State v. Roddy

963 S.W.2d 313, 1997 Mo. App. LEXIS 2129, 1997 WL 768896
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 16, 1997
DocketNos. WD 51694, WD 53550
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 963 S.W.2d 313 (State v. Roddy) 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. Roddy, 963 S.W.2d 313, 1997 Mo. App. LEXIS 2129, 1997 WL 768896 (Mo. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

HOWARD, Presiding Judge.

Deandre Roddy appeals from his convictions of one count of murder in the first degree, § 565.020, RSMo 1994, one count of robbery in the first degree, § 569.020, RSMo 1994, one count of kidnapping, § 565.110, RSMo 1994, and three counts of armed criminal action, § 571.015, RSMo 1994. Roddy claims that the trial court submitted an erroneous instruction to the jury, and that the trial court erred by overruling his challenge [315]*315to the State’s use of a peremptory strike to remove a black woman from the jury panel. Roddy also appeals from the denial of his Rule 29.15 motion for post-conviction relief without an evidentiary hearing, claiming that his trial counsel was ineffective for not allowing him to testify at his trial.

The convictions are affirmed on direct appeal, but the motion court’s judgment denying Roddy’s Rule 29.15 motion is reversed and remanded for a hearing on Roddy’s claim that his counsel prevented him from testifying at trial.

Just after midnight on July 15,1993, Trent Crane walked to his truck after closing the gas station where he worked in Kansas City, Missouri. Roddy, along with his accomplices, Timothy McDaniel, Willie Starr, Anthony Nimrod, and Marvel Lowe, were waiting for Crane outside the gas station with the intention of stealing his truck. After Crane turned off the alarm on his truck, Roddy and Lowe ran up to him and, after ordering Crane into the truck at gunpoint, entered the truck from the passenger side. Crane was ordered to drive to Swope Park, while Rod-dy’s remaining accomplices followed in one of the other cars.

When they reached the park, Roddy and McDaniel walked Crane to a grassy area away from the cars. Roddy was carrying a .82 caliber handgun and McDaniel was carrying a .22 caliber handgun. Roddy and McDaniel each shot Crane multiple times, and Crane died of his wounds.

Roddy was brought to trial twice in connection with this incident. In the first trial, Roddy was found guilty of first-degree robbery, kidnapping, and two counts of armed criminal action. The jury could not agree on the homicide count and the remaining count of armed criminal action, and the trial court declared a mistrial. Roddy was then retried and found guilty on both remaining counts.

Roddy’s first point on direct appeal concerns the verdict-directing instruction for first-degree murder which the trial court submitted to the jury. Roddy contends that the instruction did not require the jury to unequivocally find that he had deliberated about causing Crane’s death.

Roddy, acknowledges that his counsel did not object to this instruction or raise this issue in his motion for a new trial, and therefore he seeks review on the basis of plain error. Instructional error rarely rises to the level of plain error. State v. Brokus, 858 S.W.2d 298, 302 (Mo.App. E.D.1993). To prevail on a claim of plain error with respect to an instruction, a defendant must show more than mere prejudice; a defendant must show that the jury was misdirected in a way that caused manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice. Id.

The challenged instruction, which followed MAI-CR 3d 313.02 as modified by MAI-CR 3d 304.04, read as follows:

As to Count I, if you find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt:
First, that on or about July 15, 1993, in the County of Jackson, State of Missouri, the defendant or other persons caused the death of Trent Crane by shooting him, and
Second, that defendant or other persons knew or were aware that their conduct was practically certain to cause the death of Trent Crane, and
Third, that defendant or other persons did so after deliberation, which means cool reflection upon the matter for any length of time no matter how brief, then you are instructed that the offense of murder in the first degree has occurred, and if you further find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt:
Fourth, that with the purpose of promoting or furthering the death of Trent Crane, the defendant aided or encouraged other person [sic] in causing the death of Trent Crane and did so after deliberation, which means cool reflection upon the matter for any length of time no matter how brief, then you will find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.
However, unless you find and believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt each and all of these propositions, you must find the defendant not guilty of that offense.
If you do find defendant guilty under Count I of Murder in the First Degree, [316]*316you will return a verdict finding him guilty of Murder in the First Degree.

Specifically, Roddy complains of Paragraph Fourth, claiming that it is ambiguous in that the phrase “did so” could just as easily refer to “with the purpose of promoting or furthering the death of Trent Crane” as “aided or encouraged other person [sic] in causing the death of Trent Crane.” Therefore, Roddy argues, the instruction does not require an unequivocal finding that he deliberated about causing Crane’s death. However, Roddy’s claim of ambiguity is without merit, as it is a contortion of the common-sense meaning of the paragraph.

Roddy also complains that the disjunctive use of “defendant or other persons” in Paragraphs First, Second, and Third allowed the jury to “mix and match” among the elements by allowing them to find that “other persons” committed some elements and that Roddy committed others, and by not requiring the entire jury to find that the same person or persons committed any single element. However, Roddy’s argument ignores the rule that it is sufficient that all jurors ultimately agree on their ultimate conclusion that the defendant is guilty of the crime charged, though they may not agree on the manner in which the defendant partid-. pated in the crime if under any of the alternative ways the defendant would be guilty of the crime charged. State v. Hill, 884 S.W.2d 69, 74-75 (Mo.App. S.D.1994). Point denied.

Roddy’s second point on direct appeal involves a claim of error in his first trial. Roddy contends that the trial court erred by overruling his challenge to the State’s use of a peremptory strike to remove a black woman from the jury panel. Roddy argues that the State’s proffered explanation for its strike was pretextual and motivated by race.

Roddy challenged the peremptory strike on the basis of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), and the State explained its peremptory strike of the black venirewoman as follows:

[Sjhe’s had a nephew in the jail in the past, but even more important than that, she works with the housing authority, and you know, she’s had dealings with our office through our drug unit, and primarily that’s the biggest reason. We’re dealing with someone who I’m thinking has a lot to do with people who are being rehabilitated on drugs and things like that, and that’s not someone that I want on the jury.

The State’s explanation prompted the following exchange:

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Related

Allen v. State
50 S.W.3d 323 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2001)
State v. Williams
24 S.W.3d 101 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2000)
State v. King
988 S.W.2d 663 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1999)
State v. Garner
976 S.W.2d 57 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1998)
State v. Jackson
969 S.W.2d 773 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
963 S.W.2d 313, 1997 Mo. App. LEXIS 2129, 1997 WL 768896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-roddy-moctapp-1997.