State v. Manning

664 S.W.2d 605, 1984 Mo. App. LEXIS 4465
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 10, 1984
Docket46461
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 664 S.W.2d 605 (State v. Manning) 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. Manning, 664 S.W.2d 605, 1984 Mo. App. LEXIS 4465 (Mo. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

GAERTNER, Presiding Judge.

Appellant was found guilty by a jury of assault in the second degree. He does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence and therefore the facts may be stated briefly-

The victim of the assault was appellant’s wife, Brenda. They had been separated for several months and had discussed divorce. Brenda was living in the upstairs apartment of a two family flat with a friend, Julie Peckron. Brenda, her friend, Mark Walker, Julie and her friend, Larry La-tham, were all at the apartment when appellant came in about 2:00 a.m. on May 17, 1981. Brenda, who was in the bedroom with Mark, came to the kitchen to speak with appellant. He mentioned a reconciliation but Brenda stated she was not interested. Brenda testified he then produced a gun from under his shirt and pointed it at her. She ran into the hall and was shot in the leg. She said appellant then went toward the bedroom where Walker was located. She heard more shots fired. He re *607 turned to the living room and, at Brenda’s request, handed her the gun. Walker was found dead in the bedroom, having been shot twice in the chest, once in the back and once in the back portion of his head. 1 Police recovered five empty cartridges in the bathroom and four live cartridges in appellant’s pocket. The gun, when recovered by the police, was fully loaded.

Appellant’s testimony differed from that of his wife in that he claimed she brought the gun into the kitchen and laid it on the table. He claimed he saw Walker coming out of the bedroom with a gun in his hand. Appellant testified he then picked up the gun from the table and shot into the hallway. He did not intend to shoot his wife. He admitted shooting Walker, but claimed he did so because Walker had a gun in his hand. He denied making the statement testified to by police officers that he shot both people, “because she’s my wife.”

On appeal appellant contends the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence, in restricting his cross-examination of the victim and in giving and refusing certain instructions. We affirm.

Appellant complains about the admission in evidence of a photograph of Walker’s body taken at the scene and showing a gunshot wound in the back of his head. Appellant failed to make timely objections at trial to the relevance of the evidence relating to the murder of Walker, nor does he make such assertion here, except as to the photograph. Evidence of other crimes is admissible “where it tends to establish motive, intent, the absence of mistake or accident, a common scheme or plan embracing the commission of two or more crimes so related that the proof of one tends to establish the other...” State v. Trimble, 638 S.W.2d 726, 732 (Mo. banc 1982). It was the State’s theory of the case that appellant went to the house armed with a gun intending to kill his wife and her paramour. The evidence of Walker’s murder tended to establish this motive and intent. Further, the depiction of the wound in the back of Walker’s head was relevant in that it tended to refute appellant’s theory that he shot Walker in self-defense. The court did not abuse its broad discretion in admitting the photograph into evidence. State v. Clemons, 643 S.W.2d 803, 805 (Mo. banc 1983).

Next, appellant argues the trial court improperly limited his cross-examination of the victim of the assault. The evidence relating to the production of the gun was conflicting. Brenda testified appellant produced the weapon from underneath his shirt and that she had never seen it before. Appellant testified his wife took the gun from the pocket of her robe. On direct examination, Brenda identified the gun introduced as an exhibit. She testified that neither she nor anyone in the apartment had possessed that gun prior to the date of the shooting. On cross-examination, she admitted keeping a pistol for protection when she lived in another neighborhood. Counsel for appellant then began the next question, “and do you remember pointing.An objection interrupted the question and a lengthy chambers conference ensued. From the record of this conference, it appears that defense counsel was attempting to question her about an incident prior to the separation in which Brenda had pointed a gun at a police officer mistakenly believing him to be an intruder. His stated purpose was to impeach her testimony that she had never possessed the gun before. The court sustained the objection, but indicated he would permit counsel “to ask if she’s ever had this gun or owned this gun, this gun.” Counsel then proceeded to ask Brenda, “Now, isn’t it a fact that you took this particular gun and you pointed it at... ” Again the question was interrupted by an objection which was sustained. Appellant’s counsel made no further inquiries of Brenda regarding this gun.

The record fails to support appellant’s argument that his right of cross-examina *608 tion was unduly restricted. After her denial, Brenda’s prior possession of the gun became a proper subject for cross-examination. Indeed, the trial judge advised counsel he would allow questions directed to that point. But counsel insisted upon phrasing his questions in such a manner as to include a remote and irrelevant issue. A simple, direct question relating to her prior possession of the gun was never addressed to Brenda on cross-examination. The only restriction imposed by the court’s ruling was to exclude the earlier incident relating to the pointing of the gun at a police officer. The court did not exclude all inquiry relating to prior possession of the gun. Rather, the court exercised its discretion by placing “reasonable limits upon the cross-examination ... in order that the subject, being collateral to the main issue, did not consume an inordinate amount of time and did not distract the jury from the main inquiry.” State v. Ofield, 635 S.W.2d 73, 75 (Mo.App.1982).

Appellant’s contention of error in refusing to instruct on assault in the third degree is equally without merit. Acknowledging that § 556.046 RSMo 1978 excludes the obligation to instruct on lesser included offenses unless there is an evidentiary basis for an acquittal of the greater offense and a conviction of the lesser, appellant argues that his own testimony of absence of intent to shoot his wife would meet this criterion. This argument overlooks the fact that the statutory definitions of degrees of assault do not differ solely on the issue of mental intent as do the degrees of homicide offenses. This dictinction is lucidly explained in State v. Olson, 636 S.W.2d 318, 322 (Mo. banc 1982) wherein it is noted that “[t]he degrees of assault differ somewhat in accordance with the severity of the injury intended, the severity of the injury inflicted, and the instrument used in the assault.” (emphasis added) Generally, the use of a deadly weapon in the perpetration of an assault precludes the possibility of a conviction of assault in the third degree. State v. Heitman, 613 S.W.2d 902, 906 (Mo.App.1981); State v. Brandon,

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Bluebook (online)
664 S.W.2d 605, 1984 Mo. App. LEXIS 4465, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-manning-moctapp-1984.