State v. McBroom

394 N.W.2d 806, 1986 Minn. App. LEXIS 4866
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedOctober 21, 1986
DocketC8-86-129
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 394 N.W.2d 806 (State v. McBroom) 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. McBroom, 394 N.W.2d 806, 1986 Minn. App. LEXIS 4866 (Mich. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

OPINION

NIERENGARTEN, Judge.

Appellant Tia McBroom was convicted of two counts of murder in the second degree, Minn.Stat. § 609.19(1), 609.05 (1984), for being an accomplice in the shooting deaths of two men in a St. Paul nightclub. McBroom challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and makes several other contentions with respect to her claim that she was denied a fair trial. We affirm.

FACTS

In the evening of April 15, 1985, Perry Miller, Loland Brian Dungey and Michael Messenger were at Sylvia’s on Cedar, a nightclub in downtown St. Paul. During the evening, David Sutherlin and Tia McBroom arrived to celebrate Tia’s birthday. They were joined by David’s brother, Reggie Sutherlin, Calvin Washington and their girlfriends.

Miller and David Sutherlin got into a fight and Reggie jumped on Miller’s back. Reggie was ordered to leave and as he did he threatened Miller’s life.

David Sutherlin, Washington, Messenger, McBroom and several others went outside. Miller remained inside. Messenger overheard David Sutherlin tell a female sitting in his car, which was parked across the street, to “go get my shit.” Messenger did not see who the woman was, but the State argued that it was Tia McBroom. The woman drove away. Messenger testified that he understood David to be talking about retrieving a weapon. Another witness, Lucky Rosenbloom, testified that it was Reggie Sutherlin who asked his girlfriend, sitting in his car, to get his “shit.”

Reggie went to his white Cadillac, which was double-parked in front of Sylvia’s, and pulled out a gun wrapped in a towel from the trunk. Several people saw Reggie return the towel to the trunk after about five minutes. Crucial to the State’s theory was that the gun was also with the towel when it was replaced in the trunk. Michael Messenger testified that Reggie returned the towel with the gun. Several other witness *809 es testified that Reggie did return the object. One of them, Carol Soto, was in Sylvia’s and testified that Reggie’s gun in the towel was larger than State’s Exhibit # 5, which was a handgun later recovered from Michael Messenger and claimed to be the murder weapon. Another witness, Lo-land Dungey claimed that Reggie did not return the gun to his car but instead passed it to David Sutherlin. However, his testimony was not certain and he admitted he was presuming this.

Reggie went up to a large picture window at Sylvia’s and continued to threaten Miller who was still inside Sylvia’s at the window. Miller went to a phone booth and called a friend to bring a gun because he feared for his life.

Reggie, David, Messenger and Washington re-entered Sylvia’s and Reggie continued to threaten Miller. They went back outside. Reggie left and David, Messenger and Washington returned. David and Miller got into another argument and David and Messenger then left again.

Outside, McBroom was standing across the street next to David’s car and called to David. He crossed the street and walked over to McBroom as Messenger followed approximately eight feet behind. David’s back was turned to Messenger, but the State theorized that McBroom passed David a handgun at this point. Messenger did see that McBroom had something in her hand while she was across the street. Messenger also testified that David did not have anything in his hand initially but he suddenly produced a gun and pointed it at Messenger. David crossed the street, still pointing the gun at Messenger. McBroom was observed pulling on David’s arm as they crossed the street. She tried to pull him away from the door to Sylvia’s and was overheard saying, “Let me do it. Don’t do it.” The State contended that McBroom’s statement was made to David and evidenced her intention of killing Miller herself; McBroom contended the statement was made to Messenger and was evidence that she was telling Messenger that she alone could persuade David not to re-enter Sylvia’s.

David, McBroom and Messenger then entered Sylvia’s. McBroom and David ran towards Miller. One witness testified that McBroom took a swing at Miller. Two to three seconds later, several witnesses testified that David began shooting Miller at close range, approximately 18 to '24 inches away. Messenger wrestled with David and got the gun. David ran, pursued by Messenger. Calvin Washington then drove up and David got in the car and they fled. Miller died as a result of the shootings and a band member at Sylvia’s, Vincent Jones, also died. Jones apparently was struck by a stray bullet.

The police arrived within seconds of the shooting. As they approached Sylvia’s, Reggie’s car pulled away. It was stopped a few blocks later along with David’s car which was being driven by McBroom. A search of Reggie’s car did not reveal a gun. When McBroom was stopped, she gave different responses as to her identity. She was taken to police headquarters for questioning and in a written statement said that she was at Sylvia’s, left at 11:00 p.m. and was going around the corner before being picked up by the police. She was released at that time. David Sutherlin was later found hiding in the trunk of a friend’s car and was promptly arrested.

On June 11, 1985 McBroom had been arrested as an accomplice to the murders and was in jail. She called St. Paul Police Sergeant Dennis Wilkes and stated that “Dino Westerby” supplied David the gun. When Sgt. Wilkes indicated that witnesses had observed her give the gun, she stated “all right” and hung up. McBroom did not testify at trial. She was acquitted of two counts of first degree murder, but was convicted of two counts of second degree murder.

ISSUES

1. Was the evidence sufficient to convict appellant of murder in the second degree?

*810 2. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in denying appellant’s request for additional instructions following the jury’s request for instructions after it retired?

3. Did the trial court err in admitting appellant’s statements following her brief detention the night of the shootings?

4. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in denying a defense request to examine a juror for possible prejudice after the juror had seen a witness in the hotel where the jury had retired?

5. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in granting the jurors’ request to rehear the testimony of three witnesses?

6. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in admitting medical testimony and autopsy photographs?

ANALYSIS

I.

The State’s case hinged primarily on the testimony of Michael Messenger. The State claims circumstantial evidence established McBroom was an accomplice to David Sutherlin by furnishing him the murder weapon by reason of the following:

1) McBroom arrived at Sylvia’s with David Sutherlin. 2) McBroom left after the initial fight inside the nightclub. 3) McBroom was standing next to David Suth-erlin’s car several minutes after he had earlier told a female (presumably McBroom) to get his “shit” which the evidence showed referred to a gun. 4) McBroom called to David Sutherlin and was holding an object in her hand. 5) After meeting with David Sutherlin, he appeared abruptly with a gun in his hand.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
394 N.W.2d 806, 1986 Minn. App. LEXIS 4866, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcbroom-minnctapp-1986.