Court Opinion

ID: 9914091
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-29 16:11:05.266482+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:10:06.286982
License: Public Domain

#30191-a-MES
2023 S.D. 71

                            IN THE SUPREME COURT
                                    OF THE
                           STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA

                                   ****

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA,                      Plaintiff and Appellee,

      v.

ELIAS RICHARD,                              Defendant and Appellant.

                                   ****

                  APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
                    THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
                  PENNINGTON COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA

                                   ****

                    THE HONORABLE CRAIG A. PFEIFLE
                               Judge

                                   ****

GREGORY J. SPERLICH
KYLE BEAUCHAMP of
Colbath and Sperlich
Rapid City, South Dakota                    Attorneys for defendant
                                            and appellant.

MARTY J. JACKLEY
Attorney General

ERIN E. HANDKE
Assistant Attorney General
Pierre, South Dakota                        Attorneys for plaintiff and
                                            appellee.

                                   ****

                                            ARGUED
                                            OCTOBER 5, 2023
                                            OPINION FILED 12/28/23
#30191

SALTER, Justice

[¶1.]        A jury found Elias Richard guilty of second-degree murder for the

shooting death of Vernall Marshall. Prior to trial, the circuit court denied Richard’s

motion in limine to preclude any reference to Richard’s gang affiliation. At trial, the

defense sought to emphasize a co-defendant’s control over the murder weapon, in

part, by stating at the beginning of the trial that the empty shell casings found at

the scene of the murder matched others discovered at the co-defendant’s apartment.

However, it became apparent during the testimony of a police detective that the

State had not disclosed a forensic report which concluded that the shell casings

found at the crime scene did not match the shell casings at the co-defendant’s

apartment. Defense counsel moved for a mistrial, which the court denied. Richard

appeals, arguing the circuit court abused its discretion in denying both his motion

in limine regarding evidence of gang affiliation and his motion for mistrial. We

affirm.

                         Factual and Procedural History

[¶2.]        On Christmas Eve 2020, Kaleb Lukkes, Masheka Barnett, Brandi

Snowfly, and Brandi’s children were at a Walgreens in Rapid City picking up last-

minute Christmas gifts. While they were shopping, Barnett became upset because

she received a message from her minor daughter indicating Vernall Marshall had

sent her text messages that referenced illegal drugs and sex.

[¶3.]        Around the same time, Vernall had also sent a message to Snowfly via

Facebook Messenger, asking to buy methamphetamine from her. During her

testimony, Barnett described these communications with Vernall as coincidental.

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Lukkes saw the drug deal as an opportunity to confront Vernall about the text

messages sent to Barnett’s daughter, so he arranged a meeting using Snowfly’s

messenger account. 1

[¶4.]         After Lukkes dropped Snowfly and her children off at the apartment

he shared with her, he and Barnett left in Snowfly’s car and picked up Clint

Marshall 2 and Elias Richard en route to meet Vernall, purportedly to sell him

drugs. Lukkes, Clint, and Richard were members of a gang known as the Dark Side

Family. Lukkes testified he provided Richard with a loaded .25 caliber pistol and

instructed him to use the gun to scare Vernall. 3

[¶5.]         After Vernall got into the back seat and handed Lukkes the money for

the drugs, Richard and Clint began assaulting him. Lukkes stopped the car and

removed Vernall. Barnett remained in the passenger seat of the car as the three

men continued the assault until, according to Lukkes, Richard used the pistol to

shoot Vernall twice in the back. Lukkes, Barnett, Clint, and Richard fled the scene

in Snowfly’s car and left Vernall who was mortally wounded and later died from his

injuries.

1.      According to the evidence at trial, both Lukkes and Snowfly, who were dating
        at the time, were known to sell methamphetamine and both had access to
        Snowfly’s Facebook account.

2.      Clint Marshall testified that he later became aware that Vernall was his
        cousin. Because both men have the same surname, we refer to them by their
        first names.

3.      Lukkes testified that his purpose in picking up Vernall was to question him
        about the messages he sent to Barnett’s daughter. Defense counsel, however,
        suggested that Lukkes’ purpose was to collect past due drug debts.

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[¶6.]         Lying in the street with Vernall’s body was a broken piece of a vehicle’s

red taillight, which police recovered as evidence from the crime scene along with

several other items, including two spent .25 caliber shell casings. A nearby resident

had reported seeing a white car drive away immediately after hearing two gun

shots, but detectives were otherwise without strong initial investigative leads. They

learned of Vernall’s identity through a tribal identification card located in his

wallet, and officers were able to make contact with Vernall’s girlfriend.

