State v. Ross

606 S.W.2d 416
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided October 14, 1980·No. 41527·Published·Cited by 26 cases

Opinion

WEIER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a conviction of four counts of robbery in the first degree and one count of armed criminal action. The appellant was sentenced to thirty years on three counts of robbery, fifty years on one count of robbery to run concurrently and fifty years on the armed criminal action to run consecutive to the robbery convictions. Appellant raises sixteen points charging trial court error. His counsel has supplied this court with a voluminous brief that has exhaustively presented and analyzed each point relied on.

A brief recitation of the facts follows; more detailed accounts are incorporated in the opinion where relevant. On June 19, 1978, at approximately 5 p. m., the defendant, Lansing Ross and a co-defendant, Jerome White, entered the Wick Furniture Company at 3152 Cherokee Street in St. Louis, Missouri. After posing as customers and speaking with salesman Johnathan Lochmann for about ten minutes, White said he wanted to put down a deposit on a table. Salesman Lochmann went to a back office to obtain the necessary forms and when he returned, White drew a gun on Lochmann. White and the appellant forced Lochmann into the back of the store where two other employees Elizabeth Reinhardt and Shirley Bell were working. The appellant and his co defendant proceeded to take the money out of the cash register and then tied up the three employees and robbed them of money on their person. Ross and White then left the store and the victims untied themselves and called the police. A week later, on June 26, several detectives for the St. Louis Police Department arrested Ross, his co-defendant White and another subject.

I.

The appellant first contends that the trial court abused its discretion in overruling appellant’s objection that the prosecutor had argued punishment in the closing statement to the jury without giving prior notice to the appellant by making a reference to punishment in the first half of his closing argument. During the first half of the State’s closing argument, the prosecutor commented on certain instructions referring to the imposition of punishment by the jury. He then said: “I would like to defer *419 discussing those particular instructions . .. until the second half of my argument.... ” Later, in the second half of his closing argument, the prosecutor vigorously pressed for severe sentences to be assessed against the defendant. He emphasized the dangerous disposition of the defendant by reiterating that he had urged his co-defendant to shoot Elizabeth Reinhardt when she had difficulty complying with the robbers’ orders to lay on the floor, due to her arthritic condition.

The Missouri Supreme Court has laid down certain guidelines to be followed when the State wishes to argue the issue of punishment in a criminal case. Their substance is to ensure that the defense has an opportunity to rebut the State’s argument for, presumably, severe punishment. They are set out in State v. Peterson, 423 S.W.2d 825 (Mo.1968):

“The point will, of course, be ruled in each case on its own peculiar facts, including these issues: whether a fair statement of the State’s position has been made in some manner in its opening argument; whether any waiver has been made by the defendant, either by his own counsel’s argument or by the failure to object properly and to preserve the point; and, lastly, a determination of the question of prejudice in view of all the circumstances.” Id. at 831[4] (emphasis added).

This precept has been repeatedly reaffirmed. See State v. Maxie, 513 S.W.2d 338, 345-346[17] (Mo.1974); State v. Wad-low, 450 S.W.2d 200, 201[1] (Mo.1970).

Our review of the record in the instant case reveals that defense counsel was put on notice of the State’s intent to argue punishment to the jury. Our courts have held it is not required that the prosecutor make a reference to a particular number of years in the opening half of his closing argument to ensure that the State may thereafter argue punishment in the closing argument. For example, the conviction and sentencing of a defendant was upheld in State v. Brown, 480 S.W.2d 839 (Mo.1972), where in the first half of closing argument the prosecutor briefly outlined the case and then said: “And I later on will come back, at the conclusion, and ask for a penalty sufficient to the crime and ask that this man be sent to the penitentiary for a number of years.... ” Id. at 839-40. In the final portion of his closing argument the prosecutor asked that a twenty year sentence to be assessed by the jury. The Supreme Court held the prosecutor had put the defense on notice of his intention to argue punishment to the jury. Such is the situation before us now.

Defense counsel in the present case not only tacitly admitted he was put on notice that the prosecutor was to argue punishment but, in fact, waived his chance to make a rebuttal. In his closing argument, defense counsel commented to the jury: “There’s some question about punishment and so on, but the point is you can’t assess punishment against someone if they haven’t been shown to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We’re not even going to talk about that.” By this statement defense counsel clearly acknowledged notice of the State’s intention to argue punishment and, in addition, explicitly waived his right of rebuttal. We find this point of appeal without merit.

II.

Appellant presses forward the claim that on several occasions prejudicial error was repeatedly injected into the trial court proceedings by means of references to other crimes for which the defendant was not on trial. 1

We first consider the allegedly prejudicial testimony of one of the officers who effectuated the arrest of the defendant. At the trial Detective Daniel Stewart testified that on June 26 he and several other detectives surrounded the residence where the suspects had been located and notified the occupants that the police were outside. Immediately afterwards Jerome White kicked out an apartment screen and then threw *420 out a bag of jewelry which landed on the ground. Defense counsel approached the bench and objected to the reply as evidence of other crimes not charged. The trial court overruled the defendant’s objection and appellant now claims prejudicial error.

As a preface to our discussion of this matter, we note that the prosecutor told the trial court at the bench conference immediately after defense counsel objected that the officer’s response about the jewelry was volunteered and caught him “completely by surprise.” The court told the prosecutor that he did not necessarily view the reference to the incident as evidence of other crimes, but that the prosecutor was not to pursue it any further. The prosecutor complied with the trial court’s directive.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Ross, 606 S.W.2d 416 (Mo. Ct. App. 1980).

606 S.W.2d 416 (State v. Ross) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Huffman
374 S.W.3d 382 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2012)
State v. Davis
126 S.W.3d 398 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. Revelle
957 S.W.2d 428 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1997)
State v. Rafaeli
905 S.W.2d 516 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1995)
State v. Blunk
860 S.W.2d 819 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1993)
State v. Keely
791 S.W.2d 864 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1990)
State v. Manier
789 S.W.2d 208 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1990)
State v. Pena
784 S.W.2d 883 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1990)
State v. Simpson
778 S.W.2d 705 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1989)
State v. Fischer
774 S.W.2d 495 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1989)
State v. Dailey
755 S.W.2d 348 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1988)
State v. Bryant
741 S.W.2d 797 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1987)
State v. McCulley
736 S.W.2d 504 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1987)
State v. Rodden
728 S.W.2d 212 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1987)
State v. Van Black
726 S.W.2d 429 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1987)
State v. Hufft
713 S.W.2d 295 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1986)
State v. Rodden
713 S.W.2d 279 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1986)
State v. Rogers
686 S.W.2d 472 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1984)
State v. Crespo
664 S.W.2d 548 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1983)
State v. Harness
654 S.W.2d 297 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1983)