State v. Keeton

573 N.W.2d 378, 1997 Minn. App. LEXIS 1383, 1997 WL 792974
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedDecember 30, 1997
DocketC5-97-52
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 573 N.W.2d 378 (State v. Keeton) 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. Keeton, 573 N.W.2d 378, 1997 Minn. App. LEXIS 1383, 1997 WL 792974 (Mich. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

KALITOWSKI, Judge.

Appellant Laird Brando Keeton, Jr. contends the district court erred in excluding him from an in camera hearing held to determine whether appellant threatened a co-defendant into not testifying. Appellant further argues the district court erred by admitting statements of nontestifying co-defendants, claiming the statements are inadmissible hearsay and their admission violates his right to confrontation. Appellant also: (1) challenges the admission of Spreigl evidence; (2) contests the imposition of consecutive sentences for attempted murder and assault; and (3) asks this court to strike the appendix to respondent’s brief.

FACTS

On January 17, 1995, the U.S. Discount Mart in West St. Paul was robbed at gunpoint. Evidence was presented that after a discussion at appellant’s house about getting loot, three individuals walked to the store carrying a. sawed-off shotgun and masks. Appellant allegedly waited outside the store while the other two went in. During the course of the robbery, one of the individuals shot the store clerk and threatened a customer. After the shooting, all three left the store and allegedly ran back to appellant’s house.

Appellant’s two co-defendants refused to testify at his trial, but their out-of-court statements were admitted into evidence. One of appellant’s co-defendants alleged that appellant threatened him into not testifying. These threats by appellant were discussed when a preliminary independent use immunity hearing regarding the co-defendant’s Fifth Amendment rights evolved into an in camera fact-finding hearing about threats against the co-defendant. The transcript of this proceeding, which was originally sealed, has been unsealed in response to a motion.

Only the co-defendant who claimed to be threatened and his attorney appeared before the judge. At the hearing, the judge explained to the co-defendant that he would be held in contempt if he refused to testify. As evidence of the threats, the co-defendant’s attorney read part of an allegedly threatening letter that she said the co-defendant swore he received from appellant. The co-defendant’s attorney also added that her client had told her that there had been many verbal threats against him in jail with the underlying message that if he testified he would die. When questioned by the judge, the co-defendant stated that he would not testify in appellant’s trial because appellant had threatened him, and he feared for his safety.

*381 The district court allowed into evidence the threatened co-defendant’s statement to the police, as well as both the second co-defendant’s interview with the police and his state? ment at sentencing. The district court also admitted Spreigl evidence concerning appellant’s involvement in a prior robbery.

The jury found appellant guilty on all counts. Appellant was adjudicated guilty of attempted murder in the first degree for injuring the clerk and assault in the second degree for threatening the customer. Appellant was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 180 months for attempted murder and 36 months for assault, the sentences to run consecutively.

At the hearing on a motion for a new trial and sentencing, one of the co-defendants alleged that he received $500 from appellant to recant his original statement that inculpated appellant. Although the district court appears to have considered documents supporting this allegation, the documents were not introduced into evidence. Respondent included these documents as an appendix to its brief.

ISSUES

1. Did the district court violate appellant’s rights by excluding appellant from an in camera hearing conducted to determine if appellant threatened one of his co-defendants into not testifying?

2. Did appellant waive his constitutional right to confrontation and his right to object to hearsay when the district court found he had procured the absence of the witness by threats, necessitating the use of the witness’s out-of-court statement?

3. Did the district court err by admitting out-of-court statements made by the second co-defendant to the police and during his sentencing hearing?

4. Did the district court err in admitting Spreigl evidence of a prior robbery?

5. Did the district court err in sentencing appellant to consecutive sentences?

6. Does the appendix to respondent’s brief contain materials outside of the record on appeal?

ANALYSIS

I.

Appellant contends, without citing authority, that the district court committed reversible error and violated both appellant’s constitutional right to confront witnesses and his right to be present during trial by excluding appellant and his counsel from the in camera hearing. We disagree.

In order to protect the identity of a confidential informant when deciding if there is a basis to disclose the informant’s identity, Minnesota appellate courts have permitted or required an in camera hearing that excludes counsel for either party. State v. Wessels, 424 N.W.2d 572, 574 (Minn.App.1988), review denied (Minn. July 6, 1988). Similarly, here it was within the district court’s discretion to protect the allegedly threatened witness.

The district court held this in camera hearing to address the witness’s refusal to testify. When defendants procure a witness’s unavailability with threats, they lose their confrontation rights. State v. Hansen, 312 N.W.2d 96, 104 (Minn.1981). We conclude appellant also has no right to be present at a hearing when alleged threats are revealed to the court, where his presence would provide a further opportunity to intimidate the witness. Appellant should not be allowed to take advantage of his own misconduct “to defeat the ends of justice,” and thus, his right to be present is waived. State ex rel. Shetsky v. Utecht, 228 Minn. 44, 48, 36 N.W.2d 126, 128 (1949).

Additionally, even if it was error for the district court to exclude both appellant and his attorney from the in camera hearing, we find beyond a reasonable doubt that the impact of any error was harmless. State v. Shoop, 441 N.W.2d 475, 481 (Minn.1989). Neither the state’s attorney nor appellant’s attorney were present at the in camera hearing, and the district court examined the witness. There was sufficient evidence to support the district court’s finding of fact that appellant threatened a co-defendant, and appellant has presented no evidence to suggest that his presence or that of counsel would *382 have changed that finding. Thus, we conclude appellant’s and his attorney’s absences from the in camera hearing did not impair appellant’s defense on the merits. Kentucky v. Stincer, 482 U.S. 730, 745, 107 S.Ct. 2658, 2667, 96 L.Ed.2d 631 (1987); Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S.

Related

State v. Jackson
655 N.W.2d 828 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2003)
State v. Hallum
606 N.W.2d 351 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 2000)
State v. Keeton
589 N.W.2d 85 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1998)
State v. Aubid
578 N.W.2d 784 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
573 N.W.2d 378, 1997 Minn. App. LEXIS 1383, 1997 WL 792974, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-keeton-minnctapp-1997.