State v. Releford

750 S.W.2d 539, 1988 Mo. App. LEXIS 310, 1988 WL 28222
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 5, 1988
DocketWD 39734
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 750 S.W.2d 539 (State v. Releford) 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. Releford, 750 S.W.2d 539, 1988 Mo. App. LEXIS 310, 1988 WL 28222 (Mo. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

NUGENT, Judge.

Defendant Harold S. Releford appeals his conviction after a jury trial of one count of robbery in the first degree in violation of § 569.020, R.S.Mo., 1986, two counts of assault in the first degree in violation of § 558.011.1(2), R.S.Mo., 1986, and four counts of armed criminal action in violation of § 571.015.1, R.S.Mo., 1986, and his sentence to consecutive terms of punishment totaling 155 years.

We affirm.

On the evening of December 6, 1986, Harry Don Callicotte (H.D.) was studying for his law school final examinations at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School. He testified that he left the school about 1:00 a.m. and drove home. He parked his car in front of his home, gathered his books and walked to the door. As he unlocked the door, he saw a “flash” out of the comer of his eye and felt a “thud” on the back of his head. Mr. Callicotte fell into the entrance foyer.

Mr. Callicotte’s mother, Grace Kopoian, and her friend, Jerry Mee, were sitting in the living room watching television and playing backgammon. They heard H.D. cry out and saw him fall into the house. Immediately afterward his attacker jumped into the room with a baseball bat in his hands and again struck H.D.

Ms. Kopoian and Mr. Mee went to her son’s aid, but the intruder first struck Mr. Mee and then struck Ms. Kopoian. She then managed to escape and run for help.

Mr. Callicotte crawled across the room, got a pillow from the sofa and used it to shield his head. At that time he was able to turn and see his assailant for the first time. After being struck again, Mr. Calli-cotte managed to get to his feet and, using his body, push his attacker across the room and against a wall. As he did so, he looked directly into his attacker’s face.

The assailant struck Mr. Callicotte several more times until finally he was unable to get up, although he remained conscious during the entire attack. He saw the assailant strike Jerry Mee three more times, even though Mr. Mee could not move. The attacker then walked back to Mr. Calli-cotte, rolled him over, removed his wallet and struck him again before leaving the house.

At trial Ms. Jacqueline Cook testified that she heard Ms. Kopoian screaming for help and ran outside. She saw a man leaving Mr. Callicotte’s house and asked him what was wrong. He replied that someone had been shot. She saw the man go to a car parked about half a block away and drive off.

Ms. Cook went to Mr. Callicotte’s house, and she and her husband administered first aid to the two men until paramedics and police arrived. Other neighbors and family members also gathered.

Mr. Callicotte was able to give the police a description of his assailant. He described him as a black male, approximately 5’8” weighing 200 pounds, with large arms and legs, large lips, and flared nostrils. Ms. Cook gave police a description of the man she saw leaving and the car he was driving. Ms. Kopoian also described the man.

The next morning in the hospital Mr. Callicotte gave police the same description and picked Harold S. Releford’s picture from a photographic display of six. Ms. Kopoian also picked Mr. Releford’s picture from the display.

A day or so later detectives brought a video display to the hospital for Ms. Kopoi-an and Mr. Callicotte to view. Again, both identified the defendant, Harold S. Rele-ford, as their assailant.

Defendant argues four points on appeal: First, the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the in-court and out-of-court identifications by H.D. Callicotte and Grace Kopoian because the photo array presented *542 to them was impermissibly suggestive. Second, the trial court erred in failing to strike the jury panel when one of the members of the venire answered affirmatively when the prosecutor asked if anyone recognized the defendant because the member was a chaplain at the Jackson County Jail and by his answer betrayed the fact that the defendant was incarcerated. Third, the trial court erred in giving MAI-CR 300.02 and 302.04 because those instructions improperly define reasonable doubt. Finally, the trial court erred in admitting into evidence exhibits 30 and 39, photographs of Jerry Mee, which were unnecessary and only served to inflame the prejudices of the jury.

On appeal we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the state and disregard any evidence to the contrary. State v. Wood, 596 S.W.2d 394, 400 (Mo.1980) (en banc). The defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions.

In his first point defendant argues that the victims’ in-court and out-of-court identifications should not have been admitted into evidence because the photo display was impermissibly suggestive. Defendant contends that his photo was the only one in the display that comported with the descriptions given because the other photos were of men with distinct facial hair, long. hair or slight body build.

In determining the admissibility of identification testimony, reliability rather than suggestiveness is the linchpin securing defendant’s due process rights. State v. Robinson, 641 S.W.2d 423, 427 (Mo.1982) (en banc). The court must examine the totality of the circumstances, including (1) the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time the crime is committed, (2) the witness’ degree of attention, (3) the accuracy of the witness’ prior description of the criminal, (4) the level of certainty demonstrated at the time of confrontation, and (5) the length of time between the crime and confrontation. State v. Harper, 713 S.W.2d 7, 10 (Mo.App.1986).

In the present case the trial court determined that the pretrial identification was not unduly suggestive. Our review is limited to a determination of whether sufficient evidence exists for the trial court’s decision. Id. at 10. Identical appearances among the participants of a display is not required. State v. Cooper, 708 S.W.2d 299, 305 (Mo.App.1986). We have examined the challenged array and do not find it to be impermissibly suggestive. Contrary to defendant’s contention, one man has almost no facial hair and defendant’s picture shows about the same amount of facial hair as three of the other men. Defendant’s hair appears shorter than that of the other men in the photo display, but Mr. Callicotte testified that he believed defendant to be wearing some type of hat, so that the assailant’s hair did not provide a basis for his identification. Two of the other men in the display appear to be less stocky than defendant, but the other three do not.

The witnesses viewed the assailant for several minutes; Mr. Callicotte never lost consciousness and looked directly into his assailant’s face as he pushed him across the room and watched his assailant as he struck Mr. Mee. His entire attention was focused on the assailant, and both Ms. Kop-oian and Mr. Callicotte gave the police a description of their attacker before they saw the photo display.

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Bluebook (online)
750 S.W.2d 539, 1988 Mo. App. LEXIS 310, 1988 WL 28222, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-releford-moctapp-1988.