State v. Treadway

809 S.W.2d 58, 1991 Mo. App. LEXIS 337, 1991 WL 31280
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 12, 1991
DocketNo. 58122
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 809 S.W.2d 58 (State v. Treadway) 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. Treadway, 809 S.W.2d 58, 1991 Mo. App. LEXIS 337, 1991 WL 31280 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

GARY M. GAERTNER, Presiding Judge.

Appellant, Ronald Treadway, appeals his jury convictions of two counts of burglary in the first degree, RSMo § 569.160 (1986) and three counts of robbery in the first degree, RSMo § 569.020 (1986). Appellant was sentenced, as a Class X offender, to ten years imprisonment on each of the burglary convictions and to three life terms on the robbery convictions. One of the life terms is to be served concurrently; all other sentences are consecutive. On appeal, appellant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to strike a juror for cause and in overruling his motion to suppress identification. We affirm.

On May 27, 1989, Walter Drbul and his roommate, Alan Jobe, were in their first floor apartment watching a televised basketball game. At approximately 6:00 p.m., two individuals carrying knives, one of whom was later identified as the appellant, entered their apartment and approached the two roommates. The roommates were ordered to lie on the floor and were tied up with cords cut from the room’s telephone and from the room’s cable T.V. service. Both roommates testified that the intruders asked questions about the location of valuables and beat and kicked the roommates when the intruders were not satisfied with the answers given. At one point, one of the intruders cut both roommates on their backs.

Both roommates were able to view the intruders. Mr. Drbul estimated that he viewed the intruders for three to five minutes. Mr. Jobe testified that he viewed the intruders for two to three minutes.

During the course of the robbery, one of the intruders slashed Mr. Drbul’s water bed. Kristen McKersie, a resident in the basement apartment, testified that some time that evening, water began pouring through her ceiling. After she tried, unsuccessfully, to contact Mr. Drbul or Mr. Jobe, she went to what, apparently, was a [60]*60stairwell in the back of her apartment to retrieve a bucket to clean up the mess. As she reached down to pick up the bucket, she heard noises on the landing above her and saw the appellant. The appellant attempted to lure Ms. McKersie into the Drbul apartment and, when she refused, threatened to kill her. Ms. McKersie went back into her apartment to call the police.

The next evening, Wayne Talley was watching television in his second floor apartment when he heard a knock on the door. As he opened the door, two men, one of them identified as the appellant, burst in and began fighting with Mr. Talley. The intruders eventually subdued Mr. Talley and tied him up. The intruders remained in the apartment for approximately one hour. Mr. Talley was able to view the intruders for most of that time.

On May 29, 1989, two detectives with the St. Louis City Police Department informed Mr. Drbul, Mr. Jobe and Ms. McKersie that they had picked up some suspects and had some pictures for the three of them to look at. The group met with the detectives in Ms. McKersie’s apartment. The detectives presented each of the witnesses with at least one book of photos and some separate photos. Each witness viewed the pictures separately. After all three witnesses viewed the pictures, they were asked to sign the back of any of the photographs they identified as one of the intruders. All three witnesses testified that they did not discuss their identifications with each other prior to signing the backs of the pictures, and that they did not look at the back of the pictures prior to signing them. Mr. Drbul testified that he was one hundred percent sure of his identification, Mr. Jobe testified that he was ninety-five percent sure about his identification and Ms. McKersie was seventy percent sure. All three witnesses testified that no comments were made by the police to highlight any of the pictures shown to the witnesses.

Later that same day, the same two detectives took the collection of photographs over to Mr. Talley’s residence. Mr. Talley was shown five photos and identified two of them. Mr. Talley signed his name on the back of the photos he identified. No comments were made by police to Mr. Talley regarding the photos and he was not permitted by the detectives to turn any of the photos over until after he had made his identifications. Mr. Talley testified that he was one hundred percent sure of his identification of appellant.

Appellant was charged with four counts of robbery in the first degree and three counts .of burglary in the first degree on June 12, 1989. An indictment was issued on those same charges on July 3, 1989.1 On January 23, 1990, a substitute information in lieu of indictment was filed alleging that appellant was a Class X offender.

The trial on the charges commenced on January 23, 1990, and ended on January 25, 1990, with five guilty verdicts. This appeal followed.

Appellant first claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion to strike a venireman for cause. We disagree.

During voir dire, counsel for appellant asked Venireman Chenoweth if he would still want to hear from the appellant if the judge instructed him that the failure of the appellant to take the stand could not be taken into consideration:

VENIREMAN CHENOWETH: Yes, I would.
MS. BEIMDIEK: If you didn’t hear from him and the Judge gave you that instruction, would you be able to follow the law that says you couldn’t take that into consideration?
VENIREMAN CHENOWETH: I think the pendulum of justice has swung so far there’s so many criminals out on the street even when they are convicted that the system doesn’t do the criminal system any justice, in my opinion. There’s so many criminals being let out today it’s almost a farce, this whole thing. Every time you turn around you’re reading somebody getting killed and the person [61]*61that got victimized is the one that’s in trouble and the person that did it is gone.
MS BEIMDIEK: Do you think you may feel this way in this case that Ronald must be guilty?
VENIREMAN CHENOWETH: I don’t say Ronald is guilty or not, but I’m just saying the judicial system as a whole is so grossly one way that it’s for criminals, not for the person that’s innocent.
MS. BEIMDIEK: And you think there are too many privileges afforded to criminal defendants?
VENIREMAN CHENOWETH: Yes.
MS. BEIMDIEK: And you think it might affect your ability to sit on this case?
VENIREMAN CHENOWETH: Yes.
MS. BEIMDIEK: Does anybody else think that criminal rights have too many privileges in this system? Am I summarizing?
VENIREMAN CHENOWETH: I think so.
MS. BEIMDIEK: Does anybody agree with Mr. Chenoweth? Mr. Calton?
VENIREMAN CALTON: Yes. The one trial I did sit on, the mistrial was inadmissible evidence that had little bearing on the case, but he got free.
MS. BEIMDIEK: Okay, and do you think that that was unfair because somebody who you thought was guilty was allowed to go free?
VENIREMAN CALTON: Right, this was right toward the end of the trial.
MS.

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

Related

State v. Plummer
860 S.W.2d 340 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1993)
State v. Smith
850 S.W.2d 934 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1993)
State v. McRoberts
837 S.W.2d 15 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1992)
State v. Kelly
823 S.W.2d 95 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
809 S.W.2d 58, 1991 Mo. App. LEXIS 337, 1991 WL 31280, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-treadway-moctapp-1991.