People v. Palmer

Trudie Palmer appeals from a conviction of second degree murder, following a jury trial. We affirm the judgment.

Police Officer Leo Plinski was dispatched by radio to appellant’s apartment. He had been dispatched in response to appellant’s telephone call reporting that someone had been shot.

Appellant’s husband, Michael Palmer, was lying across the left side of the bed; he appeared dead, and Officer Plinski could see a small wound in the left side of his skull behind the ear. Appellant, distraught and crying, repeatedly stated that her husband could not be dead.

Asking appellant what had happened, she replied only that her husband had been shot. When Officer Plinski asked if there were any guns in the house, appellant told him that there was a “shotgun” under the bed. Another officer on the scene reached under the bed and found an apparently new and unused .22 caliber rifle in a box. In the nightstand on appellant’s side of the bed the officer also found a .22 caliber revolver partially wrapped in plastic. The revolver contained four live rounds and two empty shell casings which bore the same manufacturer’s markings as the five cartridges. Although the pistol was…