[¶7.]         In the following days, detectives learned that Vernall was a periodic

drug user, and they sought to locate people he associated with who might have

additional information that could assist in the ongoing investigation. By reviewing

some of Vernall’s electronic messages, detectives discovered references to the

Sundial Apartments and the name of a person who lived there.

[¶8.]         When investigators arrived at the Sundial Apartments parking lot,

they observed, purely by chance, a white Ford Fusion with a piece broken out of a

taillight. The detectives diverted from their original plan to interview one of

Vernall’s associates. Instead, they retrieved the taillight piece recovered from the

scene of Vernall’s murder and found that it fit perfectly into the broken taillight on

the Ford Fusion. 4 The car had vanity plates bearing the word, “SNOWFLY,” and

detectives quickly confirmed that the car was registered to Brandi Snowfly who also

lived at the Sundial Apartments with Lukkes.

4.      The evidence at trial did not explain how the taillight had been broken, only
        that Vernall’s assault and shooting occurred at the rear of the parked car and
        near the area of the broken taillight.

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[¶9.]          The detectives interviewed Lukkes and Snowfly, and they later

executed a search warrant for the Snowfly/Lukkes apartment where they discovered

drugs and paraphernalia as well as six spent shell casings which an officer initially

believed came from .25 caliber ammunition. Officers also interviewed Clint and

Barnett, and though the four stories were inconsistent in some respects, officers

determined they had probable cause to arrest Richard for Vernall’s murder.

[¶10.]         Ultimately, Lukkes, Barnett, Clint, and Richard were indicted for their

involvement in Vernall’s death. As to Richard, the grand jury returned an

indictment charging him with one count of first-degree murder under a

premeditation theory, in violation of SDCL 22-16-4(1). 5 He pled not guilty, and his

case was tried to a jury. 6

[¶11.]         Prior to trial, Richard filed a motion in limine to preclude any evidence

related to Richard’s membership with the Dark Side Family gang. 7 The State’s

5.       A grand jury had originally also indicted Richard with one count of aiding
         and abetting first-degree robbery. But a superseding indictment was issued
         approximately four months later that only listed the count of first-degree
         murder.

6.       Clint entered into a plea agreement with the State under which he pled
         guilty to aiding and abetting aggravated assault. Barnett also entered into a
         plea agreement under which she pled guilty to misprision of a felony,
         possession of a controlled substance, and admitted to a part II information.
         Lukkes was indicted on counts of aiding and abetting first-degree murder
         and aiding and abetting aggravated assault. He cooperated with the State
         and testified at Richard’s trial without the benefit of a plea agreement, but he
         eventually reached an agreement under which he pled guilty to aiding and
         abetting aggravated assault.

7.       Richard often refers to this as a motion to preclude evidence of his alleged
         gang membership. We understand this to mean that Richard did not admit
         to being a member of the Dark Side Family. But strictly speaking, the State’s
                                                              (continued . . .)
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theory was that Clint and Richard became involved in the effort to confront Vernall

about the inappropriate messages to Barnett’s daughter at Lukkes’ request because

all three were members of the Dark Side Family. The court denied the motion in

limine but cautioned the State to avoid suggesting to the jury that gang members,

solely by virtue of their membership, are violent. Instead, the State was to keep

any evidence of gang affiliation tailored to a motive to act at another member’s

request. The court noted that the evidence appeared to suggest the men were not

otherwise engaged with each other on the evening of December 24, 2020, and the

State had argued their common gang membership helped explain the reason for

them mustering at Lukkes’ request.

[¶12.]         At trial, the gang affiliation evidence did not play a central role in the

State’s case, and the prosecutor generally used the evidence to explain the

Lukkes/Clint/Richard confederation. On direct examination, Lukkes testified that

he was a member of the Dark Side Family and verified that his tattoos attested to

his membership. He confirmed that both Clint and Richard were also members of

the Dark Side Family, which Lukkes described as a “brotherhood.” 8 He agreed with

the prosecutor that membership in the gang impacted each member’s relationship

with one another in the sense that a member would be more willing to do something

for another member than he would for a non-member. For example, if a member

________________________
(. . . continued)
         evidence was not that Richard was alleged to be a member of the gang—it
         was that Richard was a member of the gang. For this reason, we have not
         restated the “alleged” qualifying adjective.

