State v. Hill

996 S.W.2d 544, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 511, 1999 WL 233425
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 20, 1999
DocketNo. WD 54246
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 996 S.W.2d 544 (State v. Hill) 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. Hill, 996 S.W.2d 544, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 511, 1999 WL 233425 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

ELLIS, Judge.

Vicki Hill appeals from her jury conviction for misdemeanor animal abuse pursuant to § 578.012,1 for purposely or intentionally causing injury or suffering to an animal. Hill was sentenced to four months in the Jackson County Department of Corrections, with execution of the sentence stayed pending appeal.

On April 21, 1996, at approximately 5:00 p.m., Grandview Police Officers Jeffrey Moreland and Tom Portman responded to 6408 East 150th Street in Grandview, Missouri after being dispatched to a call made from that residence to the Suicide Prevention Hotline. Upon arrival, the officers spoke with the resident, Diane White. Ms. White informed the officers that she was concerned about a friend of hers that had killed a litter of cats. Ms. White told the officers that her friend had become extremely distraught. Ms. White was currently supervising her friend’s six year old son Stephan, who appeared to be upset and scared. Stephan confirmed Ms. White’s account that his mother had killed six cats by stabbing them. The officers learned through Stephan and Ms. White that Stephan’s mother was Vicki Hill.

Upon learning from White that Hill had killed her cats and might be suicidal, the officers went to Hill’s home. As the officers arrived, they noticed a brown Ford Tempo parked in Hill’s driveway with a white plastic bag in the front seat. After determining that Hill was not in imminent danger, the officers began to question her about her cats. Hill claimed that she dumped the cats in a parking lot near the VA hospital. While the officers were asking about general information, the police dispatcher radioed Officer Moreland to have him call the station. Officer More-land did so and learned that the dispatcher had received a phone call claiming that the dead cats were in a bag in a brown car parked outside Hill’s house.

Acting on this information, Officer Moreland examined the brown car in Hill’s driveway. Moreland observed a whitish colored bag in the front passenger seat. He could see through the bag and saw bunched up newspapers with what appeared to be blood soaking through. Moreland assumed the bag contained the dead cats. When asked about the car, Hill denied being the owner. In response to her denials, Officer Moreland radioed in the car’s license plates to determine ownership. The license plates were not on file with the state. The officers asked Hill if she had keys to the car and Hill blurted out, “So I killed a bunch of cats — so what?” The next question asked by the officers was if the cats were in the car and Hill answered “yes.” After this admission, [546]*546Moreland went to the brown car. More-land reached into an open window and unlocked the car to retrieve the bag. Upon looking in the bag, Moreland found the six dead cats and placed Hill under arrest. On the way to the station, More-land asked Hill why she killed her cats. Hill proceeded to give a rambling explanation.

The next morning, Detective McKin-stry2 read Hill her Miranda rights and questioned her. Once again, Hill explained that she had killed the cats. On August 20,1996, a grand jury indicted Hill for purposely causing suffering to six cats as a result of torture and mutilation consciously inflicted while the animals were alive. After a first trial ended in a hung jury, a second jury trial found Hill guilty of misdemeanor animal abuse for intentionally causing injury or suffering to her cats under § 578.012. On March 31, 1997, the trial court denied Hill’s motion for a new trial and sentenced Hill to four months in jail.

Hill raises six points on appeal. First, she argues she was not subject to prosecution under § 578.012, because § 578.007(6) exempts an animal’s owner from the provisions of §§ 578.005 through 578.023. Second, Hill alleges that the trial court erred in admitting the photographs of the dead cats into evidence, since they are a result of an illegal search and seizure. Third, Hill argues that her statements to the police officers should have been excluded. Fourth, Hill contends that the trial court erred in overruling her Batson challenges. Fifth, Hill claims that her statements about the killing were more prejudicial than probative and should have been excluded by the trial court. Finally, Hill asserts that the presence of an animal rights advocate, wearing a suggestive sweatshirt in the courtroom, denied her a fair trial.

Because we conclude that discussion of Hill’s last five points would have no prece-dential value, we will affirm as to those points by summary order pursuant to Rule 30.25(b). We are furnishing the parties a memorandum of the reasons for our decision as to those issues. In this opinion, we address only the issue of whether Hill could be charged and convicted for violation of § 578.012.1(2).

On appeal from a judgment in a jury tried criminal case, we must determine whether there was sufficient evidence from which the jury could have reasonably found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Karr, 968 S.W.2d 712, 715 (Mo.App. W.D.1998). We accept as true all evidence tending to prove guilt, including all reasonable inferences that support such a finding. Id. We ignore any evidence or inferences to the contrary. Id.

In Hill’s first point on appeal, she claims that as the owner of the cats, she cannot be charged under § 578.012. Hill was convicted under § 578.012, which provides:

1. A person is guilty of animal abuse when a person:
(1) Intentionally or purposely kills an animal in any manner not allowed by or expressly exempted from the provisions of sections 578.005 to 578.023 and 273.030, RSMo;
(2) Purposely or intentionally causes injury or suffering to an animal; or
(3) Having ownership or custody of an animal knowingly fails to provide adequate care or adequate control.

Specifically, Hill was found guilty of violating subdivision (2), purposely or intentionally causing injury or suffering to an animal. Section 578.007(6), which contains exceptions to the animal abuse statutes, declares that “[t]he provisions of sections 578.005 to 578.023 shall not apply to [t]he killing of an animal by the owner thereof, ...” Hill argues that since § 578.007(6) excepts the killing of an animal by its [547]*547owner from the provisions §§ 578.005 through 578.023, and she was the owner of the cats, she cannot be charged under § 578.012.

In construing statutes, we must “ascertain the intent of the lawmakers from the language used, to give effect to that intent if possible, and to consider words used in the statute in their plain and ordinary meaning.” State v. Knapp, 843 S.W.2d 345, 347 (Mo. banc 1992), quoting State v. Kraus, 530 S.W.2d 684, 685 (Mo. banc 1975). In the case of § 578.012, the three numerical subdivisions and the use of the word “or” at the end of subdivision (2) conclusively establish an intent on the part of the Legislature to provide three separate alternative grounds upon which one can be charged with animal abuse.

Section 578.012.1(1) criminalizes intentionally or purposely “killing” an animal in any manner not permitted or exempted by statutes set forth therein.

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996 S.W.2d 544, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 511, 1999 WL 233425, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hill-moctapp-1999.