State v. Futo

932 S.W.2d 808
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 27, 1996
Docket63922, 67201
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 932 S.W.2d 808 (State v. Futo) 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. Futo, 932 S.W.2d 808 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

GRIMM, Judge.

A jury convicted defendant of four counts of first degree murder under § 565.020, RSMol986. The trial court sentenced him to four consecutive life terms without possibility of probation or parole. Defendant appeals. 1

*811 He raises eleven points. His first is dispositive. In that point, he alleges the trial court erred in directing defense counsel not to discuss defendant’s testimony with him during numerous recesses while defendant testified, including two overnight. 2

This restriction violated defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel. See Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 96 S.Ct. 1330, 47 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976) and Perry v. Leeke, 488 U.S. 272, 109 S.Ct. 594, 102 L.Ed.2d 624 (1989). Therefore, we reverse and remand. Our discussion of other points is limited to those which may arise at retrial.

I. BACKGROUND

A grand jury indicted defendant for the July 26, 1991 murders of his mother, father, and two brothers, Joe and Nick. At the time of the killings, defendant lived with his wife and son in Riverside, California.

In late May or early June, 1991, defendant asked a neighbor about getting an unregistered .38 caliber pistol. The neighbor did not have one like that for sale. About two weeks later, they again discussed it. Subsequently, in late June, defendant told neighbor, “[D]on’t worry about it, it’s been taken care of.”

On July 20, 1991, defendant’s brother, Nick, told his girlfriend he received parts of a gun in a package defendant sent. Nick said defendant was coming into town for a $200,000 drug deal. Nick said defendant wanted Nick to pick him up at the airport, drive him where he needed to go, and drop him at the airport when it was over. Nick told girlfriend the drug deal was not his idea and that the gun was for any trouble which might occur.

On July 22, defendant used an assumed name, Jim Clayton, to purchase round-trip airline tickets from California to St. Louis. The tickets showed a 10 a.m. departure on July 25, indicating an afternoon arrival in St. Louis. The tickets also provided defendant was to leave St. Louis at 6:40 a.m. on July 26. Airline records reflect that the tickets were used as purchased.

Defendant convinced a friend to drive him to the airport. He told his friend he did not want his wife to know that he was going to St. Louis. They told their wives they were going camping. Friend took defendant to the airport on July 25, stayed away from home that day and night, and picked up defendant at the airport the next day.

Defendant’s brother Nick worked at his regular job in St. Louis on July 25. Late that afternoon, he gave money to a co-worker to purchase a pillow and a mallet. When he left the store about 5:30, girlfriend saw Nick with the mallet and pillow. When she asked about them, Nick told her that defendant asked him to pick them up for him.

Around 8 that evening, Nick called girlfriend. She asked, “[A]re you guys done yet?” Nick replied, “No, we’re not done yet, we haven’t done it.” Nick said he would call her again around midnight. She never heard from him again.

At approximately 9 that evening, residents of an apartment complex heard gunshots coming from the area of a nearby cemetery. Within a short while, a car similar to the one Nick owned pulled into the apartment parking lot. Defendant was alone in the driver’s seat of the car. He was looking in the direction of where the shooting took place. Late the next afternoon, Nick’s body was found in woods at the back of the cemetery. He had been shot four times with a .38 caliber pistol. A new pillow similar to the one Nick bought the day before was found in a nearby cemetery dump. The pillow appeared to have blood on it.

Between 9:30 and 11:00 the evening of July 25, defendant was seen sitting in a car similar to Nick’s. He was alone in the car and was fumbling with some papers.

Defendant’s father worked at Anheuser Busch. On July 25, he worked until twelve midnight.

Later the same night at 2:47 a.m., actually the early morning hours of July 26, a cab company received a request for a cab. The caller gave his name as Jim, the same name *812 defendant used to purchase the airline tickets. He asked to be picked up at a restaurant and taken to the airport.

The cab driver picked up defendant. At defendant’s request, the driver took him to a restaurant near the airport. Defendant ate some food and was there about 20 to 25 minutes. Between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m., defendant walked over to the airport. After walking around in the airport, he caught his flight back to California.

Around 4:30 that afternoon, relatives and the police went to father and mother’s home. When the police entered the home, they found mother’s body in a hallway, partially inside a bedroom. Blunt trauma to the head caused her death. A mallet such as the one Nick purchased for defendant would be consistent with the type of object used to cause mother’s injuries and death.

Father was found in the basement. His body had four, stab wounds and three gunshot wounds. The same gun used to shoot Nick was used to shoot father.

Defendant’s other brother, Joe, was found dead around 6:00 p.m. the same day. His body was in the back seat of his car, covered with trash bags. The car was parked about a block from father and mother’s house. Joe was shot three times with the same gun used to kill Nick and father.

Around 4:30 a.m. the next day, July 27, the police found Nick’s car. It was parked in a private business area, within walking distance of the restaurant where a cab had picked up defendant.

Later that same day, California law enforcement officers talked with defendant at his home. He told them he had been camping all week and had not “been back in St. Louis in over a year.”

The following day, July 28, Missouri law enforcement officers flew to California. They spoke with defendant. He told them he had lied to the other officers, that he had been in St. Louis on July 25. He acknowledged that Nick picked him up at the airport.

Among other things, he said he went to St. Louis to help Nick with a drug deal. Later, he said he and Nick went to his parents’ home, where Nick killed their mother. They then met up with Joe and told him what had happened. Joe panicked and Nick shot and killed him.

Defendant said he and Nick then returned to his parents’ home and waited for their father. When father arrived, Nick shot and killed him. They then went to the cemetery. They had a pact: Defendant was to kill Nick and then commit suicide. He admitted killing Nick, but could not kill himself. He then abandoned the car, went to the restaurant, called a cab, and ultimately went to the airport and flew home.

Defendant presented evidence, including his own testimony.

II. RESTRICTIONS ON ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS

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932 S.W.2d 808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-futo-moctapp-1996.