State v. Williams

427 S.W.3d 259, 2014 WL 1302453, 2014 Mo. App. LEXIS 352
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 1, 2014
DocketNo. ED 99841
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 427 S.W.3d 259 (State v. Williams) 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. Williams, 427 S.W.3d 259, 2014 WL 1302453, 2014 Mo. App. LEXIS 352 (Mo. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

SHERRI B. SULLIVAN, J.

Introduction

Belvin L. Williams, Jr. (Appellant) appeals from the trial court’s judgment convicting him of first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

The State charged Appellant with one count of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action. The evidence presented at trial is as follows.

Around 3:00 p.m. on January 29, 2011, Appellant celebrated his birthday by having dinner with Denise Crenshaw (Cren-shaw) and two of his children at the Lumiere buffet. Appellant and Crenshaw have a son together but are no longer a couple. After dinner, Crenshaw dropped the children off at Appellant’s mother’s house and went home.

Around 10:00 p.m., Crenshaw went out with a group of people including her friend Jennifer1 and Jennifer’s cousin, Lamont Grady (Grady). Grady parked his car across the street from Crenshaw’s house before leaving in Jennifer’s car with Jennifer and Crenshaw. After having a few drinks at a bar, they drove to a club in East St. Louis. Grady and Jennifer left Crenshaw and went to another club to get something to eat. Afterward, Jennifer drove Grady back to St. Louis to get his car.

[261]*261Jennifer dropped Grady off at his car between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. Grady’s car windows were fogged up, so he sat in his car, letting them defrost. Suddenly, Grady heard a loud bang on the car window. Grady could not see through the frost and his electric window did not work so he opened the car door. A man, later identified as Appellant, put a gun in Grady’s face and said something to the effect of “What the f— are you doing?” Appellant said, “I told you to stop ‘effing’ with my girl,” and shot Grady in the thigh while he was sitting in the car. Appellant ordered Grady out of the car and onto the ground. As he lay on the ground, Appellant hit Grady in the head with the gun, took his wallet and shot him three more times. Grady testified he heard the gun click, as if the gun either misfired or ran out of ammunition.

Grady heard someone yell, “Come on, man, like he’s not worth it.” Appellant told Grady not to move and then quickly walked off. Grady then heard tires squealing and exhaust pipes. Grady went back to his car, called 911 and drove off. When he passed the police cars responding to the call, he followed them back to the scene.

Grady testified he did not know Appellant and had never seen him before that night. Later, when discussing the incident with his cousin Jennifer, she told him that Appellant must have been the shooter. Jennifer showed him a photo of Appellant and Grady recognized him as the shooter. Grady relayed this information to police. Grady subsequently identified Appellant as the shooter in a physical lineup.

Appellant testified he finished having dinner with Crenshaw and his children at approximately 6:00 p.m. Appellant then picked up his girlfriend, Lareisha Bostic (Bostic), stopped by his work and returned home. Appellant testified “it was time for me to be in the house at that time. At 7 o’clock it’s time to go home.” Appellant testified that a few friends came by his house and that he drank and played cards until 1:00 or 1:30 a.m., before going to bed. Appellant stated he was- at home asleep until Bostic woke him around 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. on January 80. Appellant asserted he did not leave the house again until Monday morning, January 31, 2011, when he went to work. Appellant denied being outside Crenshaw’s home at 5:00 a.m. on January 30, 2011, stating he was at home at that time.

Appellant testified as follows during direct examination:

Q. Now, [Appellant], you have a criminal record, do you not, sir?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And at the time you were, on parole; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. You have been convicted of a felony?
A. Yes.
Q. And you were under supervision of a parole officer, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And that was one of the reasons you had to be in by a certain time; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And during — on January 29th and 30th, did you comply with your parole officer’s directives to be in by a certain time?
A.. Yes, sir.

Bostic testified on Appellant’s behalf. In January 2011, she and Appellant were living together and she was pregnant with Appellant’s child. Bostic testified she knew Appellant was home by 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. on January 29 because “those were the rules for him to be in the house.” [262]*262Bostic stated Appellant’s friends came over to play cards that evening and Appellant went to bed around 1:30 a.m. Bostic stated Appellant was asleep in bed when she woke up with morning sickness around 3:00 or 3:30 a.m. and again at 7:00 a.m.

Bostic testified she asked the property management company to fix the phone on January 17, 2011. Bostic stated by January 24, 2011, the phone was not fixed so she made another complaint but they did not fix it. Bostic testified the telephone lines were coming out of the “box” inside the house and were exposed on the outside of the house.

The defense also called Kari Welker (Welker), the acting community manager for the property management company who testified the company’s records indicated a complaint was made about the phone system at Bostic’s residence on January 17, 2011 and the repairs were completed on January 24, 2011. Welker testified there is no record of any complaint being made about Bostic’s phone system after that date.

Over the State’s objection, the defense also called Oleatha Warren (Warren), an employee of YourTel America, a company that provides home and cellular phone services. Warren testified the repair records for Bostic’s residence indicate that on January 17, 2011, a complaint was made that the customer’s phone had no dial tone. The records indicate a repairman went to the property and the problem was resolved. Warren stated another complaint of no dial tone was made on January 22, 2011. Warren’s records indicated that the repair was “completed to satisfaction,” meaning it was “back up and running.” Warren stated the records indicated no other repair requests were made between December 2010 and February 2011.

In rebuttal, the State called Marcia Townsend (Townsend), Appellant’s parole officer. Townsend testified that beginning on January 19, 2011, Appellant was on an electronic monitoring program which monitored when he entered and exited his residence. Appellant had a mandatory curfew but was allowed to leave to go to work.

Townsend testified the electronic monitoring system reported that Appellant made an “unauthorized leave,” meaning he left his residence outside of his scheduled curfew, at 12:53 a.m. on January 30, 2011. The system then showed an “unauthorized entry” at 5:36 a.m. Townsend testified the records indicate Appellant was not present at home between those times. Townsend testified she called Appellant after receiving a notification that Appellant’s location needed to be verified, but no one answered the house phone and Appellant’s cell phone was disconnected.

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

Related

State of Missouri v. Oscar Garner
Missouri Court of Appeals, 2023
State of Missouri v. Antoine L. Ellis
Missouri Court of Appeals, 2021
Williams v. Steele
E.D. Missouri, 2021
State of Missouri v. Justin Andrew Todd
Missouri Court of Appeals, 2020
Williams v. State
519 S.W.3d 816 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2017)
State of Missouri v. Antonio Rycraw
507 S.W.3d 47 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2016)
State of Missouri v. Russell Allen Renfrow, Jr.
495 S.W.3d 840 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2016)
State of Missouri v. Darius Morgan
480 S.W.3d 349 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
427 S.W.3d 259, 2014 WL 1302453, 2014 Mo. App. LEXIS 352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-williams-moctapp-2014.