State v. Gibbs

875 S.W.2d 159, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 426, 1994 WL 75761
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided March 15, 1994·No. No. 63271·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

CRIST, Judge.

Defendant appeals his jury convictions of second degree murder, second degree robbery, and armed criminal action.

At the close of all the evidence, the jury convicted Defendant on all three counts. He was sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment for second degree murder, ten years’ imprisonment for second degree robbery, and fifteen years’ imprisonment for armed criminal action.

The sufficiency of the evidence is not an issue. The evidence adduced at trial revealed the following: On August 15, 1989, at approximately 11:45 a.m., Deborah Shelton stopped at the Derby gas station on Missouri Boulevard in Jefferson City. When Shelton entered the gas station to pay for her gas, she noticed Defendant entering at the same time. As Shelton was paying for her purchases, Defendant came up behind her and asked the attendant if the boss was in. Shelton turned and looked at Defendant while he was speaking to the attendant. When the attendant told Defendant the boss was not in, he left. When Shelton left the gas station, there was no one else around.

Robert Ordway also stopped at the Derby gas station at approximately 12:05 p.m. When he went inside to pay for his gas, he could not find the attendant. Ordway noticed the door to the stockroom was open and a tennis shoe was sticking out of the door. Ordway opened the door and discovered the attendant’s body lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

The cash register tape at the Derby gas station showed Shelton’s purchase at 11:45 a.m. It also showed three subsequent transactions, the last being a “no sale,” occurring at 11:56 a.m. Also, approximately $338 was missing from the cash register.

Defendant was subsequently charged with second degree murder, second degree robbery, and armed criminal action. At his trial, Jodette Warmack testified that on August 15, 1989, she was watching the noon newscast at her mother’s home in Jefferson City when her husband, Michael Warmack, came in with Defendant. Warmack was very upset and was crying. When Mrs. Warmack tried to find out what was wrong, he just kept saying things like, “It was an accident” and “Please let her live.” Defendant did not say anything. Warmack then told Defendant to unload the gun. Defendant pulled a gun from under his shirt and unloaded it. Defendant then divided approximately $300 with Warmack and left.

Mrs. Warmack then went with her husband to hide the gun and to burn the clothes he had been wearing during the shooting. Mrs. Warmack later led the police to the gun [161] and the burned remains of Warmack’s clothes. A ballistics expert testified he believed the gun found by the police was the one used to shoot the attendant at the Derby gas station.

In Point I, Defendant asserts reversible error by the trial court’s failure to exclude Mrs. Warmack’s testimony her husband told her, in Defendant’s presence, he had accidentally shot the victim and hoped she did not die. Defendant objected to Mrs. Warmack’s testimony, but the court ruled the statements were admissible as nonhearsay because they were not offered for the truth of the matter asserted. State v. Foley, 629 S.W.2d 401, 402[2] (Mo.App.1982). Also, the statements may have been admissible under the excited utterance rule, not an issue at trial. State v. Debler, 856 S.W.2d 641, 648 (Mo. banc 1993).

In any event, the statements were admissible under the tacit admission rule. A defendant may adopt the statements of another as a tacit admission either by silence or by other conduct significantly acquiescing in the import of the damaging statements. State v. White, 665 S.W.2d 359, 363[6] (Mo.App.1984). Further, in determining whether an admission has been made, the relevant statements and actions are construed in light of the surrounding circumstances. State v. Girardier, 801 S.W.2d 793, 796[6] (Mo.App.1991).

When viewed in light of all the surrounding circumstances, Defendant’s silence and conduct following Warmaek’s statements constituted a tacit admission. After the above-mentioned statements were made, Mrs. War-mack testified her husband told Defendant to unload the gun. Defendant pulled a gun from under his shirt and unloaded it. He then divided approximately $300 with War-mack. By his silence and subsequent conduct, Defendant tacitly admitted his part in the murder. See, State v. White 665 S.W.2d 359, 363[6] (Mo.App.1984); and State v. Isa, 850 S.W.2d 876, 894[43] (Mo. banc 1993).

In his second point, Defendant alleges the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress the out-of-court lineup identification because the same “fillers” were used in that lineup as in the lineup that contained Warmack. On August 17, Shelton viewed a lineup containing Warmack and three prisoners who volunteered to be fillers in the lineup. Shelton told police the man she saw at the gas station was not one of these men. On August 29, Shelton again viewed another lineup containing Defendant. Detective Johnson inadvertently used the same three prisoners as fillers in this lineup because they were the only volunteers with physical characteristics similar to Defendant. Shelton identified Defendant as the man she had seen in the Derby gas station on August 15, 1989.

Our review of the trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress is limited to a determination of whether the evidence is sufficient to support its finding. State v. Villa-Perez, 835 S.W.2d 897, 902 (Mo. banc 1992). Further, the facts and all reasonable inferences are viewed in favor of the challenged ruling. State v. Franklin, 841 S.W.2d 639, 641[1] (Mo. banc 1992).

The test used in determining the admissibility of an out-of-court identification is two-pronged: (1) was the pre-trial identification procedure impermissibly suggestive and, (2) if so, what impact did the impermissibly suggestive procedures have on the reliability of the identification made by the witness. State v. Bullington, 684 S.W.2d 52, 54[1] (Mo.App.1984).

In setting up their identification procedure, police officers are only required to make reasonable efforts to find participants with physical characteristics similar to the suspect. State v. Cooper, 708 S.W.2d 299, 305[12] (Mo.App.1986). Detective Johnson, the detective who conducted the lineups of both Defendant and Warmack, testified that when he requested volunteers for Defendant’s lineup, he only received three volunteers with physical characteristics similar to Defendant. These three prisoners were the same ones used in Warmack’s lineup, but Detective Johnson stated he had no choice but to use these volunteers because prisoners cannot be forced to participate in lineups.

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State v. Gibbs, 875 S.W.2d 159, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 426, 1994 WL 75761 (Mo. Ct. App. 1994).

875 S.W.2d 159 (State v. Gibbs) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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