State v. Totimeh

433 N.W.2d 921, 1988 Minn. App. LEXIS 1269, 1988 WL 138122
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedDecember 27, 1988
DocketC4-88-620
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 433 N.W.2d 921 (State v. Totimeh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Totimeh, 433 N.W.2d 921, 1988 Minn. App. LEXIS 1269, 1988 WL 138122 (Mich. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

SCHUMACHER, Judge.

Appellant was tried before the court without a jury and found guilty of burglary in the first degree and criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree. Appellant argues that the evidence was not sufficient to convict him of either crime. Further, appellant claims newly discovered evidence entitles him to a new trial.

FACTS

On the morning of June 6, 1987, appellant entered a house inhabited by university students located in St. Cloud through an unlocked door. The house contains several private bedrooms and also common areas that are shared by all the tenants.

R.V., one of the tenants, testified she awoke at about 2:00 a.m. to find appellant *923 kneeling at the foot of her bed. Her sister, E.V. who was also sleeping in the bed, awoke and became nearly hysterical. She asked appellant what he was doing in her bedroom. Appellant replied, “I guess I’m in the wrong apartment” and left. Thereafter, the women were frightened and unable to sleep. E.V. testified she called her boyfriend in Winona and then the police.

It is undisputed that after leaving R.V.’s residence, appellant proceeded to another student-occupied house on the next block. According to the testimony of T.L., an occupant of the house, she awoke at approximately 3:00 a.m. to the sound of footsteps on the floor above her. T.L. went upstairs and discovered appellant in the kitchen. T.L. testified that appellant stated that he was there to meet one of T.L.’s housemates but T.L. testified that that housemate was out of town. Appellant then followed T.L. downstairs. She demanded that he leave.

The complainant in this case, D.J., occupied a bedroom on the top floor of the same house. D.J. testified that she awoke in her bed feeling the pressure of appellant on top of her. She rolled over in an effort to push him off and told appellant to leave. Appellant began touching D.J. and she pushed his hands away. DJ. contended that appellant told her that he wanted to have oral sex with her. According to D J.’s testimony, appellant pulled the covers off her, wrapped his arms around her legs and put his face near her vagina. Appellant then touched DJ.’s vaginal area with his hands. She struggled with appellant attempting to push him away. Appellant permitted DJ. to go to the bathroom. When she came out of the bathroom appellant blocked her way and grabbed her arms holding her against the wall. D.J. fought back and screamed “rape” several times. At that point appellant fled.

Appellant’s account of the incident differs from D.J.’s. At trial, he testified that he went upstairs to look for his friend Scott, thinking Scott had switched rooms. Appellant saw a light in one of the bedrooms so he knocked at the door. DJ. awoke and told him that Scott had moved away. It is undisputed that appellant identified himself as “George” and DJ. told him her name. Appellant claimed he was standing in the bedroom doorway and they were conversing when suddenly DJ. jumped out of bed nude and went to the bathroom. Appellant left when D J. came out of the bathroom and screamed “rape.”

Appellant testified that when he got outside a police officer approached him and told him he fit the description of a man who had entered a house down the street. The officer handcuffed appellant and told him to wait by the police car. A short time later, a second officer brought E.V. and R.V. to the car and they identified appellant as the man who was in their bedroom.

Before the officers left the scene, DJ. walked over to them. According to an officer’s testimony, DJ. was very upset and crying. She identified appellant as the man who had entered her bedroom and sexually assaulted her.

One police officer testified that as appellant was placed in the back of the police car, appellant stated that he had not walked into anybody’s residence but was in the area looking for his friend Scott. Later, when appellant gave a formal statement to police he first stated he entered a residence looking for his friend Scott. He later changed his statement saying he was looking for his friends Roxanne and Sue. Appellant’s friend Scott testified that he had seen appellant shortly before the incident and had invited appellant to come and visit him but failed to tell appellant he had moved.

At the trial, witnesses testified that, in college housing, people customarily walked into a residence without knocking to visit a friend. However, the testimony of D.J. and her housemate, T.L. indicated that this practice did not extend to the private bedrooms. DJ. testified that guests would normally call up to the upper floors before they proceeded up the stairs. Further, appellant was a stranger to both DJ. and T.L. and not a guest.

*924 ISSUES

1. Was the evidence sufficient as a matter of law to support a conviction for burglary in the first degree?

2. Was the evidence sufficient as a matter of law to support a conviction for criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree?

3. Did the trial court abuse its discretion when it refused to grant a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence?

ANALYSIS

1. In reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we view the record in the light most favorable to the state and determine whether the facts and any legitimate inferences drawn therefrom reasonably support the jury’s verdict. State v. Race, 383 N.W. 2d 656, 661 (Minn.1986). A reviewing court applies the same standard to cases heard without a jury as to those heard by a jury. State v. Mytych, 292 Minn. 248, 251-52, 194 N.W.2d 276, 279 (1972). The choice between conflicting stories, and the determination of credibility of any witnesses lies with the trier of fact alone. State v. Lloyd, 345 N.W.2d 240, 245 (Minn.1984).

Appellant was convicted of burglary in the first degree, which is defined as follows:

Whoever enters a building without consent and with intent to commit a crime commits burglary in the first degree * * * ⅛
(c) the burglar assaults a person within the building.

Minn.Stat. § 609.582, subd. 1 (1986).

Appellant contends that the state failed to prove that he entered DJ.’s house without consent. Pursuant to this theory, appellant presented evidence that it was a common campus practice for guests to enter the common areas of a house without first gaining permission.

However, Section 609.581, subd. 4(c) of the Minnesota Statutes, reads in pertinent part:

Subd. 4 “Enters a building without consent” means:
******
(c) to remain within a building without the consent of the person in lawful possession.

Minn.Stat. § 609.581, subd. 4(c) (1986).

Appellant’s failure to comply when told to leave several times by both T.L. and D.J. is a violation of section 609.581, subd. 4(c). The state has met its burden to prove that appellant entered the house without consent.

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Bluebook (online)
433 N.W.2d 921, 1988 Minn. App. LEXIS 1269, 1988 WL 138122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-totimeh-minnctapp-1988.