Tilley v. State

202 S.W.3d 726, 2006 Mo. App. LEXIS 1510, 2006 WL 2865639
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 9, 2006
DocketNos 27421 and 27459 Consolidated
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 202 S.W.3d 726 (Tilley v. State) 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
Tilley v. State, 202 S.W.3d 726, 2006 Mo. App. LEXIS 1510, 2006 WL 2865639 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

GARY W. LYNCH, Judge.

James Willis Tilley (“Movant”) was convicted, after jury trial in the Circuit Court of Scott County, of attempting to manufacture a controlled substance, in violation of section 195.211 1 (Count I), possession of a controlled substance, in violation of section 195.202 (Count II), and possession of chemicals proven to be precursor ingredients of methamphetamine, in violation of section 195.420 (Count III). He was sentenced as a prior and persistent offender 2 to concurrent prison terms of twenty years on each count. We affirmed Movant’s convictions on direct appeal. See State v. Tilley, 104 S.W.3d 814, 816-17 (Mo.App.2003). He now appeals the motion court’s denial, following an evidentiary hearing, of his Rule 29.15 3 motion for post-conviction relief.

Movant raises two points in this appeal. The first point alleges that trial counsel was ineffective in that he failed to object to Jury Instruction No. 12 (“Instruction”), on the basis that it did not conform to the pattern in the applicable Missouri Approved Instruction. Movant also contends *730 that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise this instructional error in his direct appeal.

In his second point, Movant claims that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to the Instruction, which was the verdict director on Count III, and for failing to move to dismiss Movant’s Count III conviction under section 195.420 (possession of precursor ingredients) pursuant to the Instruction, on the ground that the submission of and subsequent conviction under Count III violate the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. Mov-ant contends that his conviction under Count III is a lesser-included offense of the conviction under Count I for violation of section 195.211 (attempting to manufacture a controlled substance). Because we find no merit in either point, we affirm the denial of Movant’s motion for post-conviction relief.

1) Factual and Procedural History 4

On April 13, 2001, deputy sheriff Sullivan (“Sullivan”) learned via a female informant that she had been at Movant’s house “the night before.” While she was there, she received methamphetamine that “was pulled from underneath the cabinet between the kitchen and the living room.”

Based on that information, Sullivan and sheriffs deputy Penrod (“Penrod”) went to Movant’s house near Chaffee, Missouri. When they arrived, Movant “was on the roof of a shed that was just southwest of the residence.” Another person (later identified as Roger Graviett) came out the front door of the house. Penrod moved toward Graviett to speak with him, while Sullivan went to the shed to talk to Mov-ant.

Sullivan testified he “hollered up to” Movant and asked him to come down and talk. Movant stepped to the edge of the shed roof and stated he would come down. Thereon, Movant turned and walked away from the roofs edge. Sullivan anticipated Movant was proceeding to the back of the shed where a ladder was located; consequently, Sullivan went to meet Movant at the bottom of the ladder. After getting to the back and waiting “for a few seconds” without Movant appearing, Sullivan stepped back in order that he “could see over the ladder.” Although the shed was “small,” Sullivan could not see Movant; consequently, he walked back to the front of the shed. When Sullivan still could not see Movant, he returned to the ladder and viewed Movant starting down the ladder. The foregoing caused Sullivan to wonder what Movant was doing because it was a small roof, yet Sullivan had to walk around to look for Movant. He also noted there were no tools on the roof.

After Movant was on the ground, Sullivan told him about the informant and asked permission to search his house. Movant consented to the search. Penrod then entered the house while Sullivan stayed outside with Movant and Graviett. When Penrod returned in “barely” over a minute, he indicated to Sullivan that he found methamphetamine in the cabinet location as described by the informant. The deputies arrested Graviett and Movant, called for a transport deputy, and began a more thorough search of the house.

Sullivan started the search in a “utility room” located between the bathroom and the back wall of a bedroom. There, he found a “duffel bag” in the middle of the floor. Knowing that methamphetamine labs are often mobile and components thereof are often transported in this man *731 ner, Sullivan promptly opened the bag. Inside, he found a pint of Liquid Fire, two large spoons, a spatula, Aqua airline tubing, rubber gloves, side cutters, vice grips, plastic bags, coffee filters, plastic spoons, a hot plate, salt (contained in a plastic bag), and two Energizer lithium batteries. The two batteries were in a package designed to hold four batteries.

After seizing the duffel bag and its contents, Sullivan recalled Movant’s delay in descending the shed roof. Accordingly, he went up to the roof where he found a “spot of white powder that was smashed in the shingles.” He collected a sample of the powder, and a subsequent analysis thereof revealed it was methamphetamine.

Meanwhile, Penrod finished searching the kitchen area, where he found empty plastic bags in a trash can. These empty bags contained a residue which he described as “a real fine powder that they weren’t able to scrape out when they were cleaning the bag out.” This powder residue tested positive for methamphetamine. The medicine cabinet, in the only bathroom in Movant’s home, contained two syringes. Penrod testified this fact was of “particular interest” because (1) some methamphetamine users inject the drug with this type of syringe, and (2) he found nothing in the bathroom to indicate a “medicinal purpose for the syringes,” i.e., he found no “insulin or anything as such.”

At trial, Sullivan testified that each item in the duffel bag was commonly used in the manufacture of methamphetamine using the anhydrous ammonia method. Sullivan explained in detail the function of each item. Moreover, he testified that, based on what he found in the bag and the fact that methamphetamine was in the house, it was his opinion that a substantial step had been taken toward the manufacture of methamphetamine. Penrod testified the “white” color of the methamphetamine found at Movant’s house indicated it came from a “newer” batch, i.e., chemical evaporation will cause methamphetamine to darken over time.

The jury convicted Movant on all charges, and Movant was sentenced as a prior and persistent offender to a term of twenty years on each count, to be served concurrently. On direct appeal, we held, among other things, that Movant’s convictions on Count I (attempting to manufacture methamphetamine) and Count III (possession of precursor ingredients for methamphetamine) were supported by sufficient evidence. Tilley, 104 S.W.3d at 822-23.

Movant then filed a pro se Rule 29.15 motion seeking post-conviction relief which was later amended by appointed counsel.

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

Related

Townsend v. Mesmer
E.D. Missouri, 2022
Pervis McAllister v. State of Missouri
Missouri Court of Appeals, 2022
Hopper v. Norman
E.D. Missouri, 2020
Hill v. State
532 S.W.3d 744 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2017)
Lemuel G. Williams v. State of Missouri
490 S.W.3d 398 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2016)
Bolden v. State
423 S.W.3d 803 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2013)
Stewart v. State
387 S.W.3d 424 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2012)
Hardy v. State
387 S.W.3d 394 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2012)
McCauley v. State
380 S.W.3d 657 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2012)
Sykes v. State
372 S.W.3d 33 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2012)
Williams v. State
342 S.W.3d 433 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2011)
State v. McLarty
327 S.W.3d 557 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2010)
Manwarren v. State
223 S.W.3d 899 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2007)
Purvis v. State
215 S.W.3d 745 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2007)
Vanzandt v. State
212 S.W.3d 228 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
202 S.W.3d 726, 2006 Mo. App. LEXIS 1510, 2006 WL 2865639, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tilley-v-state-moctapp-2006.