State v. Hastings

628 S.W.2d 678, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3452
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided January 19, 1982·No. No. 43131·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

SMITH, Presiding Judge.

Defendant appeals from his conviction by a jury of the Class B felonies of rape and sodomy and the resultant two 15 year consecutive sentences. We affirm.

The 18 year old victim, T..., two other young women, C... and M..., and a male companion were forced off the road in the car in which they were driving.in the vicinity of East St. Louis, Illinois, at approximately 3:00 a. m. The car which forced them off the road contained five men including defendant. M... was dragged out of the vehicle, taken to the front of the car, struck several times, forced to commit an act of oral sodomy on each of two men, and raped by each of them. Neither of those men was defendant. C... and T... were dragged from the car and thrown into the back seat of the men’s Cadillac. T... was struck with a brick by one of the men in the course of moving her from one car to the other. Defendant assisted in moving her into the Cadillac. M... was then dragged into the front seat of the Cadillac. The male companion of the three women was forced to disrobe and left at the scene. The Cadillac containing the three women and five men was driven to St. Louis and parked in a residential garage in North St. Louis. We find it unnecessary to recount in detail the sordid occurrences of the next several hours. Suffice it to say that each of the women was brutalized, sodomized, and raped by one or more of the original five men and by other men who came to the scene later. T. .. testified that she was raped and/or sodomized by at least seven different men, and more than once by some of them. She identified defendant as her main attacker, personally responsible for several sexual assaults at two different garages and while in transit between them. M... and C... each testified to multiple rapes and sodomies by other individuals some of them occurring simultaneously. During much of the ordeal all three women were in the same garage and were aware at least generally of the physical and sexual assaults against the others. Ultimately C... and M... were taken to a different location than T... and no testimony concerning what happened to C... and M... at that location was elicited. At approximately 7:00 a. m., all three women were released — C... and T... basically fully clothed, M... wearing only a sweater. The evidence clearly established that the sexual activities were non-consensual and induced by fear and violence. Defendant in a written statement, a videotaped statement, and on the stand, admitted being present throughout most of the victims’ ordeal but denied participation therein or that he had any sexual relationship with T.... The information charged six defendants with a total of 15 counts of rape and sodomy against the three victims. Defendant was charged in two counts. Those counts charged that defendant “acting with others” raped and sodomized T....1

Essentially defendant raises three points on appeal. The first is that the trial [680] court erred in permitting testimony of acts of coindictees against C... and M... on the basis that such evidence was irrelevant. It is contended that such testimony should have been excluded as res inter alios acta —things done between third parties and strangers. Generally evidence regarding transactions between third parties is inadmissible as irrelevant. The rule applies to acts, transactions or occurrences to which the accused is not a party or to matters with which he is not shown to have any connection unless those acts, transactions occurrences or matters are so interwoven with other relevant evidence as to make it impossible to try the case without admitting evidence of them. State v. Wickizer, 583 S.W.2d 519 (Mo. banc 1979) [6-8]. To state the rule is to state its inapplicability to the evidence here. Defendant was a party to all of the occurrences testified to; he was present throughout; he was connected to the overall ordeal of all the victims; he was charged with acting with others; the testimony was so interwoven with the crimes with which defendant was charged as to make it impossible to try the case without the evidence; and the evidence was clearly relevant to the questions of consent, the use of force and threats, and defendant’s participation in the attack on T..., essential elements of the state’s case. See, State v. Shumate, 478 S.W.2d 328 (Mo.1972) [2, 3]; State v. Hampton, 559 S.W.2d 224 (Mo.App.1977) [6]; State v. Rezabek, 584 S.W.2d 430 (Mo.App.1979) [2, 3]; State v. Mercer, 611 S.W.2d 392 (Mo.App.1981) [6]. We can see no reason to apply the rule to this gang rape with multiple victims. The participants were co-adventurers in depravity, not independent contractors.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Hastings, 628 S.W.2d 678, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3452 (Mo. Ct. App. 1982).

628 S.W.2d 678 (State v. Hastings) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Presley
694 S.W.2d 867 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1985)
State v. Bockes
676 S.W.2d 272 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1984)
State v. Hendricks
675 S.W.2d 142 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1984)
State v. Haymon
639 S.W.2d 843 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1982)
State v. Johnson
637 S.W.2d 157 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1982)