State v. Hill

801 N.W.2d 646, 2011 Minn. LEXIS 502, 2011 WL 3687535
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 24, 2011
DocketNo. A09-1947
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 801 N.W.2d 646 (State v. Hill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court 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. Hill, 801 N.W.2d 646, 2011 Minn. LEXIS 502, 2011 WL 3687535 (Mich. 2011).

Opinions

OPINION

STRAS, Justice.

A jury found appellant Ronald Hill guilty of the first-degree premeditated murder of Jeffrey Logan. The district court convicted Hill of that offense and sentenced him to life imprisonment with[649]*649out the possibility of release. Hill challenges his conviction on three grounds. First, he argues that the district court abused its discretion when it permitted the State to impeach him with a prior, unspecified felony conviction. Second, he contends that the State committed prosecuto-rial misconduct when it elicited testimony that, unlike other suspects who volunteered DNA samples, the State obtained Hill’s DNA sample through a search warrant. Third, he asserts that the district court erred when it permitted the State to present evidence that Hill used a stolen gun to shoot Logan. We affirm Hill’s conviction.

I.

On January 31, 2009, Hill shot and killed Jeffrey Logan outside the American Legion club on Concordia Avenue in St. Paul. Hill was indicted on charges of first-degree premeditated murder, MinmStat. § 609.185(a)(1) (2010), first-degree felony murder, Minn.Stat. § 609.185(a)(3) (2010), second-degree murder, MinmStat. § 609.19, subd. 1(1) (2010), first-degree aggravated robbery, MinmStat. § 609.245, subd. 1 (2010), and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person, MinmStat. § 624.713, subd. 1(2) (2010).

At trial, the State presented testimony from five eyewitnesses to the shooting. Logan’s cousin, E.B., testified that he and a high school friend met Logan at the American Legion club, and that the three men left the club together around 1:00 a.m. Logan and E.B. were walking to Logan’s car together when a man — -later identified as Hill — approached Logan and E.B., held out a gun with a red laser targeting sight, and repeatedly demanded that E.B. hand over his wallet. E.B. threw all of the money contained in his pockets on the ground and asked that Hill “just leave.”

At some point during the exchange, Logan pulled out his Sig Sauer pistol and hit Hill on the head with it. The three men then began to fight, and E.B. testified that during the altercation, Logan pulled Hill’s shirt off. Even though both E.B. and Logan attempted to restrain Hill, Hill broke free - and started shooting at Logan. Four eyewitnesses testified that they saw Logan run toward the alley at the far end of the parking lot as a shirtless Hill chased and continued to fire at Logan. The eyewitnesses testified that Logan fell to the ground and raised his right hand toward Hill in a pleading gesture, but Hill stood over Logan and shot him multiple times. None of the eyewitnesses testified that they saw- a gun in Logan’s hand at the time he was shot. Hill and two other men fled the scene in a black Lincoln Continental. St. Paul police officers chased and eventually apprehended Hill and the Lincoln’s other two occupants, E.W. and H.R.

The State introduced forensic evidence corroborating the eyewitness testimony. The medical examiner testified that Logan suffered six bullet wounds — through his right palm, through his left knee, in his groin, and three others in his thighs and buttocks. According to the medical examiner, Logan died from excessive blood loss. The medical examiner also testified that the location and trajectory of the bullet wounds were consistent with the eyewitness accounts of the shooting.

The police found three handguns while investigating Logan’s death. The Sig Sauer registered to Logan was found in the Lincoln, and an Iver Johnson revolver and a nine millimeter Beretta pistol with a red laser targeting sight were found under a deck next door to where police apprehended H.R., one of the occupants of the Lincoln. Of the three recovered firearms, only the Beretta was a possible match to the bullets and shell casings recovered at [650]*650the scene of the crime. In addition, only Hill’s DNA could not be excluded as a match to samples found on the Beretta and Sig Sauer.

Hill was the sole witness for his defense and his testimony contradicted much of the evidence presented by the State. Hill testified that, on the night of the shooting, he left the American Legion club with two friends, E.W. and H.R. According to Hill, E.W. said that he had been involved in a prior altercation with men resembling Logan and E.B. At E.W.’s insistence, Hill then approached Logan and E.B. to ask whether they knew E.W. and H.R. Hill denied that he attempted to rob E.B. Hill also stated that he did not have a gun until one of his friends handed him the Beretta after Logan pulled out the Sig Sauer. Hill admitted that he fought with E.B. and Logan, but told the jury that he started shooting at Logan because he was afraid that Logan was going to shoot him. Hill further testified that, at the time he was shooting Logan, Logan was standing upright and facing Hill without his hand raised.

Hill told the jury that, after the shooting, he returned to the Lincoln with his friends because he was scared and knew he “did something terrible.” Hill stated that once they were in the Lincoln, E.W. claimed the Beretta belonged to him and grabbed it with gloved hands. Hill testified that someone threw the Sig Sauer into the back seat and that is when he touched it for the first time.

The jury found Hill guilty of all four counts of the indictment, as well as a lesser-included charge of second-degree felony murder, Minn.Stat. § 609.19, sub. 2(1) (2010). The district court convicted Hill of first-degree premeditated murder, and sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of release. This appeal followed.

II.

The first question is whether the district court abused its discretion by allowing the State to impeach Hill with evidence of an unspecified felony conviction.1 In September 2008, Hill was convicted of robbery in Illinois. The court weighed the probative impeachment value against the potential prejudicial effect in admitting the 2008 Illinois robbery conviction. The court concluded that, because of the similarity between the 2008 conviction and the aggravated robbery count in this case, the State could only present evidence that Hill was convicted of an unspecified felony in September 2008. The court prohibited the State from “referencing] what the conviction was for” because of the potential prejudicial effect of the evidence.

In accordance with the district court’s evidentiary ruling, Hill responded “Yes” to the following question by defense counsel: “Now in September of 2008, you were convicted of a felony, correct?” The court later issued the following limiting instruction during its final charges to the jury: “In the case of the Defendant, you must be especially careful to consider any previous conviction only as it may affect the weight of the Defendant’s testimony. You must not consider any previous conviction as evidence of guilt of the offenses for which the Defendant is on trial.” Hill asserts that the court abused its discretion in allowing the admission of a “sanitized” version of his 2008 felony conviction. We disagree.

[651]*651We will not reverse a district court’s ruling on the impeachment of a witness by prior conviction “absent a clear abuse of discretion.” State v. Ihnot, 575 N.W.2d 581, 584 (Minn.1998). Minnesota Rule of Evidence 609(a), the rule at issue here, provides as follows:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
801 N.W.2d 646, 2011 Minn. LEXIS 502, 2011 WL 3687535, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hill-minn-2011.