State v. Weekley

967 S.W.2d 190, 1998 Mo. App. LEXIS 446, 1998 WL 102460
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 11, 1998
DocketNo. 21612
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 967 S.W.2d 190 (State v. Weekley) 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. Weekley, 967 S.W.2d 190, 1998 Mo. App. LEXIS 446, 1998 WL 102460 (Mo. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

CROW, Judge.

Appellant was tried by jury on two counts. Count I accused Appellant of stealing a truck. Count II also accused Appellant of stealing a truck — a different truck than Count I.

[191]*191The jury found Appellant guilty of Count I but acquitted him of Count II. The trial court entered judgment per the verdict. This appeal followed.

Each count alleged Appellant, on or about May 22, 1995, stole a 1994 Ford dump truck owned by Wayne County. The only difference between the counts was that Count I identified the truck as “VIN 1FDPF70J5RVA41864,” while Count II identified the truck as “VIN 1FDPF70J5RVA41865.”

A close examination of the VIN in each count reveals that the only difference between them is that the final digit in the VIN of the truck in Count I is 4, while the final digit in the VIN of the truck in Count II is 5.

The verdict-directing instruction that submitted Count I to the jury was Instruction 5. The verdict-directing instruction that submitted Count II to the jury was Instruction 6. The only difference between the instructions was that Instruction 5, consistent with Count I, hypothesized the VIN was 1FDPF70J5RVA41864, while Instruction 6, consistent with Count II, hypothesized the VIN was 1FDPF70J5RVA41865.

The second of Appellant’s three points relied on is dispositive of this appeal. It reads:

“The trial court clearly erred in overruling [Appellant’s] motions for judgment of acquittal at the close of the State’s case and at the close of the entire case because the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for stealing a motor vehicle. The State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that [Appellant] stole a 1994 Ford truck with vehicle identification number (VIN), 1FDPF70J5RVA41864. Therefore, the trial court denied [Appellant’s] rights to due process of law as guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, section 10 of the Missouri Constitution.”

Appellant’s claim that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of the State’s case need not be considered because Appellant presented evidence after the trial court denied that motion. By presenting evidence, Appellant waived any claim of error regarding that ruling. State v. Purlee, 839 S.W.2d 584, 587[1] (Mo. banc 1992). Consequently, the issue for adjudication under Appellant’s second point is whether the trial court erred in denying Appellant’s motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of the entire case.

As shall become obvious infra, it is unnecessary to synopsize all of the State’s evidence. This opinion sets forth only the evidence germane to this court’s ruling on Appellant’s second point.

During the night of May 22, 1995, two dump trucks and sundry other items were unlawfully taken from the Wayne County Road and Bridge Department shed.

A dump truck was found the next day, partially submerged in a river in Wayne County. Another dump truck was found and seized May 28, 1995, by law enforcement officials in Lincoln County.

Endeavoring to prove that the track found in the river and the truck seized in Lincoln County were the tracks taken from the county shed, the State presented this testimony from the sheriff of Wayne County:

“Q. ... The trucks themselves, the dump trucks, the one in the river and also the one that was recovered from up in Lincoln County, were you able to cross-match vehicle identification numbers on those?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Okay. And in fact did the vehicle identification numbers on both of these vehicles match up with the vehicle identification numbers on the applications for certificate of title?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Held by the county?
A. Yes, sir.”

The State also presented testimony by a former employee of the Wayne County Road and Bridge Department; he testified:

“Q. ... Did you have the opportunity to view the county truck whenever it was down in the river?
A. Yes.
[192]*192Q. Okay. And you were able to positively identify it as one of the trucks that was taken?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Did you cheek the vehicle identification number on it?
A. No, I didn’t.
Q. Okay. But somebody did?
A. Yeah, somebody did. But I know the trucks; I went to Arkansas and picked them up.
Q. Okay. And there were identical trucks, in fact, the vehicle identification number was just one sequence more than the other one, is that right?
A. I believe it is; we have four of them.”

Additionally, the State presented the following testimony by a county commissioner of Wayne County:

“Q. ... you got both of the trucks back at a later time, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And the VIN’s were checked against the title applications and they matched?
A. Yes.”

The State’s brief identifies no proof that the VIN of one of the trucks taken from the county shed was 1FDPF70J5RVA41864 (the VIN in Count I) or that the VIN of the other truck taken from the county shed was 1FDPF70J5RVA41865 (the VIN in Count II). This court’s search of the record has turned up no such evidence.

Additionally, the State’s brief identifies no proof of the VIN of the truck found in the river and no proof of the VIN of the truck seized in Lincoln County.

The significance of the above gaps in the evidence is set forth later, after the synopsis of some additional evidence.

The only witnesses who described Appellant’s activities on the night the trucks were taken were Ronald Weekley (Appellant’s brother) and Michael Flanery.

Ronald testified he, Flanery and Appellant went to the county shed in Flanery’s pickup. According to Ronald, he heard glass break, then saw Appellant drive a dump truck out of the shed.

Ronald recounted that he and Flanery left the shed and went to Greenville. Ronald avowed he knew nothing about anything else being taken from the shed. Later that night, said Ronald, he met Appellant at a bar. Appellant was driving a dump truck marked “Wayne County.”

Ronald told the jurors Appellant drove the truck to Winfield, accompanied by Ronald. Ronald eventually parted company with Appellant and went to St. Charles.

Flanery’s testimony, while vague, was similar to Ronald’s account of what occurred at the county shed. However, unlike Ronald, Flanery avowed h.e went home after leaving the shed.

The next day, said Flanery, he saw Appellant in a dump truck near Flanery’s residence. The truck had “Wayne County” on its side. Flanery quoted Appellant as saying “something about going to St. Charles.”

Ronald “showed up” while Appellant and Flanery were together.

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Related

State v. Beck
167 S.W.3d 767 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2005)
State v. Weicht
23 S.W.3d 922 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
967 S.W.2d 190, 1998 Mo. App. LEXIS 446, 1998 WL 102460, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-weekley-moctapp-1998.