State v. Rollins

882 S.W.2d 314, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1272, 1994 WL 395283
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 2, 1994
DocketNo. 62655
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 882 S.W.2d 314 (State v. Rollins) 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. Rollins, 882 S.W.2d 314, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1272, 1994 WL 395283 (Mo. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

AHRENS, Judge.

Defendant was convicted by a jury of rape, burglary in the first degree, two counts of armed criminal action, and stealing under $150, in violation of §§ 566.030, 569.160, 571.-015, and 570.030 RSMo (1986), respectively. Defendant was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment on the rape charge, to be served consecutively to a 15-year sentence for the related armed criminal action count. He was also sentenced to 5 years on the burglary count, 3 years on its related armed criminal action count, and 30 days on the stealing count, to be served concurrently with the 15-year sentence. Defendant’s Rule 29.15 motion and amended motion were denied without an evidentiary hearing. Defendant appeals from the judgments of the trial and motion courts. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

The evidence reveals that on October 12, 1991, the 14-year-old victim, B.H., was babysitting her three younger cousins at their home. None of the adult residents of the apartment were home. .Defendant was admitted into the apartment by victim after lying about his reason for being there. Defendant told victim that he was there to recover his wallet. Defendant left the apartment, but returned a short time later, and was again admitted into the apartment to search for his wallet. While in the apartment, defendant grabbed victim and pushed her to the wall, pressing a knifé against her back. Victim stated that defendant then turned off the light, pulled down her shorts, put her on the bed, and put his finger into her vagina. Defendant also attempted to put his penis inside her, but victim did not know if he was able to do this. Defendant was later apprehended by the police and a stolen knife was found among his things.

At trial, defendant testified that he had smoked crack cocaine during the late afternoon and evening of October 12, prior to the incident with victim. Based on this testimony, the trial court submitted the State’s voluntary intoxication instruction to the jury, over defendant’s objection. The instruction reads as follows: “In determining the defendant’s guilt or innocence, you are instructed that a drugged condition from drugs will not [316]*316relieve a person of responsibility for his conduct.”

On appeal, defendant alleges that the trial court erred in submitting, over defendant’s objection, a voluntary drugged condition instruction based on MAI-CR3d 310.50. Defendant argues that his right to due process of law was violated by the submission of the instruction to the jury because it excused the State from proving his mental state beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant relies on State v. Erwin, 848 S.W.2d 476 (Mo. banc 1993). In Erwin, our Supreme Court abrogated the use of MAI-CR3d 310.50, holding that the instruction “has the effect of excusing the state from proving the defendant’s mental state beyond a reasonable doubt and violates due process.” Id. at 483.

The state claims that Erwin does not apply to the present case because defendant’s claim that the instruction excused the state of its burden of proof as to defendant’s mental state was raised for the first time on appeal, and therefore not preserved. Our Supreme Court limited the applicability of its holding in Erwin to “cases tried in the future and cases now subject to direct appeal where the issue is preserved that MAI-CR3d 310.50 violated due process because it relieved the state of its burden of proof as to the requisite mental state.” Id. at 484. At trial, defendant objected to the instruction on the basis that it was not supported by the evidence. In his motion for new trial, defendant alleged the instruction “was prejudicial and violated defendant’s rights to a fair and impartial jury, due process and equal protection guaranteed by the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and Article I, Sections 2,10,15, 18(a) and 21 of the Missouri Constitution.”

This court recently addressed the issue of preservation of a constitutional objection to MAI-CR3d 310.50 where defendant supplemented his original objection at trial with a constitutional due process objection in his motion for new trial. State v. Smoot, 860 S.W.2d 799 (Mo.App.1993). In Smoot, defendant’s objection at the instruction conference was that there was no evidence from which impairment could be inferred. In his motion for new trial, defendant claimed the intoxication instruction “violated defendant’s constitutional guarantees under the fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 10 of the Missouri Constitution.” Smoot, 860 S.W.2d at 801. We found that “defendant preserved his constitutional objection by specifically raising his due process objection to the intoxication instruction in his motion for a new trial.” We cited Rule 28.03 for the proposition that “a party may, but is not required to, object specifically or generally on the record to ... instructions or verdict forms to be given at the request of any other party,” as long as a specific objection is made in a motion for new trial. Id. Further, “objections made at time of trial ... may be supplemented or enlarged in motions for new trial.” Id., citing Rule 28.03.

The state relies on State v. Dillon, 869 S.W.2d 67 (Mo.App.1993), for the proposition that Erwin is not to be applied retrospectively and therefore does not apply to the present case. The state’s reliance on Dillon is misplaced. In Dillon, defense counsel failed to make a constitutional objection to the instruction at any time. Defense counsel argued, both at trial and in the motion for new trial, that MAI-CR3d 310.50 was a misstatement of the law on the use of voluntary intoxication as a defense to a criminal charge. This objection was not sufficient to preserve the issue for appeal.

In the present case, however, defendant made a due process objection in his new trial motion. We find, as we did in Smoot, that defendant properly supplemented his original objection with a constitutional due process objection, thereby preserving his claim on appeal.

The state further contends that defendant could not have been prejudiced by the giving of the intoxication instruction. The state argues defendant testified in detail and stated he knew everything he did, except when he cut the victim’s neck. However, in its second point, the state claims the instruction was proper because “there was evidence that [defendant] was voluntarily intoxicated to such an extent that his judgment or actions were substantially affected.” Specifically, the state relies on defendant’s state[317]*317ment to the police detective that he was addicted to drugs, and on the night in question, was on crack cocaine, did a lot of drinking, and did not recall exactly what happened. With this evidence before the jury, we are unable to say as a matter of law that defendant was not prejudiced by the giving of the instruction. Moreover, “if the giving of the instruction is error, it will be held harmless only when the Court can declare its belief that it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.” Erwin, 848 S.W.2d at 483 (citing Rose v. Clark, 478 U.S. 570, 583, 106 S.Ct. 3101, 3109, 92 L.Ed.2d 460 (1986)).

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Bluebook (online)
882 S.W.2d 314, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1272, 1994 WL 395283, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rollins-moctapp-1994.