State v. Young

367 S.W.3d 641, 2012 WL 1994863, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 746
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided June 5, 2012·No. No. ED 96571·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

PATRICIA L. COHEN, Judge.

Introduction

Cindy Irene Young (Defendant) appeals from a judgment entered in the Ralls County Circuit Court following her conviction for identity theft. Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of uncharged crimes. We affirm.

Background

Defendant and Daniel Webster met in June 2005. They began dating and lived together off-and-on. In the spring of 2006, Defendant opened a restaurant in New London. Webster helped her open the restaurant by cooking, cleaning, and assisting with “odds and ends.” Webster was not, however, a paid employee. Webster also purchased some equipment for the restaurant, but the purchase was a loan rather than a gift. Webster and Defendant fought often, and eventually he “just broke everything off and stayed away.”

In June 2006, while he and Defendant were “broken up,” Webster attended an alcohol awareness class in Hannibal. Defendant knew that Webster would be gone for three days. When Webster returned from Hannibal, he entered his house and noticed that the bedding had been removed. Webster found that there was a large dent in the gas tank of his motorcycle and there were several items missing from his motorcycle trailer. Webster also found stickers on various objects in the house and the garage. One sticker read: “Paybacks are a motherfucker.” Another stated: “I don’t get mad, I get even!” A third one declared: “Jesus may love you but I think you’re an asshole.” A fourth sticker proclaimed: “It must suck to be you!” Webster also noticed that a tote box in which he kept his personal papers, including “insurance, titles, birth certificates, [and] bills,” was missing.

In December 2006, Webster received a letter from Bank of America stating that a company by the name of Western Surety was checking his credit. Webster subsequently received another letter stating that a company by the name of Pawnee [644]*644Leasing was also checking his credit. Webster began to do his own investigation. Webster contacted Western Surety, who informed him that the transaction in question was in regards to “a bond so somebody could get utilities.” Webster, however, had never been involved in such a transaction. Nor had Webster ever engaged in any transaction with Pawnee Leasing. Webster requested a copy of his own credit report, which revealed that he owed $42,425 on a line of credit from Time Payment Corporation. Webster spoke with Michelle Cook at Time Payment Corporation and informed her that he had not opened the line of credit and believed that his identity had been stolen. Webster also filed a criminal report of identity theft with the Marion County Sheriffs Office.

After an investigation, the State charged Defendant with one count of identity theft. Prior to trial, Defendant filed a motion in limine seeking to prohibit the State from referring to any uncharged crimes of Defendant during “voir dire, opening statement, evidence or argument.” At the pretrial hearing on the motion, defense counsel clarified that the motion in limine referred to Webster’s allegation, made during a pre-trial deposition, that Defendant had unlawfully entered his residence, stolen items, and damaged his property. Without specifically granting or denying the motion, the trial court ruled that it would “let [the prosecution] get into it to an extent,” but that it would not let the issue “become[ ] a central issue or overshadow[ ] what we’re here for.”

At trial, Webster testified that he believed that Defendant entered his house during the three days that he was in Hannibal, placed several stickers on objects in the house and the garage, and stole several personal papers from him, including vehicle titles. The State introduced copies of the vehicle titles and a copy of the stickers into evidence. Defense counsel objected to Webster’s testimony regarding the alleged unlawful entry and the admission of the copies of the vehicle titles into evidence. The trial court overruled both objections.

Additional evidence adduced at trial revealed that Defendant had used Daniel Webster’s name, social security number, birthdate, signature, and other personal information, without his permission, in order to secure, among other things, a $50,000 line of credit from Time Payment Corporation, a $6,000 surety bond to guarantee payment of her utility bills to the City of Palmyra, and COD (“[c]ash or check upon delivery”) privileges from Kohl’s Wholesale.

At the conclusion of all the evidence, the jury convicted Defendant of identity theft and the trial court sentenced her to twenty years’ imprisonment. This appeal followed.

Standard of Review

“A trial court has broad discretion to admit or exclude evidence at trial.” State v. Madorie, 156 S.W.3d 351, 355 (Mo. banc 2005). We will reverse the ruling of the trial court “only if the court has clearly abused its discretion.” Id. at 355. “A trial court abuses its discretion when its ruling is clearly against the logic of the circumstances and is so unreasonable as to indicate a lack of careful consideration.” State v. Thompson, 341 S.W.3d 723, 731 (Mo.App. E.D.2011). We review all the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict. State v. Moyers, 266 S.W.3d 272, 275 (Mo.App.W.D.2008).

Discussion

In each of her three points on appeal, Defendant challenges the trial court’s admission of evidence relating to Webster’s allegation that Defendant entered his home without his permission, stole his personal papers, and placed stickers on [645]*645various items in the house and garage. More specifically, Defendant’s first point claims that the trial court erred by admitting Webster’s testimony that he believed Defendant had entered his house without permission; Defendant’s second point asserts that the trial court erred in admitting State’s Exhibit 23, copies of the vehicle titles allegedly stolen from Webster’s residence during the unauthorized entry; and Defendant’s third point contends that the trial court erred in admitting State’s Exhibit 24, a copy of the stickers Webster found in his house after Defendant had allegedly entered it. In all three of these points, Defendant asserts that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence at trial pertaining to uncharged crimes.

In general, evidence of uncharged crimes is not admissible for the purpose of showing the defendant’s criminal character or propensity to commit such crimes. State v. Bernard, 849 S.W.2d 10, 13 (Mo. banc 1993). However, an exception to this general rule exists where the evidence of the uncharged crime is both logically and legally relevant. Id. Such evidence is logically relevant if it has “some legitimate tendency to establish directly the accused’s guilt of the charges for which [she] is on trial,” and such evidence is legally relevant if “its probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect.” Id.

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State v. Young, 367 S.W.3d 641, 2012 WL 1994863, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 746 (Mo. Ct. App. 2012).

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