Opinion ID: 6498085
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Incident and the Trial

Text: ¶5 The State charged Spencer with one count of felony murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon for his involvement in an armed robbery resulting in the death of his accomplice, T.M. On the night of the crime, police officers responded to reports of a shooting in Milwaukee, where they found the victim lying face down and observed a number of bullet holes and shell casings, later determined to be from two different guns. The exchange of gunfire on the night of the incident was confirmed by neighbors, ShotSpotter, and officers at the scene, and forensic evidence indicated there were two shooters. ¶6 At trial, the State's theory was that Spencer had a debt to settle with R.S., a friend of Spencer and T.M. The State contended that Spencer and T.M. approached R.S. as he stood outside a residence, and Spencer, armed with a firearm, robbed R.S. by grabbing him and go[ing] through his pockets, tak[ing] money, tak[ing] his cell phone. As R.S. broke away and began running, the State asserted Spencer shot at R.S. as a second person with a firearm located right in front of the residence or out, or inside the residence shooting from a 4 No. 2018AP942-CR window began to return fire to protect [R.S.]. As a result of this exchange of gunfire, T.M. was shot and killed. ¶7 The State relied on witness testimony from Lerone Towns, a tow truck driver who testified he received a call for a tow that night from a Mr. Green. He testified that when he reached the vehicle pickup location, he encountered an individual, later identified as R.S., waiting in a vehicle behind the one to be towed. R.S. arranged for the vehicle to be towed to a house on the corner of 23rd and Townsend. Upon arriving at the drop-off location, Towns testified he spoke with R.S. about writing his receipt and entering his information into the company system. According to Towns, R.S. said he had to get the money for the payment, and went straight to the back door, where he stood for some amount of time. While Towns was taking down information about the vehicle, he said he turned around, heard somewhat of a commotion at the back door, and saw two gentlemen standing in front of [R.S.] with their backs turned toward Towns. He did not see their faces, but stated one of the individuals was lighter skinned than the other one and they both appeared to be males. He testified that the lighter complected gentleman pulled out a handgun and proceeded to reach into [R.S.'s] pockets, and proceeded to grab [R.S.] by the back of his shirt and drug him across the street, across Townsend in front of the residence on 23rd Street. After between 20 seconds to a full minute, Towns testified there was nothing but gunfire after that but he did not see anyone shooting. He saw R.S. run past him, and testified the gunfire 5 No. 2018AP942-CR stopped once [R.S.] got pretty much to the alley. Towns said he then left——with the vehicle still attached to his truck——and received a call en route from R.S. to drop the vehicle off at a different location, where R.S. arrived with the individual identified as Mr. Green to pick it up. ¶8 In addition to Towns' testimony, the jury heard from R.S., who said he knew T.M. and Spencer——identified as D or D- Dog. R.S. testified he and Spencer were involved in business together, and he owed Spencer $5,000. R.S. testified that he heard Spencer was looking for him because he had not paid this debt.5 R.S. also identified Mr. Green as his friend, Errion Green-Brown. R.S. said he lived at the residence where the incident occurred, along with Green-Brown and another individual he identified as Danny McKinney. R.S. testified that McKinney was present in the upper unit of the residence at the time the tow truck arrived. ¶9 R.S. confirmed he was robbed by two individuals, T.M. and a lighter complected individual whom he couldn't recognize. R.S. noted the second individual had a firearm and asked R.S., Where is the money at? R.S. testified the individuals then [w]ent in [his] pockets, took a cell phone and a couple dollars, snatched [him] up by his shirt, and dragged him across the street toward a gold mini-van. The 5 Although initially R.S. agreed he told the detective he never paid that debt, on cross-examination he confirmed he had already paid Mr. Spencer $3,000. R.S. acknowledged later that [t]he amount of the debt wasn't the same in each of the interviews with the detectives. 