State v. Foreman

680 N.W.2d 536, 2004 Minn. LEXIS 314, 2004 WL 1276728
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJune 10, 2004
DocketC5-03-160
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 680 N.W.2d 536 (State v. Foreman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court 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. Foreman, 680 N.W.2d 536, 2004 Minn. LEXIS 314, 2004 WL 1276728 (Mich. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

HANSON, Justice.

Appellant James Foreman (Foreman) was convicted of assault in the second degree for pointing a rifle at his wife B.A.F. during an argument. The district court sentenced him to 90 months in prison. Foreman appealed his conviction and sentencing to the court of appeals. The court of appeals affirmed the conviction, but remanded for resentencing. The issues before us are whether there was sufficient evidence to convict Foreman of assault in the second degree and whether the district court erred in sentencing Foreman to a 90-month prison term. We affirm the conviction, but modify the sentence to the presumptive sentence of 60 months.

On May 22, 2002, Richfield police responded to a 911 hang-up call from the Foreman residence. B.A.F. told police that she and her husband had gotten into an argument; that Foreman had picked up a rifle, pointed it at her and threatened to kill her; and that Foreman later retrieved the rifle, pointed it at her head and stated, “You don’t believe I would kill you, do you?” The police arrested Foreman and seized a loaded rifle.

Foreman was charged with assault in the second degree, a violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.222, subd. 1 (2002). During his incarceration awaiting trial, he called his wife’s telephone number over 600 times. At the pretrial hearing, the state informed the court that B.A.F. wanted to recant the allegations she had made to the police. The court continued the hearing to allow the state to re-evaluate the evidence. B.A.F. subsequently informed the state that her initial accusation had been true *538 but that she was confused and fearful about telling the truth.

At trial, B.A.F. and the responding police officers testified about the May 22 incident. They also testified, pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 634.20 (2002), about a prior domestic violence incident. On May 15, 2002, police had been called to the Foreman residence when Foreman had threatened B.A.F. with a knife. Police arrested Foreman and took him to jail. B.A.F. testified that Foreman called her from jail and told her to change her story and say that he had not threatened her with a knife. When she did so, and Foreman was subsequently released from jail, he returned home and threatened B.A.F. that he would kill her if she ever called the police again.

The state also introduced expert witness testimony on the battered woman syndrome. This testimony was offered by the state to assist the jury in understanding why some domestic abuse victims recant their allegations. The state’s expert testified that recantation by domestic abuse victims is common. She testified about the general psychological effects of domestic abuse, including negative self-concept, loss of identity, depression and confusion. Foreman objected to the introduction and scope of this evidence.

Foreman chose not to take the stand and offered no witnesses. The jury returned a verdict of guilty. The district court sentenced Foreman to 90 months in prison. On appeal, Foreman argued that the evidence to convict him was insufficient because B.A.F.’s testimony was not credible and there was no corroborating testimony or physical evidence. He also argued that the district court had abused its discretion when it imposed a 90-month prison sentence because it exceeded the statutory maximum of 84 months and the upward departure from the presumptive sentence of 60 months was not supported by sufficient aggravating circumstances.

The court of appeals concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury verdict, but that the district court had abused its discretion in sentencing because the 90-month term exceeded the statutory maximum of 84 months. The court determined that the district court had intended to depart, but had failed to identify sufficient grounds for departure. The court then examined the record and determined that there were sufficient grounds to depart from the presumptive sentence. Deferring to the district court’s familiarity with the record, the court remanded for resentencing. State v. Foreman, No. C5-03-160, 2003 WL 22333064, at *4 (Minn.App. Oct.14, 2003) (unpublished decision). We granted Foreman’s petition for further review.

I.

In reviewing a claim of insufficiency of the evidence, we are “limited to ascertaining whether, based on the evidence presented at trial, a jury could have reasonably concluded that the accused is guilty of the offense.” State v. McBride, 666 N.W.2d 351, 364 (Minn.2003). We review the evidence in a light most favorable to the state and must assume that the jury believed the state’s witnesses and disbelieved the defendant’s witnesses. Id.

Although Foreman recognizes this court’s normal standard of review on the sufficiency of the evidence, he argues that because B.A.F. recanted, a heightened standard of review applies and corroboration of her testimony is required. Foreman rests his argument on our decision in State v. Ani, a criminal sexual conduct case where we noted that the absence of corroboration of the victim’s testimony might, in a given case, raise doubt about *539 the sufficiency of the evidence. 257 N.W.2d 699, 700 (Minn.1977). But Ani clearly states that corroboration is not mandated by statute or the constitution. Id. In sustaining the conviction in Ani, we held that the positive and uncontradicted testimony of a victim may be sufficient by itself to support a conviction. Id.

We have stated that “a conviction can rest on the uncorroborated testimony of a single credible witness.” State v. Hill, 285 Minn. 518, 518, 172 N.W.2d 406, 407 (1969). There, we affirmed a conviction based on the testimony of a single witness even though that witness had said, outside of court, that he would testify against the defendant “because he didn’t like him anyway.” Id. We concluded that his testimony was sufficient to identify the defendant and that as long as the evidence was sufficient to reasonably support the jury’s finding, the credibility of a witness was for the jury to determine. Id. Similarly, in State v. Reichenberger, we affirmed a conviction of having sexual intercourse with a minor, even though the victim made conflicting statements at various times prior to trial, because at trial she testified positively that intercourse had occurred. 289 Minn. 75, 78, 182 N.W.2d 692, 694 (1970). We held that the jury was apprised of the previous inconsistent statements and “the task of weighing credibility was for the jury, not this court.” Id. at 79, 182 N.W.2d at 695.

The cases relied upon by Foreman are distinguishable because each involved additional reasons to question the victim’s credibility. In State v. Huss, we determined that the testimony of the alleged victim of child abuse was insufficient because there was expert testimony that the victim had been exposed by the state to highly suggestive material and her testimony was not sufficiently credible.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
680 N.W.2d 536, 2004 Minn. LEXIS 314, 2004 WL 1276728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-foreman-minn-2004.