State v. Winder

50 S.W.3d 395, 2001 Mo. App. LEXIS 1338, 2001 WL 856622
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 31, 2001
DocketNo. 23899
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 50 S.W.3d 395 (State v. Winder) 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. Winder, 50 S.W.3d 395, 2001 Mo. App. LEXIS 1338, 2001 WL 856622 (Mo. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

GARRISON, Judge.

Jeffrey A. Winder (“Defendant”) was charged, as a prior and persistent offender, with three counts of tampering with a motor vehicle, in violation of Section 569.080.1(2),1 and four counts of receiving stolen property, in violation of Section 570.080.2 A jury found Defendant guilty on all seven counts, and he was sentenced to seven concurrent terms of eighteen years imprisonment. Defendant appeals.

As Defendant contests the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions, appellate “review is limited to a determination of whether there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror might have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” State v. Chaney, 967 S.W.2d 47, 52 (Mo. banc 1998). In applying this standard, the Court accepts as true all of the evidence favorable to the State, including all favorable inferences drawn from the evidence, and disregards all evidence to the contrary. Id. Viewed in this light, the evidence most favorable to the verdicts shows:

Stanley White (“Officer White”), a reserve police officer with the Crane Police Department, lived on County Road M-130 in Stone County and routinely drove by an old house (the “house”) that once belonged to his grandfather. The house had been vacant for some time. However, in March or April 1998, Officer White began to notice some activity at the house late at night and observed an increased volume of traffic around the house with nice vehicles parked there for a day or two. Officer White contacted the Stone County Sheriffs Department and was advised to put the house under surveillance. Between mid-May and July 13, 1998, he was able to monitor the house from a community building across the street. On numerous occasions, he saw cars and trucks parked behind the house in an open field. The vehicles would come and go, but a green pickup truck and a station wagon were always there.

A three-car garage was adjacent to the house. The lights in the garage were al[398]*398ways on, and people were present in the garage with the doors closed, despite the fact that the garage was not air-conditioned. When someone entered or left the garage, Officer White could see vehicles inside. On at least five occasions, Officer White observed Defendant on the premises. Once he saw Defendant present at what seemed like a family gathering in front of the house.

In 1998, Officer Kent Doucey (“Officer Doucey”) with the Stone County Sheriffs Department regularly patrolled County Road M. Officer Doucey observed vehicles parked in front of the three-car garage and vehicle parts and debris left outside, which would later disappear. He said that people were working inside the garage with the doors closed. When he drove by the house, the people, if outside, would stop their business and watch him. On one occasion, Officer Doucey saw Defendant and a small woman or a child near the three-car garage. As Officer Doucey drove slowly past the house, they walked toward the road and watched him.

On June 7, 1998, Patsy Carlene Gobetz (“Gobetz”) of Springfield, Missouri went to bed and left her window open. At some time during the night, she heard a car engine starting, a door slamming, and a vehicle leaving. She ran to her driveway and found that her 1987 Chevrolet Silvera-do, which had been parked in her driveway, was missing. Gobetz contacted the police and provided the vehicle identification number and a picture.

On June 10, 1998, the police were called about a trailer blocking traffic on County Road M 140A, just across the bridge from County Road M and two miles from the house. In the middle of the road, they found Gobetz’s truck loaded on a trailer. The truck had been completely stripped. The doors were gone, the glove box and dashboard were ripped out, the air horns were gone, the side panels of the cabin were missing, the carpet was taken out, and the floor mats were missing. Inside the truck were two empty white paint cans. The truck had been set on fire, but it had not burned completely. An empty gas can was found in the trailer. It appeared that the trailer had not been moved a long distance because some dry grass clippings were still attached to its ramp. Officer Doucey, who had earlier observed people painting the house white, drove by the house again and noticed that paint cans similar to the ones found in Gobetz’s truck were in the green pickup truck that was parked near the house. He also noticed that the yard was recently mowed. It was getting dark, so the police took Gobetz’s truck to the sheriffs office where they were able to process it. for fingerprints. A fingerprint, which was later matched to Defendant’s, was found below the back glass in the truck’s interior. The location of the fingerprint was such that a person would have had difficulty reaching that area if the truck was intact.

Alfred Conway' (“Conway”) owned a farmhouse in Stone County, between Galena and Elsey, Missouri, which he used as a weekend vacation home. On June 8, 1998, his fiancée visited the farmhouse and found everything intact. When she went there the next day, she discovered the laundry room door had been kicked open and furniture was missing. A small kitchen refrigerator was gone, as was an antique spool cabinet from the downstairs bedroom. An antique curio cabinet and some “nodder” dolls were also missing.

Kim Marley and her husband (“The Marleys”) lived in Springfield, Missouri, and owned a lawn service business. On June 15, 1998, they parked their 1979 GMC pickup truck and trailer holding their commercial lawnmower, a Dixie chopper, a walk-behind mower, and several [399]*399weed eaters in their backyard. The next morning, the equipment and the vehicle were gone. The Marleys were informed four days later that their stolen property was found at Brian’s Towing Service. The truck looked burnt, and property not belonging to the Marleys was in the truck, including some burnt hay bales, an owner’s manual for a scanner, a spring mattress, beer bottles, a postcard, and an envelope. The envelope was addressed to Defendant at an address a block south of the Marleys’ home. The postcai'd read: “Happy Valentine’s Day my love. I love you. Cindy Elkins.”

On July 1, 1998, Richard Rieschl, Jr. (“Rieschl”) returned to his residence in Branson, Missouri, and discovered that some money, his checkbook, a box of blank checks, and some personal belongings were missing. He reported the theft and closed his bank account. Three days later, on July 4, 1998, two men came into a Brown Derby liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, and purchased two kegs of beer by paying for them with one of Rieschl’s checks. The amount paid included a deposit for the beer kegs, which were never returned. Jerry Morris (“Morris”), who was working at the store that day, helped the men carry the kegs to a 1970s model station wagon. When the men opened the vehicle, Morris saw “an astronomical amount” of fireworks. He made a joke asking the men whether they were going to blow up the countryside. The men did not respond.

On July 8, 1998, Gwenda Carnelison (“Carnelison”) was having a garage sale at her son’s house in Springfield, Missouri. Among the items that Carnelison advertised for sale was an antique cherry bedroom set that she inherited from her grandmother. Two men arrived, and one of them introduced himself as Rieschl and told Carnelison that he was running a hotel or apartment complex and that he wanted to furnish it with antiques.

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

Related

State v. Estep
552 S.W.3d 183 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2018)
State v. Hembree
349 S.W.3d 483 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2011)
State v. Shinkle
340 S.W.3d 327 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2011)
Winder v. State
151 S.W.3d 413 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. Campbell
147 S.W.3d 195 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. Mahoney
70 S.W.3d 601 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
50 S.W.3d 395, 2001 Mo. App. LEXIS 1338, 2001 WL 856622, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-winder-moctapp-2001.