State v. Johnson

522 S.W.2d 106, 1975 Mo. App. LEXIS 1967
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 4, 1975
Docket9556
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 522 S.W.2d 106 (State v. Johnson) 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. Johnson, 522 S.W.2d 106, 1975 Mo. App. LEXIS 1967 (Mo. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

*108 HOGAN, Judge.

Gary Vincent Johnson was convicted by a jury of the offense of robbery in the first degree by means of a dangerous and deadly weapon, as defined and denounced by §§ 560.120 and 560.135, RSMo 1969. 1 The Second Offender Act, § 556.280, was found to be applicable and defendant’s punishment was assessed at a term of 99 years’ imprisonment. On this appeal defendant raises, or attempts to raise, the following questions :

1. Did the trial court err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress eyewitness identification testimony given by witness Edward Bond because the pretrial identification procedure used violated defendant’s right to due process ?

2. Did the trial court err in admitting testimony corroborating witness Fred Coleman’s extrajudicial identification of the defendant ?

3. Was the defendant penalized for exercising his right to a jury trial ?

4. Did the trial court err in denying defendant a change of venue because of the bias and prejudice of the inhabitants of the 29th Judicial Circuit?

5. Did the trial court erroneously limit defendant’s voir dire examination of the jury panel?

6. Did the trial judge erroneously fail to disqualify himself upon defendant’s motion ?

Answering each question properly raised in the negative, we affirm the judgment below.

Defendant’s conviction arose out of the robbery of the Paddock State Line Liquor Store, located adjacent to the Kansas border in Jasper County. About 11:00 p. m. on October 9, 1971, Edward Bond and Fred Coleman, employees of the. store, were engaged in totaling the day’s receipts. Two men, later identified as the defendant and his brother, entered the store. Defendant approached the counter; his brother remained near the entrance. Coleman was busy counting money and Bond waited on the defendant. Defendant ordered whiskey and a chaser, and asked Bond to compute the amount due. Defendant was “right up at the counter”, “about three feet” from Bond. When Bond “looked up” after making his calculations, defendant had drawn a handgun and was pointing it at Bond’s chest. Defendant then announced, “This is a stick-up, get em up.” This statement focused Coleman’s attention upon the defendant, and both employees immediately “got em up.”

Defendant then told Bond and Coleman that he wanted “all the paper money” and “the money in your billfold, too”. Coleman, an experienced employee, carried no money when he was working at night, but Bond had cashed his paycheck. Bond laid the currency from the cash register and his own $46 on the counter. Defendant picked up the money, handed it to his brother, and ordered Bond and Coleman to lie supine near the entrance to the door. They did so. Defendant’s accomplice left the store to see if the two could leave without being observed. Before leaving, defendant told Bond and Coleman that they were to be quiet, that he could “still shoot [them] through the window”. Defendant then opened the entrance door “a crack” and asked his confederate, “[A]re you ready Jack?” Both men then left and drove off toward Galena, Kansas.

During the trial, it was brought out that Bond and Coleman were standing side by side when the defendant drew his weapon and announced his criminal purpose; neither defendant nor his brother wore a mask; Bond and Coleman had five to seven or eight minutes to observe the robbers, and Coleman “looked [defendant] right in the eye” during the whole time. The only indication that either Bond or Coleman’s faculties of observation were in any way. *109 impaired appears in Coleman’s testimony that Bond “was extremely nervous” during the robbery.

The defendant vigorously asserts that Bond’s' in-court identification testimony was tainted by impermissibly suggestive pretrial identification procedures and should have been excluded on his motion to suppress. We have examined the record and have considered this contention in light of the criteria laid down in State v. Boothe, 485 S.W.2d 11, 13 [1, 2] (Mo. banc 1972), and State v. Parker, 458 S.W.2d 241, 243-244 [1, 2] (Mo.1970), but extended discussion of the point is unnecessary. The in-court identification testimony, at least, was admissible if the State was able to show a basis for this testimony independent of the pretrial identification procedures. State v. Ramsey, 477 S.W.2d 88, 90 [2] (Mo.1972); State v. Johnson, 457 S.W.2d 762, 764-765 [2] (Mo.1970). In this case the witness had an ample opportunity to observe the defendant while the robbery was taking place. Considering the evidence heard on the motion to suppress and that offered at the trial, it appears that Bond had the defendant under direct observation for a period of seven or eight minutes while the robbery was taking place; defendant wore no nylon stocking, ski mask or other disguise over his face, and if Bond was “extremely nervous” during the robbery, there is no indication he was so frightened he could not make accurate observations. In addition, at the hearing on the motion, Bond repeatedly asserted that his identification of the defendant was based on what he had observed at the time of the robbery. In the circumstances, the trial court properly found that Bond’s identification testimony was based on what he saw at the time the offense was committed, and there was no error in denying the motion to suppress. State v. McIntosh, 492 S.W.2d 843, 846 (Mo.1973); State v. Todd, 468 S.W.2d 632, 635 [3] (Mo.1971).

The defendant argues that the trial court erred in permitting Deputy Sheriff Charles Whitlow to testify that Coleman had identified the defendant in a lineup. He relies primarily on State v. Degraffenreid, 477 S.W.2d 57, 62-64 [12] (Mo. banc 1972), to sustain this claim of error. The only objection made to any of Whitlow’s testimony was that it was “repetitious, not the best evidence”. This objection was made before the State had propounded any questions concerning Coleman’s identification of the defendant in the lineup. When Whitlow was asked, “[D]o you recall if [Coleman] made any identification, that is if he picked out anybody in that line-up ?”, he was permitted to answer affirmatively without objection, and he was further permitted to testify without objection that Coleman “pickfed] out” the defendant. Appellant’s motion for new trial assigned 11 grounds of error, but no error was asserted with respect to Whitlow’s testimony. A motion to enlarge time and amend the motion for new trial was later filed on defendant’s behalf in which it was asserted that the admission of Whitlow’s testimony was “cummulative [sic], repetitious, and prejudicial”. The State argues that the amendment was untimely; the defendant cites us to present Rule 44.01(a) and insists that his amended motion was timely filed.

The verdict in this cause was received March 20, 1972. Time for filing motion for new trial was extended to May 3.

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Bluebook (online)
522 S.W.2d 106, 1975 Mo. App. LEXIS 1967, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-johnson-moctapp-1975.