State v. Glover

98 S.W.3d 917, 2003 Mo. App. LEXIS 383, 2003 WL 1240608
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 19, 2003
Docket24797
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 98 S.W.3d 917 (State v. Glover) 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. Glover, 98 S.W.3d 917, 2003 Mo. App. LEXIS 383, 2003 WL 1240608 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

JOHN E. PARRISH, Judge.

Oscar Curtis Glover III (defendant) was convicted, following a jury trial, of two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. 1 § 195.211. 2 He was charged and convicted as a prior drug offender. § 195.275, RSMo 1994, and § 195.291. This court affirms.

Defendant shared a condominium in Branson, Missouri, with Nathaniel Meadows. Branson police conducted a surveillance of the property for two weeks after receiving reports of heavy traffic in and out of the condominium unit where defendant and Meadows resided. Branson Police Lt. Steve Daulton told of one occasion when he was observing the residence shortly after defendant had returned to it. Lt. Daulton observed eight vehicles come to and go from the premises in a one and one-half hour period. The people who entered the residence stayed “just a very *919 short time” before leaving again. Lt. Daul-ton and other officers obtained a warrant to search the premises. Defendant and Meadows were at the premises when the search was conducted.

Meadows answered the door. Defendant was asleep on a couch in the living room. The search of the residence’s master bedroom disclosed a number of defendant’s possessions. His driver’s license, credit cards, a fake identification card with defendant’s picture, a shopping bag that contained a hospital bill in defendant’s name, a family photo, and other personal documents with defendant’s name were found. A shoebox with six bags of marijuana with total weight of 833.79 grams was found in the closet in the master bedroom. The shoebox had “owe lists” in it. 3 These were papers listing names, telephone numbers or pager numbers, with a listing of dollar amounts owed. Police also found $3,460 in the closet. A jacket in the closet had a small scale and three plastic bags that contained 79.26 grams of cocaine base. The jacket also had personal documents and a second “owe list” with names and amounts owed or paid for drugs.

A search of a smaller bedroom disclosed a small bag of marijuana on a tray behind a door and a bag that contained 21.46 grams of cocaine base in a camera case. Meadow’s driver’s license was in a nightstand in the smaller bedroom.

Defendant and Meadows were arrested following the search. While in custody, Meadows gave two statements. In the first, he stated that all the drugs found in the condominium belonged to him; that none belonged to defendant. Several days later Meadows recanted and provided a second statement in which he said the drugs that were in the smaller of the two bedrooms at the condominium were his; that the drugs found in the master bedroom belonged to defendant.

Meadows testified about giving different statements. He was asked on cross-examination by the prosecuting attorney if defendant made a request of him after he and defendant were arrested. Meadows answered, “Yes,” and explained, “He asked me to take the charge because he had a daughter he was just getting in school; he couldn’t take it, he would hang himself. He was crying. Just everything. He was asking me to take the rap for him.” Meadows was then asked the following questions and gave the following answers:

Q. Mr. Meadows, then as you were back in that cell prior to seeing the judge but that you had been charged, both you and [defendant] were facing two felony possessions with intent, did he talk to you about a probation?
A. Yes.
Q. What did he — Did he tell you what — What did he tell you about that probation?
A. He needed to get out before he can get — before his probation officer finds out so he can abscond or—
Q. And did he indicate to you what he was on probation for? ■
A. I already knew what he was already on probation for.
Q. For what?
A. Marijuana—

The trial judge started to interject when defendant’s attorney said, ‘Your, Honor, I’m going to -,” followed by the judge *920 saying, “Jury disregard the last statement, please. Let’s move along.”

Defendant’s first point on appeal contends it was error for the trial court to allow the state “to introduce evidence that [defendant] was on probation, even though [defendant] did not testify, and plainly erred for not sua sponte declaring a mistrial when the state elicited further evidence that [defendant] was on probation for an offense involving marijuana.”

Nathaniel Meadows was called as a witness for defendant. He was asked on direct examination if he recalled making a confession after his arrest. He said he confessed “[e]ither two or three days later or after, somewhere in there.” Meadows was asked if he said all the drugs in the apartment were his. He answered that he wrote a statement at one point saying they were. Defendant’s attorney asked if he also stated in the statement “that none of those drugs belonged to [defendant]?” Mr. Meadows replied, “Correct. On the first one, yes.” He was asked if he had been under the impression he would get probation. Mr. Meadows answered, “Yes.” Defendant’s attorney asked Meadows if he recalled making a later statement. Meadows answered that, probably two or three days later, he had. Defendant’s attorney asked if the second statement was “a different sort of confession.” Meadows said, “Yes. I told the truth.” In response to further questioning by defendant’s attorney, Meadows said that in. the second statement, he said not all the drugs in the place were his.

Defendant, through Meadow’s testimony, showed that inconsistent statements were made regarding defendant’s ownership of the drugs he was charged with possessing. By showing Meadows had stated all the drugs were his, defendant’s attorney undertook to challenge the state’s contention that some drugs seized at defendant’s residence belonged to defendant. In challenging the state’s case, defendant’s attorney elicited testimony from Meadows that he had received probation for possession of some of the drugs that were seized; that his probation was in return for Meadows’ testimony at trial that defendant owned some of the drugs that had been seized. Defendant inferred that Meadows’ testimony that drugs belonged to defendant was false; that the testimony was given as a means by which Meadows could avoid imprisonment.

During cross-examination of Mr. Meadows, the state sought to refute any inference that his second statement was untruthful. The state did this by questioning Meadows about the reason he first stated all the drugs were his and none belonged to defendant. Meadows testified that he first intended, at defendant’s request, to shift the guilt from defendant to himself; that defendant wanted him to do that so defendant could escape the consequences the new offense would have on defendant’s probation. Meadows said defendant told him he needed to get released so he could abscond before his probation officer learned of the arrest.

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Related

Glover v. State
225 S.W.3d 425 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
98 S.W.3d 917, 2003 Mo. App. LEXIS 383, 2003 WL 1240608, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-glover-moctapp-2003.