State v. Alexander12/23/1998
Sullivan
After a jury trial in Superior Court (Morrill, J.), the defendant, Steven Alexander, was convicted of arson, see RSA 634:1, II(a) (1996), for setting fire to the apartment building in which he resided. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred: (1) in limiting his cross-examination of two prosecution witnesses; (2) in denying his motion to dismiss based on insufficient evidence; and (3) in fashioning certain instructions to the jury when it appeared to be deadlocked. We affirm.
At trial, the State presented the following evidence. In July 1993, the defendant rented a second floor apartment in the Eagle Block in Newport. On July 24, 1993, the day before the fire, the defendant and Debra Porter, a second floor neighbor, had an argument about Porter playing her stereo loudly. The defendant responded by playing his radio loudly as well, and the two exchanged profanities. When the police arrived, Porter turned her music down as instructed, and the two had no further contact that day.
On July 25, 1993, the day of the fire, Porter left her apartment at 2:20 p.m. and locked both apartment doors, which were then undamaged. Around three o'clock, the defendant stopped at a convenience store, an approximate ten to fifteen minute drive from the Eagle Block. The store's cashier testified that she received a phone call from an unidentified man who requested the store owner's phone number. A few minutes later she received a call from the owner telling her that Steven Alexander, who was unknown to the owner, would be coming to the store to charge a few items on store credit. The cashier testified that the defendant was acting "a little strange." He insisted that he knew the cashier, telling her not to deny that she knew him. He also asserted that he knew or was related to the owner, and that the owner had given him permission to charge wine. The cashier called the owner, who instructed her not to charge the wine. Following this, the defendant charged cigarettes and $3.00 worth of gasoline. At the owner's instruction, the cashier recorded the defendant's telephone and license plate numbers.
Between four and five o'clock, another tenant, Betty Andrews, who lived down the hall from the defendant, returned to her apartment with her boyfriend, Michael Tassinari. Within fifteen to thirty minutes, Andrews smelled gasoline. Unable to determine its source, she and Tassinari stepped into the hallway where they detected a very strong gasoline odor, but saw no smoke. While in the hallway, Andrews noticed the defendant leave and lock his apartment while holding something in his arms. When Andrews asked if he could smell gasoline, the defendant responded "no," acting "kind of shaky" or "nervous" as he walked toward the back door. Andrews returned to her apartment and promptly called the police to report the odor. During the call, the building's smoke alarms activated. Police dispatch received this call at 5:23 p.m. Andrews returned to the hallway, saw smoke coming from the direction of Porter's apartment, and made a second call to the police to report the fire.
At approximately 4:30 p.m., Neal Goldberg, a tenant who lived across the hall from the defendant, heard "constant banging" near Porter's apartment, which continued for several minutes. Goldberg assumed that someone was working on a door. At about five o'clock, several individuals in a meeting room located directly below Porter's apartment heard a crash, along with banging and scuffling noises coming from Porter's apartment. Shortly thereafter, they saw the defendant make two or three rapid trips up and down the outside staircase, removing various items from the building, including clothes and soda. Af
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