State v. Crims

540 N.W.2d 860, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 1441, 1995 WL 697512
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedNovember 28, 1995
DocketC6-95-41, C1-95-304
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 540 N.W.2d 860 (State v. Crims) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Crims, 540 N.W.2d 860, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 1441, 1995 WL 697512 (Mich. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

OPINION

SHORT, Judge.

A jury convicted Raymond Crims of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.344, subd. 1(c). On appeal, Crims argues he is entitled to a new trial because the trial court committed plain error when instructing the jury, violated his constitutional rights by excluding evidence of the victim’s history as a prostitute, and abused its discretion by refusing to grant a new trial due to juror misconduct.

[863]*863FACTS

On December 2, 1993, Raymond Crims met T.K. at Danny’s Bar. For three to four hours, the two played pool, danced, hugged, and kissed. Shortly after midnight, they left the bar arm-in-arm. Before long, several residents of a Minneapolis apartment building heard T.K. cry for help and scream she was being raped. -Peering out a window, a resident saw two figures in the snow and noticed one was- struggling to remove the other’s pants.

When the police arrived a few minutes later, they found Crims engaging in sexual intercourse with T.K. His hand covered her mouth. Nearby, a utility knife lay in the snow, its blade extended. Also strewn about the scene were T.K.’s lip balm, medication, cigarettes, and other personal effects. Leading to the scene, the police observed marks consistent with the dragging of a body through the snow. The officers identified themselves. Four times, they ordered Crims to stop. When Crims failed to do so, the officers physically removed him from T.K.

When questioned by police and at trial, Crims and T.K. gave conflicting accounts of the night’s events. Crims stated T.K. consented to have sex with him as compensation for $20 in drug money, but she began screaming before he penetrated her. By contrast, T.K. asserted Crims offered to walk her to a friend’s house, then pushed her to the ground and raped her.

The state charged Crims with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.342, subd. 1(d) (dangerous weapon). At his first trial, in May 1994, Crims sought to prove T.K. consented to sex as compensation for drug money. To support his theory, Crims proposed to introduce evidence of T.K’s 1991 arrest for prostitution. Crims argued he required this evidence to develop his eonsent/prostitution defense, as well as the theory that T.K. fabricated the incident after a dispute arose over her fee. Crims claimed that if the trial court refused to admit T.K.’s arrest record, it would violate his constitutional rights to present a defense and confront his accusers.

Initially, the trial court barred the evidence. However, at trial, the prosecution opened the door by suggesting T.K. would never prostitute herself. Because of the, prosecution’s questions, the trial court allowed Crims to introduce evidence of T.K.’s prostitution in 1991. That trial ended in a hung jury. After the trial court declared a mistrial, the state added two counts to its complaint: first-degree criminal sexual conduct in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.342, subd. 1(c) (fear of imminent great bodily harm), and third-degree criminal sexual conduct in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.344, subd. 1(c) (force or coercion).

At his second trial, Crims again moved to introduce evidence of T.K.’s past sexual behavior. This time, the defense proposed to introduce the testimony of T.K.’s apartment manager, who also worked at. Danny’s Bar. The witness offered to testify: (1) at the end of January or the beginning of February 1994, T.K. exchanged sex for cocaine at a party; (2) in May 1994, she asked the witness for condoms so she could earn money to pay bills; (3) also in May, in exchange for a small package, she performed fellatio on a man outside her apartment building; and (4) during the same period, she once offered to perform fellatio on the witness if he repaired her electricity. Because these events took place after the December 1993 incident, the trial court refused to admit them.

At the close of Crims’ second trial, the trial court instructed the jury. With regard to the third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge, the court defined the elements as: (1) penetration; (2) without consent; (3) by use of force or coercion. The court defined penetration as “sexual intercourse, fellatio or any intrusion however slight into the genital or anal openings * * It described consent as “a voluntary and uncoerced agreement to perform a particular sexual act at that time [it] takes place.”

An hour after the jury retired, its foreperson passed a note to the court:

If someone says no during the act of sexual intercourse, under the law is it rape if the other person continues the act after the other person asks him to stop[?]

After securing the agreement of counsel, the trial court advised the jury to review its [864]*864written instructions carefully. The jury then informed the court it found the answer in the written instructions. Shortly thereafter, the jury reached a verdict and found Crims not guilty on both counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (dangerous weapon and fear of great bodily harm), but guilty of third-degree criminal sexual conduct (force or coercion).

Six days later, a police investigator saw T.K. by chance and informed her that the jury convicted Crims. T.K. asked the investigator what consequences could flow from a victim’s perception, upon taking the stand, of a familiar face in the jury box. After questioning T.K. further, the investigator considered her inquiry purely hypothetical. Nonetheless, he reported the conversation.

On the basis of the investigator’s report, Crims moved for a hearing on juror misconduct. The trial court granted his motion. Before the hearing, the trial court agreed with counsel on the questions it would propound to the jury. At the hearing, counsel received the opportunity to ask the jurors additional questions, but declined to do so. Each juror denied prior contact with any of the witnesses. T.K., having died in the interim, did not appear at the hearing. Without any further offer of proof, Crims requested the trial court to order a new trial. The trial court denied his motion and proceeded with sentencing.

ISSUES

I. Did the trial court commit plain error in instructing the jury?

II. Did the trial court violate Crims’s constitutional rights by refusing to admit evidence of the victim’s history of prostitution?

III. Did the trial court abuse its discretion by refusing to order a new trial due to juror misconduct?

ANALYSIS

In reviewing a trial court’s jury instructions, evidentiary rulings, and denial of a motion for a new trial, we examine the record for abuse of discretion and errors of law. Uselman v. Uselman, 464 N.W.2d 130, 138 (Minn.1990) (evidentiary rulings); Halla Nursery v. Baumann-Furrie & Co., 454 N.W.2d 905, 910 (Minn.1990) (denial of motion for new trial); Alholm v. Wilt, 394 N.W.2d 488, 490 (Minn.1986) (jury instructions, abuse of discretion); Alevizos v. Metropolitan Airports Comm’n, 452 N.W.2d 492, 501 (Minn.App.1990) (jury instructions, error of law), review denied (Minn. May 11, 1990). We review questions of law de novo. Frost-Benco Elec. Ass’n v. Minnesota Pub. Utils. Comm’n,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
540 N.W.2d 860, 1995 Minn. App. LEXIS 1441, 1995 WL 697512, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-crims-minnctapp-1995.