8.       Clint acknowledged that he was a member of the gang, but when he was
         asked whether Richard was a member, he responded, “Not that I can recall.”

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had a disagreement with another person, Lukkes explained that gang members

would “probably go beat them up.”

[¶13.]         The defense’s theory of the case was that Lukkes, not Richard, had

shot and killed Vernall. During defense counsel’s opening statement, he told the

jury that police had found six spent .25 caliber shell casings underneath Lukkes

and Snowfly’s bed at their apartment. Counsel claimed that these shell casings

were of the same caliber as those found at the crime scene, in an apparent effort to

suggest Lukkes’ possession and control over the murder weapon. But the lead

detective, Sergeant Barry Young, testified during direct examination that despite

originally appearing to be .25 caliber shell casings, a firearms expert had issued a

report in which he determined that the shell casings found under the bed were

actually the remnants of ammunition for a .22 caliber firearm.

[¶14.]         Shortly after Sergeant Young’s testimony, counsel addressed the court

outside the presence of the jury. Defense counsel informed the court that, despite

the court’s pretrial discovery order, 9 he had never seen the forensic report

referenced by Sergeant Young, nor had the name of the firearms expert appeared on

the State’s witness list. Since he had told the jury during his opening statement

that the casings found under the bed matched those found at the crime scene,

defense counsel argued that he had lost credibility with the jury and, as a result,

moved for a mistrial.

9.       Prior to trial, the circuit court had granted Richard’s discovery motion and
         ordered the State to “furnish, among other things, reports of experts and the
         nature of their testimony 30 days prior to trial.”

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[¶15.]       The State responded by asserting that it had produced all discovery in

good faith and had also invited defense counsel, who declined, to the Attorney

General’s Office to review it. The circuit court denied the motion for mistrial but

asked both attorneys to search through their discovery records and advise the court

the following morning whether the forensic report had, in fact, been provided. At

that point, the court stated it would readdress the motion.

[¶16.]       While Sergeant Young was still on the witness stand, defense counsel

elicited testimony explaining that the mistaken belief about the caliber of the shell

casings discovered at the apartment originated with the police. Sergeant Young

testified on cross-examination that the veteran police officer who had discovered the

shell casings at the apartment identified them as .25 caliber casings. And based

upon that initial conclusion, Sergeant Young had, himself, indicated on a form sent

with the shell casings to the lab for testing that they were from a .25 caliber

firearm. He originally requested the testing to determine if all of the spent shell

casings had been fired from the same gun, but that inquiry ended when the shell

casings recovered from the apartment turned out to be for a different caliber

firearm. After examining Sergeant Young, neither defense counsel nor the State

mentioned the forensic report again.

[¶17.]       The next day, the State indicated it was unable to confirm that it had

disclosed the forensic report. Defense counsel, for his part, maintained that he had

not received the report and renewed his motion for mistrial, reiterating that he

“hung [him]self out in front of this jury” because he claimed in his opening

statement that the shell casings were a match. But the circuit court again denied

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the motion. It found that the failure to disclose the report was inadvertent, not

intentional, and had not prejudiced Richard as his counsel had suggested. Instead,

it found the jury had “other issues upon which [it] is being asked to focus.”

[¶18.]         The balance of the remaining evidence at trial came primarily in the

form of testimony from those involved before, during, or after Vernall’s shooting, but

not all of it was consistent. For instance, Lukkes stated that Barnett told him to

“beat [Vernall] up[,]” but Barnett testified she did not tell Lukkes to do anything

and was unaware of any plan to confront Vernall over the text messages sent to her

daughter. And while Clint said that Lukkes simply asked him if he wanted to “go

for a cruise and, you know, smoke a little bit,” Lukkes testified that he had

contacted Clint and Richard and told them he needed to “ask a guy some questions”

and “asked if [they were] down for a ride.” But each of their stories, in one form or

another, pointed to Richard as the person who shot Vernall.

[¶19.]         At the close of the testimony, the jury was instructed on the lesser

included offense of second-degree murder at the State’s request and over Richard’s

objection. The circuit court also instructed the jury that it could find Richard guilty

of murder if it determined that he aided and abetted in Vernall’s murder and acted

with the requisite intent and was not merely present. During deliberations, the

jury sent a note to the court asking for clarification as to whether Richard’s

“presence and participation count as the cause” of second-degree murder. 10

10.      In its response to the jury’s question, the circuit court stated that it was
         unable to provide further instructions on the law and asked the jurors to read
         the court’s instructions as a whole.

