidence is denied, refuted, or contradicted?” Appellant contends that the prosecutor’s comments were an impermissible indirect reference to his failure to testify. We disagree.

A prosecutor is prohibited from adversely commenting on an accused’s failure to testify. A prosecutor may not make direct or indirect comments which clearly imply that a reference is being made to the accused’s failure to testify. State v. Jackson, 750 S.W.2d 644, 648 (Mo.App.1988). However, this rule does not prohibit a prosecutor from referring to an accused’s failure to offer evidence. State v. Sidebottom, 758 S.W.2d 915, 920 (Mo. banc 1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 975, 109 S.Ct. 515, 102 L.Ed.2d 550 (1988). A prosecutor may refer to uncontro-verted evidence and may refer to the fact that the jury did not hear any evidence to contradict the state’s case. See State v. Mallory, 851 S.W.2d 46, 50 (Mo.App.1993).

In State v. Gardner, 743 S.W.2d 472, 473 (Mo.App.1987), the court held that the following portion of the prosecutor’s argument was proper: “The State’s case simply is uncontra-dicted. It’s uncontroverted. The defense has produced no witnesses or no evidence to contradict the State’s case.” The prosecutor’s argument in the present ease is substantially similar to that in Gardner. Here, the prosecutor properly referred to Appellant’s failure to offer any evidence. She did not refer directly or indirectly to Appellant’s failure to testify. Appellant’s first point has no merit.

Appellant’s second point is:

The trial court erred and abused its discretion in denying [Appellant’s] request for a mistrial when venire member Don Buntin stated during voir dire that a judge can release a convicted defendant in 120 days, because the court’s ruling violated Buddy’s rights to due process of law and to a trial by a fair and impartial jury as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 10, 18(a) and 22(a) of the Missouri Constitution in that Buntin’s comment minimized the responsibility of the jury and could have caused the jury to convict [Appellant] on less than probable cause under the impression that the court could release him in a few months following his conviction, and [Appellant] was thereby prejudiced.

Appellant argues that the trial court should have granted a mistrial because of the comments of a venireperson. The prosecutor asked the venire panel whether anyone did not believe in the way the Department of Corrections, or the penal system in general, is run in the United States. A venireperson responded:

Well, I’ll go on the record as saying, as I have before — I’ve set in a jury here — that whether the jury finds him guilty or innocent, the Judge can turn him loose in 120 days. So we read in the paper all the time about it, and I don’t think it’s right.

[374]*374Defense counsel then requested a mistrial, stating that he did not believe that there was any curative instruction that could eliminate the prejudice from the venireperson’s comment. The court denied the motion for mistrial and instructed the jury to disregard the comment. The court explained its ruling to counsel stating that the general public is aware of the 120-day rule from frequent references in the media. The court noted that it had observed members of the panel and noted that none of them appeared shocked by the venireperson’s comments.

The declaration of a mistrial is a drastic remedy and should be employed only in the most extraordinary circumstances. Sidebottom, 753 S.W.2d at 919-20. The trial court is vested with broad discretion in determining whether a jury panel should be dismissed because of statements made by an individual juror, and its ruling will not be disturbed on appeal absent a clear abuse of discretion. State v. Evans, 802 S.W.2d 507, 514 (Mo. banc 1991).

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Related

State v. Weekley
92 S.W.3d 327 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2002)
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923 S.W.2d 301 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
909 S.W.2d 370, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1816, 1995 WL 632342, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-buzzard-moctapp-1995.