State v. Franklin

16 S.W.3d 692, 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 329, 2000 WL 257145
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 7, 2000
DocketED 75070
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 16 S.W.3d 692 (State v. Franklin) 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. Franklin, 16 S.W.3d 692, 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 329, 2000 WL 257145 (Mo. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

WILLIAM H. CRANDALL, Jr., Presiding Judge.

Defendant, Ceddrick Franklin, appeals from the judgment and sentence after a jury found him guilty of murder in the first degree, assault in the first degree, two counts of robbery in the first degree, two counts of burglary in the first degree, two counts of forcible sodomy and four counts of armed criminal action. We affirm in part and vacate and remand in part.

In September 1997, Anthony Cooper and James Howard were at Ronnie Golden’s residence. Howard told Cooper he wanted to rob Cornelius Payne. Howard also stated that Payne would have to be killed because Payne knew him. Defendant, Anthony Cooper, James Howard, Ronnie Golden and a fifth man went to rob Payne at his apartment located in a four family flat in St. Louis. Because there were several people around the flat, the men decided not to commit the robbery. On October 8, 1997, defendant went to Golden’s house where Cooper and Howard were present. Defendant said “he needed some drugs in his system.” Howard suggested that they “do the robbery” of Payne and that if they got a large amount of “dope” they would split it. Cooper then left and returned with Andre McIntosh. Defendant drove a stolen car to Howard’s house to obtain “things” for the robbery. Cooper, Howard, Golden and McIntosh drove a different car to Howard’s house. Defendant, Cooper, Howard, Golden and McIntosh prepared for the robbery by dressing in black, obtaining four pistols and wearing gloves and putting tape on their fingers to avoid leaving fingerprints. The five men went in the stolen ear to the four family flat and kicked in the door of one of the apartments. Dewayne Dodd, Ramona Davis and three children and not Payne lived at this apartment. The men demanded drugs and money, and hit and kicked Dodd and Ramona Davis. Food stamps were stolen from this apartment. Cooper found some razor blades and cut Dodd. Dodd suffered a broken nose and his cuts required between 300 and 350 stitches. The assailants eventually realized they were in the wrong apartment. Cooper told Golden to stay in Dodd’s apartment to make sure no one called the police. Defendant, Cooper, Howard and McIntosh then went to Payne’s apartment and kicked in the door. Payne, Carla Davis and three children were in the apartment. The four men demanded money and drugs. Defendant, Cooper and Howard beat Payne with a pole. At one point, the mask Cooper was wearing “raised up” and Carla Davis saw his face. Cooper told her he knew where she lived and he would kill her if she said “something.” Defendant found a pistol and gave it to Cooper. Cooper and Howard shot Payne, and additional' shots were also fired. Payne was shot nine times and died from his wounds. 1 Drugs and other items were stolen from the apartment. Defendant, Cooper, Howard, Golden and McIntosh fled in the stolen ear and divided up the stolen property.

Defendant was charged by information as a prior offender with murder in the first degree, assault in the first degree, two counts of robbery in the first degree, two counts of burglary in the first degree, two counts of forcible sodomy, four counts of armed criminal action and sexual misconduct in the first degree. The state entered a motion of nolle prosequi for the sexual misconduct count. Defendant, Cooper and Howard were tried together. The jury found defendant guilty of the twelve counts remaining at trial. The trial court *695 sentenced defendant as a prior offender to consecutive terms of life without parole for the murder conviction, twenty-five years for the assault conviction, twenty-five and thirty years for the robbery convictions, fifteen years for each burglary conviction, thirty years for each sodomy conviction and two life sentences, fifty years and twenty-five years for the armed criminal action convictions. This appeal followed.

The transcript of the trial was requested. The court reporter stated in an affidavit that her court reporter’s bag containing the last three tapes of the trial was stolen. The stolen tapes provided the state’s rebuttal evidence, prior offender hearings, instruction conference and closing argument. This court ordered the respective attorneys to prepare a stipulation for the missing portions of the transcript. The attorneys stipulated to certain facts but were unable to agree to certain other facts. This court granted the state’s motion to remand to the trial court to resolve the disputed portions of the record. The trial court issued a certification of the trial record and an addendum to the certification. Defendant filed a motion with this court objecting to the trial court’s certification of the record and requesting the cause be remanded for a new trial. Defendant contended among other things that meaningful review of his claims was impossible and that the trial court’s certification of the record was an inadequate remedy. Defendant also raised this issue in his brief.

An appealing party is entitled to a full and complete transcript for an appellate court’s review. State v. Middleton, 995 S.W.2d 443, 466 (Mo. banc 1999); State v. Anthony, 837 S.W.2d 941, 945 (Mo.App. E.D.1992). However, a transcript that is inaccurate or incomplete does not automatically require reversal. Id. Defendant is entitled to a new trial only if he exercised due diligence to correct the deficiency in the record and was prejudiced by the incompleteness of the record. Id. Under the circumstances here, defendant exercised due diligence to correct the record. With the exception of the missing transcript for defendant’s prior offender hearing that is discussed in our analysis for defendant’s ninth point, review of the record and defendant’s arguments fails to reveal any prejudice resulting from the missing transcript. Defendant’s request for a new trial is denied.

We next address defendant’s argument in his second point on appeal. Defendant contends that the trial court erred in “fashioning a ruling” that deprived the defense of its right to effectively cross-examine Golden and McIntosh regarding pending criminal charges. Defendant also contends that the trial court erred in refusing to permit the defense to cross-examine Martiez Armstrong at all regarding pending criminal charges. Defendant further contends that the rulings denied him the opportunity to demonstrate to the jury a reason for these witnesses to testify favorably for the state.

The scope of cross-examination and determinations regarding witness credibility are matters largely within the discretion of the trial court. State v. Taylor, 944 S.W.2d 925, 935 (Mo. banc 1997). Generally, a witness’ credibility may not be impeached by showing a mere arrest, investigation or criminal charge that has not resulted in a conviction. State v. Wise, 879 S.W.2d 494, 510 (Mo. banc 1994); State v. Francis, 997 S.W.2d 74, 78 (Mo.App. W.D. 1999).

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Related

Smith v. State
267 S.W.3d 829 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2008)
State v. Fry
197 S.W.3d 211 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2006)
State v. Dorsey
156 S.W.3d 791 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2005)
Franklin v. State
116 S.W.3d 699 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2003)
State v. Kidd
75 S.W.3d 804 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2002)
State v. Cooper
16 S.W.3d 680 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
16 S.W.3d 692, 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 329, 2000 WL 257145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-franklin-moctapp-2000.