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[¶20.]       The jury ultimately found Richard not guilty of first-degree murder but

guilty of second-degree murder. The circuit court imposed a mandatory sentence of

life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[¶21.]       Richard appeals raising two issues for our review, which we have

restated as follows:

             1.        Whether the circuit court abused its discretion when it
                       denied Richard’s motion in limine and allowed evidence of
                       Richard’s gang affiliation.

             2.        Whether the circuit court abused its discretion when it
                       denied Richard’s motion for mistrial based upon the
                       State’s failure to disclose evidence relating to the shell
                       casings recovered from the Snowfly/Lukkes apartment.

                                 Analysis and Decision

Motion in Limine

[¶22.]       “Our standard of review for evidentiary rulings requires a two-step

process: first, to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion in making

an evidentiary ruling; and second, whether this error was a prejudicial error[.]”

State v. Hankins, 2022 S.D. 67, ¶ 20, 982 N.W.2d 21, 30 (citation omitted).

[¶23.]       As a starting point, all relevant evidence is admissible. SDCL 19-19-

402. “Evidence is relevant if: (a) it has any tendency to make a fact more or less

probable than it would be without the evidence; and (b) the fact is of consequence in

determining the action.” SDCL 19-19-401 (Rule 401). But a court may exclude

otherwise relevant evidence “where its probative force is substantially outweighed

by a danger of unfair prejudice, among other considerations.” Knecht v. Evridge,

2020 S.D. 9, ¶ 22, 940 N.W.2d 318, 326 (citing SDCL 19-19-403 (Rule 403)). We

have explained that this “balancing . . . requires a disproportionate level of unfair

                                             -9-
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prejudice before relevant evidence may be excluded.” Id. The moment evidence is

found relevant, the scale “tips emphatically in favor of admission” absent its

probative value being substantially outweighed by Rule 403 concerns. Id. (citation

omitted). The circuit court has broad discretion when it engages in this balancing

function. Id.

[¶24.]          Here, the circuit court did not abuse its discretion. Under the facts of

this case, Richard’s gang affiliation was relevant in the Rule 401 sense because it

helped explain Richard’s involvement in confronting Vernall. The two men were

otherwise not connected, and Richard had not been with Lukkes, Snowfly, and

Barnett earlier when they became aware of Vernall’s messages to Barnett’s

daughter. There was no apparent motive for Richard’s aggression toward Vernall

other than doing so at Lukkes’ request as a component of the fraternal relationship

among gang members, as Lukkes explained.

[¶25.]          The court prudently recognized the risk of unfair prejudice and limited

the State’s use of the gang affiliation evidence. However, the risk of unfair

prejudice alone is not enough to justify exclusion under Rule 403’s balancing

standard for admissibility. Instead, the risk must substantially outweigh the

probative value of the evidence. And here, the court properly exercised its

discretion to determine that it did not.

[¶26.]          Richard presents a contrary argument and claims the gang affiliation

evidence had no probative value, asserting that, “at best, only circumstantial

evidence exists to support that Mr. Richard was even a gang member,” noting that

only Lukkes could definitively say that Richard was a member of the Dark Side

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Family. 11 However, evidence is probative if it has any tendency to make a fact in

consequence more likely. If true, Richard’s gang affiliation would tend to explain

the reason he accompanied Lukkes and Clint for the sole apparent purpose of

assaulting Vernall. The fact that Lukkes was the only witness who definitively

identified Richard as a gang member does not make that fact any less probative

under Rule 403, but rather implicates the weight that the jury might assign to it.

[¶27.]         Richard argues, alternatively, that even if evidence of his gang

affiliation was probative, it was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair

prejudice. He cites as support our decision in State v. Hart, where we held that

statements about a victim’s gang affiliation should not have been admitted, though

we determined the admission of the evidence was harmless. 1996 S.D. 17, ¶ 17, 544

N.W.2d 206, 210. Richard contrasts our harmlessness conclusion in Hart with this

case and claims that the evidence of gang affiliation here was so prejudicial that it

was not harmless. But Richard misses an important distinction. We determined

that the gang affiliation statements relating to the victim in Hart were admitted in

error because they were irrelevant, not because they were prejudicial. Id. ¶ 16. And

we have never held that evidence of gang affiliation is categorically inadmissible.

