State v. Grigsby

806 N.W.2d 101, 2011 Minn. App. LEXIS 111, 2011 WL 3557784
Court of Appeals of Minnesota·Decided August 15, 2011·No. No. A10-1686·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinions

OPINION

STONEBURNER, Judge.

Appellant challenges his convictions of second-degree felony murder and second-degree manslaughter, arguing that (1) the judge who presided over his certification hearing committed plain error by failing to honor a notice to remove that was filed within seven days after receipt of notice that the judge would preside over the proceedings in district court; (2) the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over post-certification additional and lesser-included charges; (3) alternatively, if the district court had jurisdiction over post-certification additional and lesser-included charges, MinmStat. § 260B.125, as applied, unconstitutionally denies appellant due process; (4) evidentiary rulings precluding gang-related evidence during the state’s case violated appellant’s constitutional rights to present a complete, fair, and meaningful defense and to cross-examine a witness as to bias, prejudice, and influence; and (5) charging assault as a [105] predicate offense to felony murder deprived appellant of his constitutional right to due process. Because (1) the district court’s refusal to honor the notice to remove was not plain error; (2) the certification statute is not offense-specific or unconstitutional as applied; (3) any error in excluding gang-related evidence during the state’s case was harmless; and (4) assault may be a predicate offense to felony murder, we affirm.

FACTS

On August 28, 2008, appellant William Grigsby Jr., whose date of birth is December 6, 1992, attended a party at a residence in St. Paul. Although there are conflicting reports about how the events unfolded, it is not disputed that (1) Grigs-by encountered J.S. at the party in the back yard; (2) Grigsby and J.S. had been involved in a fight at school approximately two years earlier; (3) J.S. rebuffed Grigs-by’s offer to shake hands at the party; (4) shortly thereafter, Grigsby rapidly fired six shots from a .44 caliber gun that he pulled out from under his shirt; (5) one of the shots struck and killed J.S.; and (6) Grigsby fled. Police questioned Grigsby after witnesses identified him as the shooter. At first, Grigsby denied any involvement in the shooting, but he eventually confessed to the shooting.

A delinquency petition was filed, alleging that Grigsby committed second-degree intentional murder, in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.19, subd. 1(1) (2008). After a certification hearing, the proceeding was certified for trial in adult court. Grigsby appealed certification, and this court affirmed. See In re Welfare ofW.H.G., No. A08-1996, 2009 WL 1684487, at *1 (Minn. App. June 16, 2009), review denied (Minn. Aug. 26, 2009).

Grigsby was then charged by criminal complaint with second-degree intentional murder, and the judge who had presided at the certification hearing was assigned to the adult prosecution. Five days after receiving notice of the assignment, Grigsby made a motion for the district court judge to recuse himself, or remove himself from the case under Minn. R.Crim. P. 26.03, subd. 13(4) (2009).1 The district court judge declined to recuse himself and denied removal as untimely. Grigsby’s motion for reconsideration was denied on the ground that the assigned judge had presided over the matter in juvenile court, making the removal request ineffective. Grigsby did not seek a writ of prohibition challenging this ruling.

Shortly before trial in May 2010, the state amended the complaint to add a charge of second-degree felony murder. And at trial, the judge instructed the jury to also consider the lesser-included offense of second-degree manslaughter.

Grigsby gave appropriate notice of the defense of self-defense, based on his assertions that (1) J.S. and many others at the party were members of the East Side Boys gang; (2) Grigsby encountered a hostile atmosphere at the party; (3) after J.S. refused to shake hands, members of the East Side Boys gang surrounded him, causing him to believe that he was going to be attacked; (4) he pulled out the gun and shot into the ground without intending to harm anyone; (5) the gun was large and shooting it forced him to step backwards; and (6) the flash from the first shot caused him to close his eyes, and the gun just kept firing until it was empty.

[106] Before trial, the state moved in limine to preclude Grigsby from referring to or questioning any witness regarding possible gang involvement or criminal history. Grigsby made several offers of proof of witness testimony that (1) many of the partygoers were members of the East Side Boys gang and (2) gang members formed a semi-circle around Grigsby and signaled their intent to “jump” him just prior to the shooting.

The parties assert that the admissibility of evidence about gang membership was discussed at several pretrial conferences. The record contains a transcript only of the discussion that occurred just before the trial began, during which the state moved for an order “that [Grigsby] not mention the word ‘gang’ ... unless and until [Grigsby] testifies.” The prosecutor argued that gang evidence is inadmissible character evidence and that only Grigsby’s testimony could make gang evidence relevant in this case. The prosecutor argued that “unless and until [Grigsby] testifies, until he says it was self-defense, and that the fact that these gang members were in the back yard supposedly is something that went to his fear, it’s not relevant in this trial.... [T]he only relevant inquiry with respect to the gang evidence is what [Grigsby] believes.”

Grigsby argued that witnesses would prove that as many as ten East Side Boys, including the state’s primary eyewitness, were in the back yard when the shooting occurred. Grigsby argued that the fact that the people surrounding him were gang members was relevant to self-defense and was more probative than prejudicial. The state countered that only Grigsby’s testimony would make the issue relevant and that “it’s not whether other people think he should have been afraid.”

The district court stated its ruling orally on the record that there would be no testimony about gangs “until such time as [Grigsby] chooses to testify.” The district court noted that Grigsby was not charged with committing a crime for the benefit of a gang and that exclusion of alleged gang affiliation to establish bias had been held by this court to be harmless error in a case in which a non-gang witness testified consistently with alleged gang witnesses, which the district court anticipated would occur in this case. The district court did not place any additional limitations on the admissibility of gang-related evidence.

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State v. Grigsby, 806 N.W.2d 101, 2011 Minn. App. LEXIS 111, 2011 WL 3557784 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

806 N.W.2d 101 (State v. Grigsby) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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