STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. MAURICE WALKER, SR., Defendant-Appellant.
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 7-472 / 06-1005
Filed July 25, 2007
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
MAURICE WALKER, SR.,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, James E. Kelley,
Judge.
Defendant appeals his convictions following a jury trial for two counts of
first-degree murder. AFFIRMED.
Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and James G. Tomka, Assistant
Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Jean C. Pettinger, and James Kivi,
Assistant Attorneys General, and Michael L. Wolf, County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Mahan, P.J., and Eisenhauer and Baker, JJ.
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MAHAN, P.J.
A jury convicted defendant Maurice Walker Sr. of two counts of murder in
the first degree for the deaths of his former wife and her boyfriend. Maurice
appeals, claiming there was insufficient evidence to support the convictions. We
affirm.
I. Backgrounds Facts and Prior Proceedings
At approximately 11:15 p.m. on April 12, 2005, Everett Koehler heard a
scream and a series of popping sounds while he watched television in his
apartment in Clinton, Iowa.
The bodies of Renee Walker and her live-in
boyfriend, Steven Kersey, were found the next day in one of the neighboring
apartments. Renee’s former husband, Maurice, was charged with two counts of
first-degree murder.
At trial police investigators described a violent murder scene. Both Renee
and Steven were shot multiple times at close range just inside the door of their
apartment. Bags of groceries from their recent trip to the store lay strewn across
the floor. A bloody ski mask was left on top of a kitchen drawer. Renee’s blood
was on the mask, and Maurice’s DNA was present around the mouth of the
mask.
Based on an analysis of bullet fragments, investigators concluded a HiPoint .380 automatic pistol delivered the fatal gunshots.
While the gun was
never recovered, the State presented evidence that Maurice had previously
owned a Hi-Point .380 automatic pistol. Even though he had filled out paperwork
transferring ownership of the gun to Renee, he still had the box for the gun, and
police discovered a discharged bullet casing in the basement of his home. A
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ballistics examination found that the discharged bullet casing from his basement
matched those found at the murder scene: the bullets had all been fired from the
same gun.
The State also set forth contradicting statements made by Maurice shortly
after the murders. The State presented evidence that Maurice purchased a ticket
at a bus station in Chicago approximately twenty-five hours after the murders.
Maurice did not immediately board the bus; instead, he left the station. Two
hours later someone discovered his burning van 1 on the side of the road. Shortly
thereafter, Maurice returned to the bus station and rode a bus to Davenport.
When he arrived in Davenport, Maurice told a friend that his van had caught on
fire. However, later that same day, he told a police officer investigating that he
had left his van in Chicago with a mechanic.
Prosecutors developed multiple motives for the murders. First, Maurice
was the beneficiary of a million-dollar insurance policy 2 on Renee’s life. One
month prior to the murder, he sent the insurance payment via overnight mail.
Shortly thereafter, someone called to make sure the payment was received and
then inquired as to how long the policy would be in effect. Second, Maurice and
Renee’s twenty-year-old daughter testified that Maurice did not like Steven
Kersey. She also testified that Maurice was controlling and physically abusive
towards Renee. Six months prior to the murder she witnessed Maurice striking
Renee.
1
A forensic scientist testified that an accelerant, gasoline, was found on the burnt van.
Maurice initially told police the value of the insurance policy was only $100,000, not
$1 million.
2
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Maurice relied on an alibi defense at trial. In support of this defense, one
witness testified that he drove with Maurice to Chicago on the day of the murder.
The State pointed out that this witness was not with Maurice at the time of the
murder. The witness last saw Maurice in the afternoon, more than six hours
before shots were fired at Renee’s apartment.
At the conclusion of the evidence, Maurice moved for judgment of
acquittal on all charges.
The court denied this motion, and the jury found
Maurice guilty of both counts of first-degree murder. On appeal, Maurice claims
there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict.
II. Standard of Review
Our review of a sufficiency-of-the-evidence claim is for errors at law. State
v. Leckington, 713 N.W.2d 218, 221 (Iowa 2006). The standards governing our
review of claims of insufficient evidence are well established:
In a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge we review all the
evidence to determine whether a rational trier of fact could have
found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We view
the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and draw all
fair and reasonable inferences from all the evidence. We do not
uphold a verdict on evidence that merely raises suspicion,
speculation, or conjecture regarding guilt.
State v. Brown, 569 N.W.2d 113, 115 (Iowa 1997) (citations omitted). Direct and
circumstantial evidence are equally probative. Iowa R. App. P. 6.14(6)(p). We
consider “the evidence supporting not just guilt, but innocence, too.” State v.
Smitherman, ____ N.W.2d ____, ____ (Iowa 2007).
III. Merits
Maurice contends the State failed to produce sufficient evidence that he
was the person who shot Steven Kersey and Rene Walker, arguing the evidence
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“is insufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt due to the fact that all
of the testimony establishes that Maurice Walker was not present when the
murders occurred.”
Specifically, he claims the State failed to rebut his alibi
defense.
Contrary to Maurice’s claims, we find the record contains substantial
evidence to disprove his alibi defense. On the morning of the murder, Maurice
drove to Chicago with an acquaintance from his church. Maurice dropped off this
acquaintance and went to a hotel by himself. Surveillance videos at the hotel
show that Maurice checked into the hotel at approximately 4:15 p.m. He left the
hotel approximately forty minutes later.
He did not return to the hotel until
approximately 2:30 a.m. The travel time between the hotel and Clinton, Iowa, is
roughly two and one-half hours. Based on this evidence, it is clear that Maurice
had the ability to drive to Renee’s apartment in Clinton before Everett Koehler
heard the scream and popping noises at 11:15 p.m. Likewise, Maurice did not
return to his Chicago hotel room until three hours and fifteen minutes after
Everett Koehler heard the suspicious noises. In total, neither his alibi defense
nor the surveillance videos from his hotel prove that he could not have been in
Clinton at the time of the murders.
Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the State, we conclude
substantial evidence supports the first-degree murder convictions.
First,
Maurice’s DNA was present on a bloody ski mask found at the scene of the
crime. Second, he previously owned the same type of gun used to commit the
murders. A discharged bullet casing found at his home matched those found at
the scene of the murder. Finally, there were plausible motives for the murders—
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he was the beneficiary of Renee’s substantial insurance policy, he was physically
abusive towards Renee, and he disliked Steven Kersey. In total, we find this
evidence sufficient to support the jury’s conclusion that Maurice murdered both
Renee and Steven. Accordingly, we find the district court did not err in denying
Maurice’s motion for judgment of acquittal.
AFFIRMED.
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