[¶28.]         Richard also cites to a decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of

Appeals for the proposition that gang affiliation evidence is inadmissible “if its

purpose is solely ‘to prejudice the defendant or prove his guilt by association with

unsavory characters.’” United States v. Gaines, 859 F.3d 1128, 1131 (8th Cir. 2017)

11.      Though the law makes no distinction, there was, in fact, direct evidence of
         Richard’s gang affiliation in the form of Lukkes’ testimony.

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(quoting United States v. Ellison, 616 F.3d 829, 833 (8th Cir. 2010)). But the sole-

purpose premise is not supported by the record here. As indicated, gang affiliation

in this case was relevant to explain Richard’s motive for confronting Vernall on the

evening of December 24, 2020.

[¶29.]       Because we hold the circuit court did not abuse its discretion when it

denied Richard’s motion in limine, our inquiry ends, and we need not determine

whether Richard was prejudiced by evidence of his gang affiliation.

Motion for Mistrial

[¶30.]       “The denial of a motion for mistrial will not be overturned unless there

is an abuse of discretion.” State v. Ortiz-Martinez, 2023 S.D. 46, ¶ 26, 995 N.W.2d

239, 244 (quoting State v. Red Cloud, 2022 S.D. 17, ¶ 39, 972 N.W.2d 517, 530). We

have frequently held that “[w]hen a circuit court examines whether to grant a

mistrial, it must find error ‘which, in all probability, produced some effect upon the

jury’s verdict and is harmful to the substantial rights’ of the defendant in order to

grant the mistrial.” Id. (quoting Red Cloud, 2022 S.D. 17, ¶ 39, 972 N.W.2d at 530).

[¶31.]       However, in our opinion in State v. Carter, 2023 S.D. 67, ¶ 26, ___

N.W.2d ___, ___, also issued today, we clarified our prejudice standard in cases

involving the decision to admit evidence which had, at times, stated the prejudice

showing as one requiring a reasonable probability of a different outcome. We now

also apply this clarification to assessing prejudice in the context of a motion for

mistrial:

             Because this Court has treated both formulations as expressing
             the same concept of prejudice, we conclude that the “all
             probability” phrase should be understood as “a reasonable
             probability that, but for [the error], the result of the proceeding

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             would have been different.” In other words, “a probability
             sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.”

Id. ¶ 26 (cleaned up) (quoting Owens v. Russell, 2007 S.D. 3, ¶ 9, 726 N.W.2d 610,

615).

[¶32.]       We have recently noted that “the circumstances prompting a mistrial

motion, in many instances, do not involve judicial error, but rather some other

irregularity that has occurred during the course of a trial.” Ortiz-Martinez, 2023

S.D. 46, ¶ 27, 995 N.W.2d at 245. That was the genesis of this mistrial motion—

noncompliance with a discovery order rather than a separate allegation of judicial

error.

[¶33.]       Likewise, “[w]hen a discovery order is violated, the inquiry is whether

the defendant suffered any material prejudice as a result of the late disclosure.”

State v. Krebs, 2006 S.D. 43, ¶ 19, 714 N.W.2d 91, 98. The failure to produce

evidence when ordered to do so is not itself prejudicial error. Id.

[¶34.]       South Dakota’s rules of criminal procedure require a prosecuting

attorney to make available for inspection all its discovery upon a defendant’s

written request. See SDCL 23A-13-3 to -4. Here, the State complied with its

statutory obligations, but it does not appear it complied with the circuit court’s

specific discovery order which required it to produce copies of all expert reports. We

have not addressed whether complying with its statutory obligations under SDCL

23A-13-3 and -4 preempts the State’s obligation to produce the same information in

the manner required by a discovery order, and we need not do so here because

Richard has not demonstrated prejudice.

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[¶35.]       The inculpatory evidence relating to what turned out to be .22 caliber

shell casings was not central to Richard’s defense, which focused on uncontroverted

evidence of Lukkes’ ownership and control over the gun used to shoot Vernall. More

to the point, the inculpatory evidence did not address the testimony of Lukkes and

Clint who identified Richard as the person who shot Vernall. In this regard, Lukkes

testified that he saw Richard shoot Vernall, and Clint testified that he saw two

flashes from his right where Richard was standing as he heard the gunshots. And

though Barnett was in the car, she testified that she saw Lukkes give Richard the

gun and saw Richard later attempt to return it to Snowfly at her and Lukkes’

apartment.

