State v. Hicks

432 N.W.2d 487, 1988 Minn. App. LEXIS 1173, 1988 WL 128235
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedDecember 6, 1988
DocketC6-88-263
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 432 N.W.2d 487 (State v. Hicks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Hicks, 432 N.W.2d 487, 1988 Minn. App. LEXIS 1173, 1988 WL 128235 (Mich. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

FLEMING, Judge.

Appellant Richard Hicks was convicted of first degree burglary, aggravated robbery, and first degree criminal sexual conduct after a jury trial. He appeals, challenging the validity of the convictions and the propriety of the sentencing. We affirm the conviction and the trial court’s sentences.

FACTS

On January 19, 1987, C.B. was at home with her 11-year-old daughter. At 11:00 a.m., the back doorbell rang and C.B.’s daughter answered the door. A black male asked for a man named James. C.B.’s daughter told him that no one named James lived there, and the man left. The *489 man then went to the front door and rang the doorbell. C.B. answered the door and the same man asked if James lived there. When she told him that no one named James lived there, the man left.

About one minute later, the front doorbell rang again. When C.B. opened the door, the same black male was standing, holding a knife. He forced his way into the home and demanded money. The man then dragged C.B. up the stairs to her bedroom. He saw C.B.’s daughter talking on the phone. He told her to get off the phone and pulled out an electrical cord. He closed the bedroom door and raped C.B. She kept her eyes closed during the assault. Afterwards, the man ordered C.B. to lie on her stomach and put the knife on her buttocks and ordered her to keep her eyes closed and remain motionless. The man then left.

After dialing a wrong number, C.B.’s daughter finally phoned 911 and told the police there was a man in their house. The police arrived a few minutes after the man left. C.B. described the man as black, 20-25 years old, approximately six feet tall, weighing about 160 pounds. He was wearing a red jacket with a blue stripe, jeans and a blue and black scarf around his neck.

C.B. was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she underwent a sexual assault examination. On January 30, C.B. was asked to look at photographs. She looked at between 15 and 20, but could not identify any of them as the assailant. C.B. distributed a flyer throughout her neighborhood warning people about what had happened and urging them to take precautions.

On February 19, appellant went to a home two blocks from his own looking for a friend named Peter. A woman answered the door, and when he asked if Peter was at home, she told him to get away before she called the police. On his way home, appellant was arrested. At the station, appellant told the police that on January 19 he was at King’s Supermarket sometime between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m.

After the arrest, the police obtained a search warrant for appellant’s home. A blue jacket with red stripes and a long black scarf was discovered. No red jacket, knife, or any of C.B.’s possessions were found.

Appellant was charged with one count of first degree burglary, one count of aggravated robbery, and two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct.

On February 20, a line-up was held at Hennepin County jail. C.B. and her daughter attended, viewing from separate rooms. C.B. identified appellant as matching the “physical characteristics” of her assailant. C.B.’s daughter first could not identify appellant, but later identified him when he spoke. Neither identified the jacket and scarf taken from appellant’s home. At trial, both C.B. and her daughter identified appellant as the assailant.

Appellant testified at trial. He stated that on January 19 he woke at 8:00 a.m. and shovelled snow in his driveway. He went back to bed and reawakened at around 10:30. Appellant went to the King’s Market, located a couple blocks from his home, to pick up cigarettes and candy. He was wearing a brown tweed coat. While there he met a friend, Gerald Gill. Gill gave him a marijuana joint and appellant went home, arriving between 11:05 and 11:10. Appellant testified that he had never before seen C.B., but did recall seeing her daughter on a city bus.

Appellant’s friend, Mark Clark, testified that appellant had called him on January 19 at about 10:50 a.m. and asked him to pick up some items from the store. Gill testified that he had seen appellant near the supermarket between 10:00 and 11:00 the morning of January 19, and he was wearing a long brown coat that day.

Appellant’s mother testified that appellant owned two coats, neither of which was red with a blue stripe. She also testified that the scarf found in appellant’s home belonged to children who were staying with her after their house burned down on February 8.

An expert from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension testified as to tests he performed on semen samples found on *490 C.B.’s nightgown. Secreter grouping tests revealed that C.B. was a Type A secreter, appellant was a nonsecreter, and that the semen came from a nonsecreting person. The expert also performed an enzyme test. The expert concluded that the tests done could not exclude appellant as the person who deposited semen on C.B.’s nightgown. The jury found appellant guilty of first degree burglary, aggravated robbery, and first degree sexual conduct.

After the trial, the Hennepin County Public Defender’s office polled the jury and learned that one of the jurors had drawn a map of the area, which allegedly played some part in convincing some jurors that appellant had committed the crime. Defense counsel filed a motion for a new trial or alternatively for a Schwartz hearing. The trial judge denied the motion.

Appellant was sentenced to a term of 95 months for the first degree criminal sexual conduct conviction, and 49 months (to be served concurrently) for the burglary conviction. Appellant was not sentenced on the robbery conviction.

ISSUES

1. Did the trial court properly deny appellant's Schwartz hearing request?

2. Was the evidence presented sufficient to convict appellant?

3. Was the trial court’s sentence proper?

ANALYSIS

1. Appellant claims that the trial court erred by denying a post-trial hearing pursuant to Schwartz v. Minneapolis Suburban Bus Co., 258 Minn. 325, 104 N.W.2d 301 (1960). Defendant claims a Schwartz hearing was necessary to determine wheth-er the jurors were biased.

Minn.R.Crim.P. 26.03, subd. 19(6) governs jury deliberations in criminal matters. When defense counsel becomes concerned that the verdict may be impeached, he shall move the court for summary hearing. Minn.R.Crim.P. 26.03, subd. 19(6) provides:

(6) Impeachment of verdict. Affidavits of jurors shall not be received in evidence to impeach their verdict. If the defendant has reason to believe that the verdict is subject to impeachment, he shall move the court for a summary hearing. If the motion is granted, the jurors shall be interrogated under oath and their testimony recorded. The admissibility of evidence at the hearing shall be governed by Rule 606(b) of the Minnesota Rules of Evidence.

The defendant must show actual misconduct resulting in prejudice. State v. Henderson,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
432 N.W.2d 487, 1988 Minn. App. LEXIS 1173, 1988 WL 128235, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hicks-minnctapp-1988.