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People v. Whitt10/25/1990
the top two feet. Defendant said he was "angry" about the marital breakup, but Goforth thought he acted "coolly." His speech was "coherent," and he did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Defendant walked back to the driver's side of the truck, which stood facing Goforth about four feet from where defendant had been standing. He got in and, through the open window, calmly said, "I'll be back to see Harold." Goforth watched him through the hole in one cement block, and rested her hand in another. Suddenly, defendant fired a shotgun at her. The force of the blast knocked her to the ground, but no pellets hit her. The blast left a "crater" and some pellets in the wall directly in front of where she had been standing.
Goforth stood up and saw defendant drive to the intersection of Juniper and Bryant Streets. Defendant momentarily stopped the truck, evidently reloaded the gun, and then sped away. Goforth called the sheriff.
About 20 minutes later, defendant arrived at the Elkhorn General Store in Forest Falls. He bought a can of Michelob beer and a pack of Camel cigarettes from the clerk, Linda Weisz. Two other customers were in the store at the time. Weisz sensed that defendant was "nervous" but in "control." He displayed no signs of intoxication. Defendant left the store after making his purchases, and the other two customers soon followed suit.
Defendant reentered the store a few minutes later. He pointed a shotgun at Weisz, led her by the arm to the cash register, demanded that she give him the "big bills," and said she would not get hurt if she complied. She gave him about $250. He then backed out of the store at an angle, watching and pointing the gun at her the entire time. Five to ten seconds after defendant had passed through the doorway, Weisz heard a gunshot. She then heard the sound of tires on the gravel parking lot. Weisz locked the door and called her boss.
The victim of the shooting, William McCafferty, was discovered on the ground in front of the store by local residents who heard the gunshot
and/or saw a truck like defendant's speeding away from the store between 8:30 and 8:48 p.m. McCafferty died within minutes as a result of a shotgun wound to the right side of the neck. Fingers on his left hand had also been injured by the blast. The sheriff was called, and descriptions of defendant and the truck were broadcast over police radio.
Shortly after 9 p.m., a patrol car stopped defendant in his truck a few miles from Forest Falls. He was arrested and taken to the sheriff's station, where approximately $250 in cash was found on his person. A blood test administered at 11:09 p.m. showed a .10 percent blood-alcohol level. Expert testimony established that depending upon various factors -- such as the rate of alcohol absorption and burnoff, body weight, and drinking pattern -- defendant's blood-alcohol level near the time of the initial stop could have been lower than .10 percent or higher than .14 percent.
Pursuant to a warrant, officers searched defendant's truck and found a loaded 20-gauge, sawed-off shotgun on the floor of the passenger compartment and several live rounds of 20-gauge ammunition in the glove compartment. A pack of Camel cigarettes and an empty Budweiser beer bottle were also seized from the truck.
An expert criminalist tested defendant's shotgun and ammunition, and opined that the trigger responds to "average" force; it is neither "hard" to pull nor a "hair trigger." The witness also testified that based on "shot pattern" comparisons, McCafferty was standing six to nine feet from the end of the barrel at the time the gun was fired. The pathologist
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