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State v. Greenleaf4/15/1999
inadmissible, that Aubid pointed a gun at a laundromat, the trial court granted a motion to strike the testimony and directed the jury to disregard it. Even if inadmissible, the testimony was not harmful to Greenleaf and its admission does not warrant a new trial.
In addition, Greenleaf argues that, since the state accused him of making gestures to Mike Martin while Martin testified, the trial court should have conducted a hearing to determine whether in fact the jury saw the gestures and formed some adverse impression from them. The trial court instead chose to warn Greenleaf, outside the presence of the jury, about what it called, "at best * * * an ambiguous gesture." The trial court was in the best position to determine what impact any gesture may have had. Therefore, it was not an abuse of discretion to deny Greenleaf's motion for a hearing concerning his own questionable conduct.
Greenleaf also argues that Mike Martin was non-responsive on cross-examination and that the court failed to take any action to correct the problem. This statement simply is not accurate. The trial court in fact sustained Greenleaf's objections to answers he felt were non-responsive. In addition, there is no merit to Greenleaf's argument that the court did not do enough to cure a problem his own counsel created. While Greenleaf's counsel was reading Mike Martin's plea agreement he stated the exact number of months Mike Martin faced for his role in the crime, even though he knew the trial court had prohibited him from doing so. The trial Judge halted the proceedings and met with the lawyers in chambers. Upon returning, the trial Judge told the jury that what had transpired was a misunderstanding and that they should disregard it. Such an instruction was sufficient to keep the jurors from forming an adverse impression of either side.
Greenleaf also argues that the state's closing argument contained improper statements. In his closing argument, the prosecutor stated:
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the final test of the quality of your service is, as a jury, to do Justice and one definition of Justice is to do the right thing and I submit that tomorrow, a week from now, 10 years from now, you can look anyone squarely in the eye and say I did the right thing. I convicted Lester Greenleaf."
While this type of statement comes close to detracting from the role of the jury - which is to dispassionately determine whether the state has met its burden of proving that the defendant committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt - the statements were not so prejudicial as to require a reversal of Greenleaf's conviction. See State v. Salitros, 499 N.W.2d 815, 819-20 (Minn. 1993).
Greenleaf's final three arguments: (1) that the state committed discovery violations by failing to give him a copy of the "final" autopsy report and a police computer printout used by a witness during trial; (2) that spectators displayed emotional reactions during the playing of a crime scene videotape; and (3) that the trial court overruled defense objections to photographs without reviewing the exhibits, even if true, did not have such an impact on the proceeding so as to require a new trial. The trial court found that the prosecution produced every report it received from the medical examiner and that the state did not receive this "final" report. There was also no dispute as to the injuries Antonich suffered. In addition, Greenleaf was permitted to extensively cross-examine the coroner regarding any and all changes from the original report. As to the police report, which documented the time Duluth police responded to the scene of the reported car accident, Greenleaf declined to accept the trial
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