State v. Robinson

934 P.2d 38 (1997)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

The victim, Crowley, was clearly the initial aggressor in this case. Crowley went to the Ottawa Police Department because he felt the police were not responding to two separate incidents in which his sons had been threatened by Jeremy Hendrickson and his friends. Crowley told the police that if they did not take care of the problem, then he would. Crowley went to Forest Park where he spotted Jeremy Hendrickson, Eddie Carter, Tony Surber, and D. Crowley did not know the four boys, but Hendrickson identified himself. Crowley approached Hendrickson, yelling at him to leave his sons alone. Crowley spit in Hendrickson's face. Then Surber made a comment and Crowley hit Surber twice in the face. Surber took a knife from D, which D had been using to clean his nails. Surber held up the knife, and Crowley returned to his truck and obtained a metal baseball bat. Crowley began to chase the boys with the bat. The boys spotted golf clubs hanging out of a window of a car in the park, and each boy grabbed a club. The boys began chasing Crowley and eventually surrounded him. The boys taunted Crowley by calling him names and swinging their clubs at him, although they did not actually hit him. Crowley was using the bat defensively, trying to avoid being struck with the golf clubs. The boys testified that they engaged in this 'fencing' in order to hold Crowley at bay until the police arrived. Patricia and William Taylor were driving through the park at the time of the altercation. Crowley asked the Taylors to 'give me a hand,' but the Taylors said they would get the police. The Taylors left the park to call the police. William Taylor testified the boys did not look like they were intending to harm Crowley when Taylor saw them. Victoria Bond drove her car through Forest Park. Scott Renyer, a passenger, saw the altercation and heard someone from the boys' group yell, 'I'll teach you to hit my brother again, mother fucker!' Crowley broke free from the boys, running towards Bond's moving vehicle. Crowley 'hollered' for help. Bond and Renyer had five children in the back seat of the car. They were worried about the children, so they did not stop to help Crowley. Nick Griffin, then 16 years old, testified that when Crowley ran towards Bond's car, the boys chased him, grabbed him, and prevented him from getting into Bond's moving vehicle. Surber, hit Crowley in the back with a golf club. Crowley then chased Surber, with the other three boys chasing Crowley. Surber tripped, and Crowley hit Surber twice with the bat. Griffin, a witness, testified that Hendrickson ran up to Crowley and struck Crowley twice in the back or in the ribs with a golf club. After Hendrickson hit him, Crowley turned away from Surber and D fatally struck Crowley in the head with his golf club. D testified that he could not remember if his eyes were open or shut when he hit Crowley, and he was trying to hit Crowley in the head. After D struck Crowley in the head, he let go of the club because it was stuck in Crowley's head. Crowley fell to the ground, and D ran home. Crowley died shortly thereafter in the emergency room, The club directly struck Crowley's head and was not deflected by his arm. The autopsy also showed numerous defensive wounds on Crowley's hands but did not show any bruising on his back or ribs. P charged D with depraved heart second-degree murder. The jury was instructed on depraved heart second-degree murder and on the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter. The jury convicted D of depraved heart second-degree murder. D appealed.