State v. Tuttle

650 N.W.2d 20 (2002)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D had been drinking and decided with a friend, Emehezian, to drive to D's grandmother's mobile home. After they arrived D and Emehezian got into an argument. A shoving match ensued. Various residents of the trailer court came out to watch. One of them succeeded in separating the two, whereupon Emehezian got into his car and sped away. D chased him on foot as far as the entrance and then walked back to his grandmother's home. Police arrived to investigate. D's grandmother approached the officers and requested that they eject some people she did not want in her home. The officers found Terrance Yellow Earrings, leaning against the kitchen sink, bleeding profusely. There was a recently washed paring knife in the sink. In addition to Yellow Earrings and D's grandmother, the officers found three other people in the trailer: D's mother (the girlfriend of Yellow Earrings), and D's two uncles. D was outside the trailer, leaning up against a vehicle when the officers arrived. After Yellow Earrings received first aid from the officers, he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. A medical examination revealed that he had sustained eleven stab wounds. No one was talking so the police took them all, as well as D, in for questioning. D admitted to having stabbed Yellow Earrings three times. D was charged with aggravated assault. D moved to suppress statements he made during his interrogation on the grounds that (a) he did not waive his Miranda rights, and (b) his admissions were involuntary. D had been consuming alcoholic beverages. The circuit court denied his motion. Yellow Earrings was the only eyewitness who testified on the identity of his assailant. No one else present during the assault appeared as witnesses. During the course of his testimony, it emerged that Yellow Earrings was, at the time of trial, incarcerated on a charge of tampering with a witness involved in this case. The paring knife was admitted into evidence, over defense objection. The jury found D guilty. The court sentenced him to six years in the penitentiary, noting that this relatively light punishment was appropriate to Tuttle's age (eighteen) and his prospects of rehabilitation. D moved for a new trial, arguing that fresh evidence had arisen, namely that D's mother, Carol, had assaulted Yellow Earrings and had inflicted stab wounds once before and once after the assault here in question. That motion was denied. D appealed.