State v. Carnahan

912 S.W.2d 115, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 2092, 1995 WL 756639
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 26, 1995
DocketNo. WD 49582
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 912 S.W.2d 115 (State v. Carnahan) 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. Carnahan, 912 S.W.2d 115, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 2092, 1995 WL 756639 (Mo. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

BERREY, Judge.

Appellant was charged in Greene County with the class A misdemeanor of assault of a law enforcement officer in the third degree, § 565.083, RSMo. Supp.1993, and the class B misdemeanor of unlawful use of a weapon in violation of § 571.030.1(5), RSMo. Supp.1993. The appellant sought and received a change of venue pursuant to Rule 32.04, and the case was bench tried in Clay County, Missouri.

Appellant was then convicted of both counts and sentenced to 11 months in the Greene County jail on Count I and 4 months in the Greene County jail on Count II, with the sentences to run consecutively.

This appeal follows wherein appellant alleges two points of trial court error. He claims the trial court erred in overruling his motions for acquittal because of insufficient evidence. Specifically, appellant argues the evidence was insufficient to sustain the assault conviction in that the state failed to prove the required culpable mental state. Appellant next contends the evidence was insufficient to sustain the unlawful use of a weapon conviction in that the state failed to prove the required element of intoxication.

Affirmed.

To fully develop the flavor of this appeal, a detailed recitation of the facts as presented at trial is not only helpful but necessary. Five policemen testified as having been present during the episode culminating in the two misdemeanor charges filed against appellant. In fact, a total of .eight or nine Springfield policemen were involved. Officer James Closser, a three-year veteran with the Springfield Police Department, testified he responded to a “panic alarm” at 1365 South Devon Street. Upon his arrival, Closser waited for back-up officers to arrive. From previous calls, Closser stated the person who lived there was anti-police and possessed weapons.1 Following the arrival of back-up, Closser and other officers looked through windows in an attempt to determine whether anyone was “... causing danger to the occupants ...” This inspection failed to produce any illicit activity. Next, Closser viewed appellant standing in his home holding a shotgun with the barrel pointed toward the ceiling. Upon seeing this, Closser notified his sergeant, and other officers were dispatched to the scene. The initial police response was triggered by a “panic alarm” of unknown origin.

According to Closser, appellant was fully clothed at this time. Closser and the other officers then set up “a perimeter.” Closser subsequently “thought” he heard a gun shot. Closser later observed the appellant exit the home wearing “only his underwear and a t-shirt.” Appellant was carrying a camera. At this point, appellant was detained by Officer David Vallely. Officer Bookout then “entered the house to secure it.” Closser also entered the house and found appellant’s wife coming out of a bedroom. Closser gathered up appellant’s guns and photographed them but did not remove them from the premises. Closser described finding a hole in the carpet and a .22 caliber shell casing on the floor. However, the officers did not locate a .22 caliber weapon in their search of the premises. Closser stated that appellant appeared intoxicated in that “[h]is eyes were glassy and kind of bloodshot.” Closser did not smell the odor of liquor on him. Closser testified that appellant was taking pictures as he exited the house. Closser stated appellant was eight to ten feet from the front of the house and was being detained for investigation. Closser subsequently observed appellant handcuffed and lying on the ground. Closser acknowledged he observed no violation of law, and that he did not immediately upon arrival announce he was a police officer.

Officer David Vallely generally substantiated Closser’s testimony. Vallely stated that upon his arrival (and before appellant was [117]*117detained as mentioned above) he saw appellant’s garage door open. Officer Vallely stated he “needed [his] flashlight to light up the interior of the garage.” In fact, Vallely used a 30,000 candle power handheld light. Vallely stated he then observed appellant in the garage holding a long gun with its barrel pointed toward the ceiling. Vallely stated that appellant refused to come out, shut the garage door, and, after a few minutes, exited unarmed through the front door of the house. Vallely then detained appellant in front of the house and conversed with him, but he stated, “I didn’t smell any thing.” He could not say whether or not appellant was intoxicated. Vallely further testified that appellant told him nothing was wrong and to leave his property.

Corporal Dave Zuhlke testified next. He responded to a radio call because it contained information that a gun was involved. When Zuhlke arrived, appellant was in the front yard with two other officers. Zuhlke ordered appellant’s camera taken from him and appellant placed in handcuffs. Zuhlke stated that appellant was not placed under arrest and that “[appellant] was taking pictures to sue.” Zuhlke stated that he smelled intoxicants on appellant’s breath and that appellant’s eyes were watery and bloodshot and in his opinion appellant was intoxicated. Zuhlke found empty beer cans in the garage. He also noted the house was “... clean, well kept.”2 The following colloquy typifies the entire episode:

Q. And you ordered his detention or arrest there in the front yard before you went in the house, right?
A. Well, I ordered that he be detained, yes.
Q. Well, you call people being detained and being arrested the same thing, or is that different?
A. One can lead to the other.
Q. When you put a man down on the ground with handcuffs on him, is that detained or arrested. Which is it?
A. Well, he may have been arrested at that point, but I didn’t do that. I asked that he be handcuffed. I didn’t say detain him or arrest him.
Q. Oh.
A. I asked that he be placed in handcuffs.
Q. But you put a man in handcuffs, and you don’t call that arresting him?
A. Not always, no.
Q. When does he become arrested when you put the handcuffs on him?
A. At that time, he was detained for our safety.
Q. No, let’s get back to my question. When you put handcuffs on a man, do you consider that arresting him?
A. Sometimes.
Q. You didn’t do that. Now you said he had a camera in his hand. Did you take the camera?
A. I didn’t, no.
Q. Did your officers take the camera?
A. I don’t know.
Q. You didn’t order it taken?
A. I said take the camera out of his hands, place him in handcuffs. I saw the camera. I didn’t spend any time with Mr. Carnahan after that.
Q. You didn’t. What about the pictures that he had taken, where are they?
A. I don’t have any idea.
Q. Did you seize them or order your men to seize them?
A. No.
Q. You did not? You don’t know anything about that?
A.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
912 S.W.2d 115, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 2092, 1995 WL 756639, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carnahan-moctapp-1995.