State v. McCue

589 A.2d 580, 134 N.H. 94, 1991 N.H. LEXIS 34
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedApril 23, 1991
DocketNo. 89-070
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 589 A.2d 580 (State v. McCue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. McCue, 589 A.2d 580, 134 N.H. 94, 1991 N.H. LEXIS 34 (N.H. 1991).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

The defendant appeals from a jury verdict in the Superior Court (Temple, J.) finding him guilty of the first degree murder of Aleñe Courchesne. He challenges his conviction on two grounds, claiming first, that the circumstantial evidence for conviction was insufficient since it did not support the exclusion of all rational conclusions other than the defendant’s guilt. Second, he argues that the trial court committed reversible error in denying a motion in limine seeking to exclude the investigating officers’ use of the term “drag marks” in reference to the area where the body was discovered. We affirm.

On October 18, 1987, at approximately 4:45 p.m., a thirteen-year-old boy, Morgan Edgerly, discovered the body of Aleñe Courchesne lying face down in a mud puddle in the wooded area adjacent to the northbound lane of the Spaulding Turnpike between exits 13 and 14 in Rochester. He quickly summoned a police officer from the nearby mall. When the investigators arrived at the scene, they observed that the victim was wearing a light blue sweatsuit and that her pocketbook and its contents, together with a jacket and a pair of women’s white boots, were strewn about the body. On the left side of the body were one full and one partial footwear impression.

In the soft shoulder next to the breakdown lane of the turnpike, the police observed and photographed a set of tire tracks and another set of impressions in the gravel leading down to the mud puddle and the body, indicating that the victim had been dragged through the dirt, over the grass and into the puddle. The tire tracks appeared to run in a half-circle beginning at the breakdown lane and running through the soft gravel shoulder and then back onto the highway; part way through their path were two spin marks where the rear wheels had sunk into the ground. An examination of the tire tracks revealed that the vehicle responsible for making the impressions appeared to have winter tires on the rear and summer tires on the front. By measuring from the spin mark to the point where the front tire began to turn, the police were able to calculate what they thought was the vehicle’s wheelbase, which is the distance between the front and rear axles. Although the officers were unable to obtain an accurate measurement because of the condition of the gravel at the spin marks, the approximate wheelbase measurement was 9' 6". The police made several other measurements of the tire tracks and photographed the area extensively. In addition to the tire tracks and the footwear impressions, the police observed a large wet area approximately three feet north of the right rear spin mark, which proved to have been caused by the primary ingredient of antifreeze.

[96]*96Dr. Roger Fossum, M.D., the State’s Chief Medical Examiner, observed the body at approximately 7:00 p.m. on October 18, 1987, and stated that full rigor mortis had set in. The police officers at the scene had previously informed him that the body was rigid when it was first found. At the time of the autopsy the following morning at 9:00 a.m., Dr. Fossum noted that the body was still in a state of rigor mortis. Based on these observations, and the fact that rigor mortis remains in the body for 24-36 hours after death, Dr. Fossum concluded and testified at trial that Aleñe Courchesne had died between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. on October 18,1987. He further testified that the death probably occurred closer to 2:00 a.m., but admitted that the size and weight of the body may have affected what time the rigidity had set in. In addition to examining Ms. Courchesne’s body to determine the cause of her death, which he declared to be asphyxiation by strangulation, Dr. Fossum also recorded all other non-fatal injuries to her body. Ms. Courchesne sustained contusions and abrasions to her head and neck area and a laceration over her right eye. In Dr. Fossum’s opinion a blunt force trauma, such as a blow from a fist or the back of a hand, caused both the contusions and the laceration, which Dr. Fossum testified would cause a substantial trickle of blood. Apart from the injuries to her head and neck, Dr. Fossum found an abrasion on her left shin, which he stated was post-mortem and likely the result of someone’s mishandling her body. Samples of bodily fluids were taken and found to indicate that Aleñe Courchesne had consumed an alcoholic beverage and smoked marijuana thirty to ninety minutes before her death;

The first stage of the police investigation into the death centered on an individual named Barry Lazaro. Shortly after the police arrived at the scene but prior to their “processing” of the area, Mr. Lazaro drove a Ford Bronco approximately 250 yards on a dirt path through the woods from a department store parking lot near the turnpike and backed up to a point approximately six feet from the body. He got out of the vehicle and was walking toward the rear, approximately seven to ten feet from the body, when he was suddenly observed by Officer Trueman, who was guarding the area from the breakdown lane of the turnpike. Officer Trueman yelled to Mr. Lazaro, whom he recognized from prior encounters, to keep him from approaching the body. Mr. Lazaro quickly climbed back into his vehicle and drove away.

Shortly thereafter Mr. Lazaro was apprehended by the police and brought to the Rochester police station. Asked to explain his presence at the crime scene, Mr. Lazaro claimed that he had been eating [97]*97a Burger King dinner in his vehicle at the parking lot and had needed to go to the bathroom. He said he drove 250 yards down a dirt road behind Rich’s Department Store allegedly to find a private spot to do so. Despite the earlier urgency, however, Mr. Lazaro did not use the bathroom at any time during several hours of confinement and interrogation at the Rochester police station. The police were nevertheless satisfied with Mr. Lazaro’s answers and released him. At trial, Mr. Lazaro’s girl friend, Connie Lynn Osborne, testified that on the night of the murder she and Barry Lazaro were together from about 9:00 p.m. onward. They arrived at Ms. Osborne’s house at about 11:30 p.m. and spent the night there.

The police also discovered in the course of their preliminary investigation that the defendant, Richard McCue, had been with the victim the night before and was the last person seen with her. The police, therefore, focused their investigation upon him.

The defendant and Ms. Courchesne met on Friday, October 16, 1987, two days before her death, when the defendant stopped, late in the afternoon, at the 202 Quickie Convenience Store in Rochester where Ms. Courchesne worked. They engaged in conversation and agreed to meet that evening for a drink. The defendant testified at trial that when he returned to the 202 Quickie around midnight, he encountered Ms. Courchesne and a man, whom he later claimed was Barry Lazaro, having an argument. This identification was later contradicted by Veronica Cormier, who was in the convenience store at the time. In any event, after the man left the store, Ms. Courchesne and the defendant went briefly to Colby’s Bar and then continued on to Ms. Courchesne’s apartment at 20 Academy Street in Rochester to watch a movie and have another drink. The defendant left her apartment after they had agreed to meet again the following evening.

On October 17,1987, the defendant called Ms. Courchesne around 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. from his friends’ apartment at 12A Springfield Court; and, after calling her a second time, the defendant arranged to meet her at her apartment. The defendant arrived at 20 Academy Street at approximately 11:30 p.m. and waited in the living room while Ms.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
589 A.2d 580, 134 N.H. 94, 1991 N.H. LEXIS 34, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mccue-nh-1991.