State v. McCord

825 P.2d 194, 251 Mont. 317, 49 State Rptr. 53, 1992 Mont. LEXIS 14
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 16, 1992
Docket90-448
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 825 P.2d 194 (State v. McCord) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. McCord, 825 P.2d 194, 251 Mont. 317, 49 State Rptr. 53, 1992 Mont. LEXIS 14 (Mo. 1992).

Opinions

JUSTICE WEBER

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

A jury from the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, convicted Janice McCord, the defendant, of conspiracy to commit deliberate homicide in violation of 45-4-102, MCA. Defendant appeals. We affirm.

Defendant raises the following issues for review:

(1) Did the District Court violate hearsay rules and defendant’s right to confrontation by admitting testimony of Alan Foster’s (Foster’s) statements where Foster was not available to testify?

(2) Did the State’s delay in processing swab tests constitute negligent suppression of exculpatory evidence, violate due process and require dismissal of the case?

On December 26, 1987, Russell McCord died of a gunshot wound through the temple. Defendant, the wife of Russell McCord, testified that she and Foster found her husband in his bed, covered with blood. Investigators did not find the murder weapon. The investigators found no signs of forced entry or theft of property at the residence. The wound was consistent with the caliber of a silver derringer owned by the decedent and formerly stored in the family safe at the McCord residence. That derringer was never located.

[320]*320Defendant called 911 from their home. Emergency personnel testified that she told them that her husband was being medically treated for depression. The testimony established that statement was not true.

The prosecution established that in order to avoid delinquent federal tax debts, Russell McCord set up a family corporation to which various assets were transferred. The evidence established that money had been placed in the corporate bank account, but that the corporation had defaulted on payments owing on contracts for the purchase of property. The defendant, as treasurer, testified that she controlled the corporate finances and paid corporate bills, including making payments on a contract for deed on their residence. The evidence also established that the defendant was responsible for making payments on a contract for deed on a duplex property, which the McCords, together with Foster, had purchased. The evidence further established that the McCords and Foster had defaulted on a number of payments on the duplex contract and ultimately forfeited their interest in that duplex. In addition, the evidence established that the McCords received a notice of eviction on the family residence with such eviction to take place on December 27,1987. The defendant did not tell Russell McCord of the default, forfeiture or the impending eviction.

Three days before the homicide, defendant wrote to the sellers under the contract requesting a delay in eviction from their residence. She pointed out that Russell McCord’s brain cells were deteriorating, that he only had a few months to live, and that she would pay the delinquent obligation with his life insurance proceeds. The testimony established that the defendant’s statements regarding her husband’s illness were not true.

Prior to the shooting, in November 1987, someone took coins from Russell McCord’s collection, worth several thousand dollars. There was evidence to establish that Russell McCord suspected Foster or the defendant had removed the coins from the family safe.

The evidence established that Russell McCord had planned to hold an annual meeting of the family corporation on December 27, 1987, the day following his death. His plan had been to examine the corporate books, and discuss the missing coins. In addition, Russell McCord had disclosed his intention to require Foster to move out of the McCord home by January 1, 1988. At the time of the shooting, Foster had lived with the defendant and the decedent for almost eleven years. Dennis McCord testified that during that time, his [321]*321mother, the defendant, and Foster were engaged in a long-term sexual affair.

On August 18, 1988, Foster was killed when he drove his pickup truck off U.S. Highway 212. While the death was officially ruled as an accident, a Montana Highway Patrol accident reconstruction expert, as well as an undersheriff who investigated the accident, testified that, in their opinion, Foster’s death was a suicide. Dennis McCord testified that two days before Foster’s death, he had told the defendant that she and Foster were going to be arrested for Russell McCord’s murder.

The first issue concerns the testimony by several witnesses to a number of statements Foster made following Russell McCord’s death. These will be discussed in further detail.

The defendant’s second issue involves swabs which investigators took from the hands of the decedent, defendant, and Foster at the scene of the murder. The State left these swabs in an evidence locker and did not process them to check for powder residue until just prior to the trial when defendant requested the analysis. As a result of this delay in processing, the results were not available until the fourth day of trial. At trial, the State’s witness testified that the swab tests were inconclusive because they did not detect gunshot residue on any of the three subjects. After the close of the State’s case, defense counsel moved to dismiss the case for negligent suppression of exculpatory evidence. Defendant claimed the State’s delay in processing the swab results prevented her from obtaining an expert to explain the significance of these inconclusive results to the jury.

I

Did the District Court violate defendant’s right to confrontation and the Montana Rules of Evidence by admitting Foster’s statements when Foster was not available to testify? The challenged statements are set out in numbered order below.

1. Defendant’s son Dennis and Dennis’ wife Grace, both testified that they drove Foster home after the police investigation at the station on the day of the murder. They testified that during the drive, Foster told them Russell McCord had been shot at a slight downward angle, from about twelve inches away with a small caliber weapon, probably a .22, and had suffocated in his own blood. He told them that he learned these details from emergency personnel.

[322]*3222. Grace testified that on the eve of the funeral, Foster stated that he loved Russell McCord and “didn’t mean to do it.”

3. Dennis testified that he did not actually hear Foster’s statement, but that he told Detective Comfort that Grace said to him that Foster said he did not mean to “kill” Russell McCord.

4. Grace called the police immediately after telling Dennis of Foster’s statements. During the resulting interrogation, Foster feigned intoxication. The detective testified that when confronted, Foster stated he faked intoxication for “self-preservation.”

5. Detectives testified regarding Foster’s account of the particular time and sequence of his activities the afternoon of the homicide. His statements were inconsistent with the testimony of defendant and other witnesses.

6. Foster told detectives he was unaware that as a result of default, he and the McCords forfeited their interest in the duplex property. The State contradicted this statement at trial with other evidence.

A. Statements 1 and 2: Admissions Against Interest.

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Related

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2003 MT 230 (Montana Supreme Court, 2003)
State v. Stuit
921 P.2d 866 (Montana Supreme Court, 1996)
State v. Losson
865 P.2d 255 (Montana Supreme Court, 1993)
State v. McCord
825 P.2d 194 (Montana Supreme Court, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
825 P.2d 194, 251 Mont. 317, 49 State Rptr. 53, 1992 Mont. LEXIS 14, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mccord-mont-1992.