Allen v. State
| Decision Date | 26 November 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 16, 17, Sept. Term, 2014,16, 17, Sept. Term, 2014 |
| Citation | 440 Md. 643,103 A.3d 700 |
| Parties | Traimne Martinez ALLEN v. STATE of Maryland. Howard Bay Diggs v. State of Maryland. |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
Nancy S. Forster (Kadish, Forster and Fastovsky, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Petitioner in No. 16, Sept. Term, 2014.
Peter F. Rose, Assistant Public Defender (Paul B. DeWolfe, Public Defender of Maryland, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Petitioner in No. 17, Sept. Term, 2014.
Brenda Gruss, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Douglas F. Gansler, Atty. Gen. of Maryland, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Respondent.
Argued before: BARBERA, C.J., HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, GREENE, ADKINS, WATTS and ALAN M. WILNER (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.
In this case, we address whether a criminal defendant may introduce at trial evidence of a DNA “match” to prove the identity of another individual without first establishing additional confirmatory testing pursuant to Md.Code (2003, 2011 Repl.Vol., 2014 Supp.), § 2–510 of the Public Safety Article (“PS”). PS § 2–510 provides that “[a] match obtained between an evidence sample and a data base entry may be used only as probable cause and is not admissible at trial unless confirmed by additional testing.” Based on the plain language of the statute, we answer the question posed in the negative. Because of the common issues of law and fact, we have consolidated two criminal cases involving co-defendants for the purpose of this opinion.1
Following a seven-day jury trial in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Petitioners, Traimne Martinez Allen (“Allen”) and Howard Bay Diggs (“Diggs”), were convicted of attempted first degree murder, first degree burglary, robbery with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of first degree assault, and two counts of using a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, stemming from a home invasion and robbery that occurred on the night of June 23, 2009.2 This incident involved the following cast of characters: Allen, Diggs, and Alex “Gutta” Harris (the perpetrators); Sentayehu Negussie and Jeremy Gordon (the victims); and Lazoya “Suave” King and Shavon Jackson (the girlfriends). The relevant facts adduced at trial were as follows:3
At the time of the incident, Jackson, King, Gordon, and Negussie had known each other for about one year. For much of that time, Jackson was involved in a romantic relationship with Gordon, and King was involved in a romantic relationship with Negussie. Gordon and Negussie shared an apartment, and all four spent time there. At some point prior to the June 23, 2009 incident, both romantic relationships ended poorly. Jackson thereafter began dating Harris, and King began dating Diggs.
During the day on June 23, 2009, Jackson and Harris discussed “robbing somebody” for “money or drugs.” Jackson and King nominated Gordon and Negussie as potential targets, because those two were known to keep a supply of drugs and cash at their apartment. Jackson, King, Diggs, and Harris met later that day at Jackson's apartment. There, they devised and rehearsed a plan whereby the women would invite themselves to “hang out” at Gordon and Negussie's apartment and, once there, opened the door so that Diggs and Harris could access the apartment to commit the robbery. The group “did a little act out” of the plan: Diggs and Harris would barge into the apartment, order the occupants to the floor at gunpoint, tie up Gordon and Negussie, throw a few punches and kicks for good measure, and then search the apartment for the intended loot. King called Negussie, who agreed to pick them up later that evening at a nearby Metro station.
At approximately 9:00 p.m. that evening, Allen joined the group. Driving a green Buick, Allen picked up Jackson, King, Diggs, Harris, and Chantel Fletcher, Jackson's cousin, who had arrived sometime that afternoon. The group drove to the area surrounding Gordon and Negussie's apartment, apparently to conduct reconnaissance prior to the planned attack. Allen then dropped off Jackson, King, and Fletcher at the Metro station to await Gordon and Negussie. Fifteen minutes or so later, Gordon and Negussie arrived by car at the Metro station and picked up all three women. They proceeded to drive around, procured some drugs, and used the drugs while in the vehicle. Meanwhile, Jackson communicated with Harris about their progress via text messages. After an hour or two, Gordon, Negussie, and the women went to Gordon and Negussie's apartment. Jackson was the last to enter and left the apartment door unlocked. She then alerted Harris that they had arrived.