[¶36.]       Yet, Richard argues that the State’s failure to turn over the forensic

report “gutted” his trial theory. He cites to Krebs, where we reversed the

defendant’s manslaughter conviction after finding that the State’s failure to disclose

inculpatory evidence from a witness prejudiced the defense. 2006 S.D. 43, ¶ 23, 714

N.W.2d at 100. At trial, the defendant claimed that he had acted in self-defense.

However, we held that this theory was “completely undercut” when one of the

State’s witnesses testified, without prior notice, that she observed Krebs and his

friends engaging in lighthearted behavior after the killing and had also heard Krebs

joke that “he killed before and he’d kill again.” Id. ¶¶ 15, 20–21, 714 N.W.2d at 98–

100.

[¶37.]       This case is much different. Regardless of whether the shell casings

recovered from the Snowfly/Lukkes apartment matched those at the murder scene,

Richard’s defense theory remained intact. Indeed, Richard’s theory had very little

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to do with matching the shell casings at the scene with those recovered at the

apartment in order to establish Lukkes’ control over the gun. At trial, Lukkes

admitted he owned the gun with Snowfly and had control of it on the fateful drive to

meet Vernall. Lukkes admitted that he loaded the gun and handed it to Richard,

telling him to “[u]se the gun to scare him so I can get the truth out of him.” What

remained was a credibility determination which required the jury to weigh the

evidence that Lukkes gave the gun to Richard, not the existence of a ballistics

expert’s report. The circuit court appears to have reached the same conclusion

when it denied Richard’s motion for mistrial and stated that “there are other issues

upon which this jury is being asked to focus[.]”

[¶38.]         And in the context of the entire trial, Richard used a variety of means

to develop his defense theory that had nothing to do with the shell casings found in

the apartment. For instance, Richard elicited testimony from witnesses to support

the inference that Lukkes was devoted to Snowfly and would act to assist or

intervene on her behalf or for one of her friends. Richard was also able to impeach

Clint’s credibility by eliciting Clint’s admission that he was under the influence of

alcohol and drugs when Vernall was shot and that his drug use would sometimes

affect his ability to remember things. And Barnett testified that after the shooting,

she heard Lukkes say that “we drop bodies and we’ll drop bodies again.” 12

12.      In her initial interview with law enforcement officers, Barnett reportedly told
         officers that she had heard Lukkes say, “I drop bodies and I’ll drop bodies
         again.” (Emphasis added). Defense counsel identified this discrepancy
         during his cross-examination of Barnett.

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[¶39.]       Still too, even if the jury determined Richard did not actually shoot

Vernall, the State asserts that it could have, nevertheless, convicted him of murder

under an aider and abettor theory. Richard claims that this argument was not

made at trial and cannot be made now, but this argument overlooks the state of the

record. The jury was instructed, without objection, that it could convict Richard of

murder if it concluded someone else was the shooter so long as Richard aided and

abetted the commission of the crime with the intent to do so. In fact, the jury

seemingly considered the aider and abettor instruction specifically. During its

deliberation, the jury sent a note to the circuit court in which it referenced the aider

and abettor instruction and asked if “the defendant’s presence and participation

count as the cause[,]” presumably of death, listed as an element in the second-

degree murder instruction. The jury was not required to identify Richard as a

principal or an aider and abettor on its general verdict form.

[¶40.]       Finally, Richard’s argument that “counsel lost all credibility with the

jury” overstates the impact of his opening statement as much as the forensic

report’s significance. Defense counsel was able to elicit an explanation about the

different shell casings through its cross-examination of Sergeant Young, and

neither party returned to the topic of the inconsistency over the course of the four-

day trial.

[¶41.]       In the end, the jury determined the relative weight for all of the

evidence, passed on the State’s request to convict Richard of first-degree murder,

and, instead, convicted him of second-degree murder. In our view, the absence of

the forensic report did not impact Richard’s ability to present his defense theory

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that Lukkes was the shooter. Therefore, Richard was not prejudiced as a result of

the State’s failure to disclose the inculpatory forensic report, and the circuit court

did not abuse its discretion in denying Richard’s motion for mistrial.

                                     Conclusion

[¶42.]       Because we conclude the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in

denying Richard’s motion in limine or in denying his motion for mistrial, we affirm.

[¶43.]       JENSEN, Chief Justice, and KERN, DEVANEY, and MYREN,

Justices, concur.

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