Man kicked into unconsciousness, stabbed 15 times in the chest, and then dumped in a river near Morton for showing up at the wrong party.

2007-M-042          State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Keith Hapana Crow, Appellant.

THE CRIME:  On September 23, 2004, Crow hosted a party at the casino near Morton and at a home nearby on the reservation.  Young adults and teens consumed alcohol and marijuana.  Robert Berry, aged 50, arrived at the party and a fight ensued.  Testimony indicated that Crow kicked Berry into unconsciousness.  Berry was robbed of his wallet, the keys to his vehicle, and some jewelry.

Crow and others loaded the unconscious Berry into Berry's vehicle and drove around the reservation, debating whether to drop Berry and his car or to kill him and burn the vehicle.  They chose the latter option.

After Crow stabbed Berry 15 times in the chest and dumped his body in the Minnesota River and burned his Tahoe, he turned around and met two police squad cars that had just arrived.

THE VERDICT:  A Redwood County jury orally announced that it had found Crow guilty of lesser offenses of aiding and abetting first-degree felony murder while committing a kidnapping and aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder.

When the jury responded to the judge’s inquiry that they had not signed verdict forms on all the charges, he instructed them to return to the jury room and to sign the forms.

When they returned, they provided signed forms that found Crow guilty of first-degree felony murder in the course of a kidnapping and not guilty of the aiding and abetting charges and a lesser included offense.  The trial judge sentenced to the mandatory life sentence.

THIS DIRECT APPEAL:  The Supreme Court rejected this direct appeal on several grounds and upheld both the conviction and sentence of Crow.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY:  Crow first argued that because the jury had orally declared him innocent on the murder charge and then later convicted him when they signed the verdict forms, his conviction and sentence were unconstitutional under the “double jeopardy” protections of the U.S. Constitution.

The Supreme Court held that the jury’s oral verdict was not completed until all the jurors had returned to the jury room and signed the mandated verdict form to prove that they had reached a unanimous verdict on the first-degree murder charge.

“The record here establishes that the district court sent the jury back to the jury room before polling ever took place.  The verdicts were not final until the jury completed and returned all verdict forms, the verdicts were read in open court, and the jury polled.  There was no implied acquittal, and Crow’s conviction was not barred by double jeopardy.”

EXPERT TESTIMONY:  Second, Crow appealed the trial court’s admission of the testimony of a forensic pathologist who testified that the evidence could not show whether Crow was the only person who had stabbed Berry.

The Supreme Court held that Crow’s attorney had effectively cross=examined the pathologist and had presented his own expert witness to claim that there could have been additional stabbers, but the jury had nevertheless convicted Crow with the weight of the evidence.

SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE:  Third, Crow appealed that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a guilty verdict.  The Supreme Court disagreed.

Berry’s blood was found on Crow’s clothing and boots which he had abandoned in the darkness near the burning Tahoe before being apprehended at the scene.  Berry’s blood was found at the home where Crow had kicked Berry into unconsciousness. Witnesses testified that Crow had kicked Berry into unconsciousness, had instructed men to wrap him in blankets and carry him to the car, had led the discussion about whether to release Berry or kill him and dump him in the river, had instructed men to carry Berry to the river’s edge, had set the Tahoe ablaze, had instructed others to clean up evidence at the house, and had tried to tamper with the testimony of a witness.  While police were investigating the crime before charging Crow, he dyed his hair blond and fled to Minneapolis, Bemidji. And Seattle, Washington before being arrested in Billings, Montana.  The Supreme Court held that the evidence was sufficient to justify the guilty verdict.

Russell Anderson (Page, Paul Anderson, Hanson, Meyer, Barry Anderson, and Gildea)

DATE OF DECISION:  April 19, 2007

RECORD NUMBER:  2007-052

FULL OPINION:  A06-229

DESCRIPTION: [MURDER]  [KIDNAPPING]