2007-M-063                State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Dirk Lionel Goelz, Appellant.

MAJORITY:  A Renville County jury found appellant Dirk Lionel Goelz guilty of first-degree domestic abuse murder and first-degree manslaughter (heat-of-passion) for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Kerri Robinson.  The Court upheld the convictions.

First, the Court held that Evidence of an order for protection was inadmissible to corroborate domestic abuse victim’s testimony about incidents underlying her petition for the order in establishing a past pattern of domestic abuse, where order contained none of the victim’s allegations, appellant did not admit allegations of abuse, and the order itself indicated only that appellant had not objected to the order but agreed to its enforcement.

Second, the Court held that error in admitting evidence of an order for protection was harmless where sufficient evidence of domestic abuse was presented that no reasonable probability existed that the verdict would have been significantly affected had the inadmissible evidence been excluded.

Third, the Court held that appellant failed to establish that the admission of faked suicide evidence fell within the plain error exception to the invited error doctrine.

Fourth, the Court held that appellant failed to meet the heavy burden for a reviewing court to overturn a district court’s refusal to dismiss an indictment where sufficient admissible evidence was presented to the grand jury to support its probable cause determination that appellant engaged in a past pattern of domestic abuse and instructions given to the jury were not so misleading or deficient that the integrity of the grand jury process was compromised.

CONCUR: Justices Russell Anderson, Page and Gildea opined:  “I concur in the affirmance of Goelz’s conviction but write separately because I believe the OFP was admissible to impeach Goelz’s claims of self-defense and peaceful character and to repair the credibility of the impeached State witness.  At trial, Goelz’s former spouse testified about incidents of domestic abuse that occurred during their marriage.”

                    Meyer Paul Anderson, Hanson, and Barry Anderson)

Concur:  Russell Anderson, Page and Gildea

DATE OF DECISION:  December 27, 2007

RECORD NUMBER:  2007-169

FULL OPINION: 

DESCRIPTION:  [MURDER] 

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