State v. Johnson

811 N.W.2d 136, 2012 WL 254471, 2012 Minn. App. LEXIS 12
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJanuary 30, 2012
DocketNo. A11-6
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 811 N.W.2d 136 (State v. Johnson) 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. Johnson, 811 N.W.2d 136, 2012 WL 254471, 2012 Minn. App. LEXIS 12 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

SCHELLHAS, Judge.

Appellant challenges his conviction of aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery, arguing that (1) the district court erred by joining his and his codefen-dant’s cases; (2) the state violated his right to a speedy trial; (3) the district court erred by allowing the state to present evidence of appellant’s post-arrest, pre-Miranda silence; (4) the district court erred by admitting into evidence photographs of appellant and other arrestees in handcuffs; and (5) the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant directly participated in or aided and abetted first-degree aggravated robbery. We affirm.

FACTS

Four men robbed B.A. in downtown Minneapolis on February 8, 2010, near bar-closing time. B.A. testified that after leaving a bar, he walked down Second Avenue and turned on Fourth Street, towards First Avenue. As he walked past Pizza Luce, seven men approached him. Johnson and three others surrounded B.A.; punched him twice in the face; and stole his cell phone, wallet, and money. The robbery took less than one minute and left B.A. with cuts above his eye and inside his mouth.

After the robbery, B.A. walked in the opposite direction of his assailants and found an off-duty police officer, Officer Daniel Lysholm, inside a restaurant. B.A. banged on the window of the restaurant and said, “I got jumped by those guys.” Lysholm exited the restaurant, and B.A. pointed toward the men who robbed him. Less than 20 seconds elapsed between the robbery and the time that B.A. pointed out the men to Lysholm. The men were not near any other persons when Lysholm saw them. Lysholm radioed for assistance and provided a description of the men’s jackets. Two police officers in a nearby squad car heard the radio dispatch, saw the men, immediately approached them, and arrested them. B.A. and Lysholm never lost sight of the men from the time B.A. approached Lysholm until the time of the men’s arrest.

Officers identified the men as appellant Kenneth Johnson, codefendant Corey Maull, Giorgio Tyler, and Darail Murphy. During the arrest, an officer noticed a pile of identification cards and credit cards lying on the ground between Johnson and Murphy. B.A. approached and identified the cards as his. Then without prompting by the officers, B.A. said to Johnson and Murphy, who were standing near the rear of a squad car, “Why did you beat me? Why did you take my things?” Neither Johnson nor Murphy responded.

In an amended complaint, the state charged Johnson with aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.245, subd. 1 (2008), and Minn.Stat. § 609.05 (2008), and later moved the district court to join the cases against Johnson and Maull.

On April 8, Johnson demanded a speedy trial, and the district court set a trial date for June 1 or 2 but later continued the trial to June 3 because the court was presiding over another trial.1 Johnson’s counsel had [142]*142a scheduling conflict on June 3, so the court continued the trial to August 16 and informed the parties and counsel that it was joining Johnson’s case with Maull’s. Johnson re-asserted his demand for a speedy trial on June 3.

A jury found Johnson and Maull guilty. This appeal follows.

ISSUES

I. Did the district court err by joining Johnson’s and codefendant Maull’s cases?

II. Did the state violate Johnson’s right to a speedy trial?

III. Did the district court abuse its discretion by allowing the state to present evidence of Johnson’s post-ai’rest, pre-Mi-randa silence?

IV. Did the district court abuse its discretion by admitting into evidence photographs of Johnson and other arrestees in handcuffs?

V. Did the state prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Johnson participated in or aided or abetted first-degree aggravated robbery?

ANALYSIS

I. Joinder

Johnson challenges the district court’s joinder of his case with codefendant Maull’s.

“When two or more defendants are charged with the same offense, they may be tried separately or jointly at the court’s discretion.” Minn. R.Crim. P. 17.03, subd. 2. The joinder rule “neither favors nor disfavors joinder.” State v. Jackson, 773 N.W.2d 111, 118 (Minn.2009). In determining whether joinder is appropriate, the district court must balance four factors: “(1) the nature of the offense charged; (2) the impact on the victim; (3) the potential prejudice to the defendant; and (4) the interests of justice.” Minn.R.Crim. P. 17.03, subd. 2; Jackson, 773 N.W.2d at 118. In reviewing a joinder issue, this court conducts “an independent inquiry into any substantial prejudice to defendants that may have resulted from their being joined for trial.” State v. Blanche, 696 N.W.2d 351, 370 (Minn.2005) (quotation omitted).

A. Nature of the Offense Charged

The nature of the offense charged favors joinder when “the overwhelming majority of the evidence presented [is] admissible against both [defendants], and substantial evidence [is] presented that [codefendants] worked in close concert with one another.” State v. Martin, 773 N.W.2d 89, 99-100 (Minn.2009) (quotations and citation omitted).

Johnson argues that this factor does not favor joinder because cases in which defendants have been joined were more serious and more complex than his and included evidence that the codefendants each played an important role before and after the crime. But the state charged Johnson and Maull with the same crime — aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery — stemming from the same incident against the same victim. The complaints against the codefendants were identical, and the state alleged that the codefendants worked in concert to commit the crime. The overwhelming majority of evidence was admissible against both codefendants.

The district court reasoned that this factor weighed in favor of joinder because the codefendants acted “in close concert” with each other. We agree. See Jackson, 773 N.W.2d at 118-19 (reasoning that nature of offense favored joinder when codefen-[143]*143dants were charged with same crimes, majority of evidence was admissible against both codefendants, and substantial evidence showed that codefendants worked in close concert with each other).

B. Impact on Victim

When analyzing the impact on the victim, the supreme court has considered “the impact on both the victim of the crime as well as the trauma to the eyewitnesses who would be compelled to testify at multiple trials.” Blanche, 696 N.W.2d at 371. The district court noted that there were “no indications that [B.A.] is a particularly vulnerable victim.... I’m sure [the robbery] was upsetting, but I don’t know that it was particularly. And it was traumatic for the victim, but I don’t know that he’d appreciate reliving it at least two times, two separate trials.”

Johnson argues that “there is no evidence that separate trials would have any impact whatsoever on the complainant.” We do not embrace Johnson’s sweeping and cavalier statement about the lack of any impact on an aggravated-robbery victim of being required to testify in separate trials.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
811 N.W.2d 136, 2012 WL 254471, 2012 Minn. App. LEXIS 12, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-johnson-minnctapp-2012.