6 No. 2018AP942-CR investigation revealed Spencer's fingerprints on the van, and a traffic citation and receipt in Spencer's name were found inside the van. Forensic evidence demonstrated one of the shooters shot from the residence and the other shooter was near the gold mini-van, in the area where T.M.'s body had been found. ¶10 During his testimony, R.S. acknowledged he had identified Spencer as the second individual to the detectives during three separate interviews. Additionally, R.S. identified Spencer as the second individual to others——even before he told the detectives. He told one of [his] girlfriends it was a person by the name of Spencer, who may be involved but not actually with a gun. Two of T.M.'s sisters also testified regarding the incident. One sister, K.G., testified she had dinner with both T.M. and Spencer on the night of the robbery. She said they left together hours before the shooting, in the same van later found at the scene of the crime. Another sister, Q.G., testified that R.S., prior to his interview with the detectives, told her Spencer was involved in the robbery. She said she called R.S. shortly after T.M. died, and when R.S. returned her call, he told her D'Dog was responsible. Q.G. denied that she knew who D'Dog was. She testified R.S. told her T.M. and D'Dog pulled up in a van and D'Dog and [T.M.] got out [of] the van. [T.M.] stood a little further off away from them with his hands behind the back and his head down and said D'Dog walked up to him and grabbed him by his shirt with a gun and told him . . . you're going to die today and tried to drag him down the street. Q.G. recounted that she asked [R.S.] would 7 No. 2018AP942-CR he tell that same story to detectives and he said yes, and that she called the detectives immediately after her phone call with R.S. and told them what he had said. During his testimony, R.S. denied that he told Q.G. that D'Dog was involved; instead, he said she told him it was D-dog. The prosecutor summed up: Q: So, just so I'm clear, you told detectives that it was D-Dog because you felt threatened. Correct? A: Yes. Q: You told one of your girlfriends it was a person by the name of Spencer, who may be involved but not actually with a gun. Correct? A: Yes. Q: And you told [Q.G.] that, who the robbers were, but you don't remember saying it was D-Dog? A: She told me it was D-Dog. ¶11 At trial, numerous discrepancies surfaced between the story R.S. provided to detectives and his trial testimony. Detectives interviewed R.S. three times about the incident, during which R.S. identified Spencer as the other individual with T.M. R.S. changed his story at trial, saying he couldn't recognize the individual with T.M. R.S. admitted he had previously identified Spencer, or D-Dog, and that he told the detective Spencer walked up and stated, Where is the money at, took $400 from him, grabbed him by his collar and told him [c]ome with me, you are going to die, and pull[ed] out a dark gray large semi-automatic handgun from his left side and point[ed] it at [R.S.] He also testified that he remembered telling the detective Spencer dragged him across the street 8 No. 2018AP942-CR toward a gold mini-van, and he broke away because he thought the men were going to put him in the van. R.S. recounted that as he ran away, [s]hots were fired, and he remembered telling the detective Spencer raised his firearm and fired one shot at him, and he heard more gunshots as he ran. R.S. claimed Danny told him afterward he was firing from the residence in an attempt to protect [R.S.]. R.S. testified he did not call T.M. because he was scared because [T.M.] was with [Spencer]. ¶12 To explain the discrepancies, R.S. stated, [the detectives] threatened me if I didn't cooperate, they would lock me up and charge me with the crime. R.S. explained he used Spencer's name because [t]he detectives told me if I didn't give up Mr. Spencer they would charge me with the crime. R.S. reiterated throughout his testimony that he had no idea who the individual was and he couldn't recognize him. R.S. also admitted he lied to detectives about Green-Brown being at the second location, because Green-Brown was on probation and he didn't want to get him involved. He also said he was not at first up front about Danny McKinney telling [him] he had fired to protect [him] as [he] ran away. Additionally, R.S. stated he didn't go to the back door to get money for the tow truck driver because he had money in his pocket.6 Earlier in his testimony, however, R.S. indicated the two men took a [c]ouple dollars from his pockets, which again conflicted with both his 6 Earlier in his testimony, R.S. said he went in the house . . . to use the bathroom. 9 No. 2018AP942-CR testimony that he had enough money in his pocket for the tow truck driver and his statement to the detective that the men took $400 from him. ¶13 The detective who conducted the first interview testified he never threatened R.S. into disclosing Spencer’s involvement, and that R.S. provided the names of the individuals who robbed him. Throughout the detective's testimony, portions of his interview with R.S. were played for the jury. In response to the prosecutor's questioning about whether the story R.S. gave to the detectives was true, R.S. explained: A: I didn't say it's not true. I never said it ain't true. Q: So, you did hear, you did see the defendant put a gun in your stomach tell you you were going to die and shoot at you? A: I didn't recognize the second person, but that is what happened. Q: So, everything is true, except for the identity of the defendant as being the person who did all this? A: Yes. Q: Just so we are clear, a guy you owe money to? . . . A: Yes.