Shortly thereafter, Harris, Diggs, and Allen, wearing bandanas over their faces, barged through the door into Gordon and Negussie's apartment. Diggs was waving a handgun and ordered everyone to “get down.” Diggs and Harris then bound Gordon's and Negussie's hands behind their backs using duct tape, and kicked and punched them while on the floor. Meanwhile, Allen, wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball hat, was running in and out of bedrooms searching for and taking any items of value. Diggs apparently “pistol whipped” Gordon, who resisted, and both Gordon and Negussie were stabbed in the arm with a knife. Once the victims were restrained, Harris, Diggs, and Allen proceeded to collect various items in the apartment. The women fled the apartment at some point during the robbery. Gordon managed to escape from his duct tape binding and ran towards the sliding glass backdoor of the apartment. Shots were fired, shattering the glass door. Gordon ran through the shattered glass and was hit by a bullet in his lower back.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone involved in the robbery scheme, plain clothes officers of the Montgomery County police department were present in the area as part of an undercover investigation regarding a series of recent automobile thefts. Prior to the robbery at the apartment, two officers observed the green Buick parked on a side street and Harris, Diggs, and Allen standing behind it. Subsequently, several officers followed Harris, Diggs, and Allen, in the green Buick, to a nearby 7–Eleven convenience store. The men entered the 7–Eleven store, where they continued to be observed by officers in the vicinity.4 While they were inside, another officer observed the contents of the Buick, which included a backpack, one black and one red bandana, two pairs of sneakers, and one pair of white gloves. The officers observed the Buick return to the side street but park in a different location than it had been previously.
Another officer, Sergeant Wyne, was posted near Gordon and Negussie's apartment. He observed a black Hyundai arrive at the apartment complex, and saw Gordon and the three women exit the Hyundai and enter the apartment. Five to ten minutes later, Sergeant Wyne observed the green Buick race through the apartment parking lot and go “around the corner,” where another officer saw the Buick park and three men, “hoodies up,” exit the Buick and “jog over” to and enter the apartment building. One of the men was wearing a backpack. Shortly thereafter, the officers saw three women “scurrying” away from the apartment building and heard two rounds of gunshots.
Harris, Diggs, and Allen chased Gordon out of the apartment, but apparently gave up their pursuit, and Gordon was met by Sergeant Wyne, who had approached the apartment after hearing the gunfire. Noticing that Gordon was bleeding profusely from his mid-section, Sergeant Wyne called for medical assistance. Recognizing Gordon as one of the individuals who had walked into the apartment from the Hyundai, Sergeant Wyne also issued a radio broadcast to look out for the three women. Additional officers arrived on the scene, and, upon entering the apartment, found Negussie bound and bleeding on the floor. Meanwhile, Harris, Diggs, and Allen ran back to the Buick, but fled when additional officers arrived. An officer apprehended Harris, but neither Diggs nor Allen were apprehended at that time. The three women had walked to the nearby 7–Eleven, where they were also arrested.
In completing their investigation of the June 23–24, 2009 incident, officers recovered various items from the apartment, the Buick, and the surrounding area. Of the numerous items collected by the police, DNA samples were taken from five of the items: two black bandanas (one found on a sidewalk and one found in the apartment stairwell), a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball hat, a black t-shirt, and an orange juice bottle. The Montgomery County Crime Laboratory analyzed the DNA samples and compared them to samples taken from the suspects and the victims. When there was no match, the laboratory uploaded the resulting DNA profiles to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (“FBI”) Combined DNA Index System (“CODIS”).5 The baseball hat produced a mixture of DNA profiles, the major contributor of which was determined to be Allen. In addition, two samples, one taken from one bloodied black bandana and one from the orange juice bottle, yielded DNA profiles that “matched” DNA records in CODIS associated with individuals other than any of the participants in the June 23, 2009 incident. Specifically, a DNA sample taken from the bloodied black bandana produced a “match” to a DNA profile of an individual named Richard Debreau, which had been previously uploaded to CODIS by the Montgomery County Crime Laboratory. In addition, a sample taken from the orange juice bottle produced a “match” to a DNA profile of an individual named Mohamed Bangora, which had been previously uploaded to CODIS by the Maryland State Police.
During a pre-trial motions hearing, Allen's counsel proffered to the court that Richard Debreau was a known gang member who had recently pled guilty to a “nearly identical type of robbery” as in the present case. The defense sought to have the other DNA samples taken from the crime scene compared to Debreau's DNA,...
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