State v. Tatum

824 S.W.2d 22, 1991 Mo. App. LEXIS 1750, 1991 WL 245266
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided November 26, 1991·No. No. WD 43673·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

TURNAGE, Judge.

Henry Tatum was found guilty by a jury of one count of first degree murder, § 565.-020, RSMo Cum.Supp.1990, one count of second degree murder, § 565.021, RSMo 1986,1 and two counts of armed criminal action, § 571.015. Tatum was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on the first degree murder charge, 30 years imprisonment on the second degree murder charge to be served consecutive to the sentence for'first degree murder, and 10 years on each of the armed criminal action charges with the sentences to be served concurrently with the other sentences. Tatum contends the court erred in failing to submit his proffered instructions on second degree murder and voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, in accepting the verdict because the jury poll revealed that one juror did not agree with the verdict, in overruling an objection to a portion of the prosedutor’s argument, in allowing evidence of other crimes, and in refusing to declare a mistrial. Affirmed.

Tatum and Marcia Rainey began living together in a rent subsidized apartment which was rented in the name of Marcia. Despite the rules governing the apartment house which forbade a man living in the Rainey apartment, Rainey allowed Tatum to move in and live there. Rainey had a two-year old daughter, Whitney, who lived with Rainey and Tatum. In May, 1989, Rainey’s feeling toward Tatum had cooled and she began seeing Ronald Cobbins. On May 4, Tatum planned to go out for the evening and left the apartment without telling Marcia where he was going. Unknown to Tatum, Marcia had a date with Cobbins that night.

About three o’clock the next morning Tatum returned to the apartment building. He looked at the windows of the Rainey apartment and noted no lights. He suspected that Marcia was in bed with a man. Because of the rules governing the building, Tatum did not have a key to unlock the front security door or the apartment door. However, when he arrived he found the front security door had been propped open with a rock. Tatum entered the building and knocked on Rainey’s door but there was no answer. Tatum went to the landing between the first and second floors and climbed onto a balcony from which he was able to reach and enter a window into the Rainey apartment. Marcia had heard the noise when Tatum broke through the screen to enter the apartment and went into the room to investigate. When she confronted Tatum she told him that he had to get out because she had called the police. Tatum replied “that nigger’s in here and I’m going to kill him.”

Tatum had removed a gun from under the mattress of the bed the day before and placed it between the cushions of the couch in the living room. After he told Marcia what he was going to do he went to the couch and removed the gun. Marcia could not clearly see Tatum but heard him cock the gun twice. Marcia again told Tatum that he had to get out because she had called the police. Tatum pointed the gun at Marcia and told her to get out of the way [25]*25or he would kill her. When Marcia attempted to wrestle the gun from Tatum he knocked her aside and knocked over a table and ran to the bedroom door. Tatum kicked in the door and began shooting. Tatum fired about five shots into the bedroom. As soon as the shooting started Cobbins yelled to stop shooting him. When the shooting did stop Marcia ran into the bedroom and picked up Whitney, who was bleeding profusely, from the bed. Cobbins came out of the bedroom and picked up a knife and started toward Tatum but Tatum took the knife away and stabbed Cobbins five times.

Both Whitney and Cobbins died from the gunshot wounds inflicted by Tatum. Whitney had sustained four wounds with a bullet in her head below the ear being the cause of death. Cobbins also sustained four gunshot wounds with a bullet passing through the lower chest and severing the left renal artery being the cause of death. The stab wounds were not life threatening.

Tatum testified and admitted that he had done the shooting and that his purpose was to seriously injure or kill Cobbins.

Tatum first contends that the court erred in refusing to give his proffered second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter instructions in the submission of Count I for the murder of Cobbins. Tatum contends that the court should have submitted his instructions which would have allowed the jury to find him guilty of the lesser charges if the jury found that he acted out of sudden passion arising from adequate cause. Tatum points to his testimony that “he lost it” after Marcia told him to get out of the apartment because that indicated to him that another man was there. Tatum’s instruction stated that “if you do not find the Defendant guilty of murder in the first degree, you must consider whether he is guilty of murder in the second degree.” The offered manslaughter instructions contained similar language.

In State v. Barnes, 740 S.W.2d 340, 344[4] (Mo.App.1987), the jury was instructed on first and second degree murder but the court refused to give a proffered instruction on second degree murder which included a paragraph that the defendant acted under the influence of sudden passion arising from adequate cause. The court also refused to give a voluntary manslaughter instruction. The court stated that it was not necessary to consider the merits of the argument because the jury had found the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree and that deliberation is necessary to a finding of murder in the first degree. The court stated that “[d]e-liberation is the antithesis of reaction to sudden passion.” The court held that when the jury found the essential elements of first degree murder it was precluded from considering a lesser included offense. The court concluded that any error in the refusal to give lesser degree of homicide instructions was rendered nonprejudicial by a finding of guilt on the greater offense.

The same situation is present in this case. The jury found Tatum guilty of murder in the first degree for the death of Cobbins and, thereby, found that he acted with deliberation which is the antithesis of sudden passion. The jury would never have reached the instructions Tatum proposed because it had found him guilty of murder in the first degree. When he was found guilty of murder in the first degree, the refusal of the instructions offered by Tatum became nonprejudicial.

Tatum contends the court should have given an involuntary manslaughter instruction containing the sudden passion paragraph in the submission relating to the death of Whitney. The State submitted the death of Whitney under the transferred intent doctrine, § 565.003, which allows the jury to find the necessary culpable mental state for a homicide if the only difference between what actually occurred and what was the object of the offender’s state of mind is that a different person was killed. Thus, the mental state of Tatum at the time that he shot and killed Cobbins is the mental state applicable to the killing of Whitney.

Tatum contends that he was entitled to have the jury instructed on sudden passion arising from adequate cause. Sudden [26]

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State v. Tatum, 824 S.W.2d 22, 1991 Mo. App. LEXIS 1750, 1991 WL 245266 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991).

824 S.W.2d 22 (State v. Tatum) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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