State v. Palmer

803 N.W.2d 727, 2011 Minn. LEXIS 608, 2011 WL 4467596
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedSeptember 28, 2011
DocketNo. A10-1356
StatusPublished
Cited by69 cases

This text of 803 N.W.2d 727 (State v. Palmer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court 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. Palmer, 803 N.W.2d 727, 2011 Minn. LEXIS 608, 2011 WL 4467596 (Mich. 2011).

Opinions

OPINION

ANDERSON, G. BARRY, Justice.

The Stearns County District Court, following a bench trial, found Keonne Alexander Palmer guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, in the shooting death of Ernest Moss. The court sentenced Palmer to life in prison without the possibility of release based on the first-degree premeditated murder conviction. On appeal, Palmer argues that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction of premeditated murder. In a pro se supplemental brief, Palmer argues that the court should have considered lesser-included manslaughter offenses, that the district court did not properly pronounce Palmer’s sentence, and that Palmer received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. We affirm.

A failed drug transaction between friends led to the death of Ernest Moss. About 2 weeks before the homicide, Keonne Palmer’s brother, Da’Leino Palmer (“Da’Leino”), provided crack cocaine to Moss with the understanding that Moss would pay Da’Leino $250 to $300 within a week. Da’Leino, in turn, owed money to the individuals who provided him with the cocaine. According to Da’Leino, Moss did not pay as agreed.

Until the cocaine sale, Moss, Palmer, and Da’Leino were friends. Da’Leino and Palmer frequently visited Moss at his home, but Da’Leino stopped visiting Moss because of the debt. Three to four days before the shooting, Da’Leino began fre[731]*731quently calling Moss attempting to collect on the debt; Moss ignored these calls.

On the day of the shooting, April 29, 2009, Da’Leino was with M.H., his girlfriend, and J.T., a friend, in M.H.’s apartment in St. Cloud. J.T. testified that Da’Leino received several telephone calls that he did not answer. Da’Leino became agitated in response to the calls, saying that he needed the money from Moss.1 At some point, Da’Leino gave his .22-caliber revolver to J.T. to carry in her purse. J.T. had carried Da’Leino’s gun for him in the past because Da’Leino has a felony conviction and is not legally permitted to carry a firearm. Palmer had taken the cartridges out of the gun the previous week, so the gun was not loaded when given to J.T.

Da’Leino, M.H., and J.T. got in Palmer’s car, which Da’Leino had borrowed from Palmer a couple weeks earlier. The three made some stops, and then picked up Palmer from his home in Richmond to drive him to work in St. Cloud. On the way to St. Cloud, Palmer and Da’Leino discussed the Moss debt. M.H. heard Palmer and Da’Leino mention that Moss was supposed to have Da’Leino’s money by noon that day. Da’Leino and J.T. testified that while in the car, Palmer asked Da’Lei-no for the gun and Da’Leino told J.T. to give the unloaded gun to Palmer. Palmer testified that Da’Leino asked him for the bullets. Palmer, who had brought the ammunition with him that day, then wiped the individual cartridges with his sweatshirt to remove his fingerprints before loading the cartridges into all nine chambers of the gun. Palmer then placed the gun under the front passenger seat of the car — a usual location for the gun. Da’Leino dropped off M.H. and J.T. at M.H.’s apartment, and Palmer and Da’Leino drove to Moss’s house.

Earlier that day, J.M., a friend of Palmer and Moss, went to Moss’s house. J.M. testified that around noon Moss took a phone call and was initially arguing with the person on the other end, but the conversation ended positively. Moss told J.M. that he was talking to Palmer about money that Moss’s neighbor, B.M., owed Da’Leino for crack cocaine. J.M. left at around 2:30 p.m., as Moss left to pick up his two children from school.

The shooting.

Palmer and Da’Leino were already waiting at the Moss home when Moss arrived with his children. Moss’s oldest son testified that he and his brother went into a bedroom and an argument began between the men in the living room moments after the children left, although Da’Leino and Palmer testified that the argument started 5 to 20 minutes after they entered the house. During the argument, Da’Leino learned that B.M., the neighbor, owed Moss money; Da’Leino left the house, went to the car to get his gun, and then went to B.M.’s house — which was the other side of Moss’s duplex. Moss went over to B.M.’s house as well, and Moss spoke with B.M.’s wife, who told Moss that B.M. was not home at the time.

Shortly thereafter, the argument continued outside, becoming “heated” and “loud.” Palmer was standing between Moss and Da’Leino. Da’Leino testified that Palmer was telling Moss that Moss would have to pay Da’Leino the money Moss owed, but Palmer testified that he was merely trying to keep the peace. Moss, who was holding his cordless tele[732]*732phone, threatened to call the police and then did so by dialing 911. When Moss threatened to call the police, Da’Leino pulled the gun out of his waistband and began to point it at Moss with his finger on the trigger. Palmer grabbed the barrel of the gun with his left hand, took the gun from Da’Leino, transferred the gun to his right hand, and then said something to the effect of “no you [a]ren’t.” Palmer then shot Moss five times, firing two to three shots, pausing for 2 to 5 seconds, and then firing the remaining shots. Da’Leino, in describing the scene to a family member soon after the shooting, stated that Palmer “stood over [Moss] and finished him off.” After the shooting, the phone was on the ground with the battery dislodged, presumably because Moss dropped the telephone as Palmer shot him. Moss’s 911 call had been disconnected.

It is undisputed that Palmer shot Moss five times; once each in the back, neck, left shoulder, abdomen, and head. The bullets entered Moss’s body from the front, back, and side, and hit Moss at varying trajectories. The entrance wounds and bullet trajectories showed that either Moss or Palmer moved between shots. Additionally, the evidence indicated that Moss was shot while he was crouched, falling, or already on the ground. Specifically, bullets entering Moss with a downward trajectory indicated that the gun was higher than the wound. One bullet hit Moss, who was 6 feet 1 inch tall, in the head with a downward trajectory. Palmer is 5 feet 6 inches tall, and testified that he held the gun straight out in front of him. At trial, Palmer admitted that he had experience with a .22-caliber firearm and that he knew multiple shots would be required to do much damage with a gun of that caliber.

After the shooting.

After the shooting, the brothers split up. Palmer ran down an alley, where he threw his hat into a bucket, wrapped the gun in his sweatshirt, and put the sweatshirt and the gun into a garbage bag. Police officers caught Palmer soon thereafter. He lied to the police about where he was and whether he had been at Moss’s house at the time of the shooting. Later, after admitting he had been at Moss’s house, Palmer lied about his involvement in the shooting.

Da’Leino went inside Moss’s house immediately after the shooting. He went to the closet where Moss kept his marijuana and took $20 and an electronic scale. Da’Leino then ran to M.H.’s apartment and told M.H. and J.T. what happened. The three borrowed a car and eventually drove to Palmer’s place in Richmond. Police officers had already arrested Palmer at this point. While at Palmer’s residence, Da’Leino spoke with Palmer’s wife and a cousin’s girlfriend. After Da’Leino spoke to these family members, everyone was getting in the car to leave when police officers arrived and arrested Da’Leino.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
803 N.W.2d 727, 2011 Minn. LEXIS 608, 2011 WL 4467596, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-palmer-minn-2011.