Bennett v. Com.
| Decision Date | 18 November 1988 |
| Docket Number | 880389,Nos. 880362,s. 880362 |
| Citation | 374 S.E.2d 303,236 Va. 448 |
| Court | Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | Ronald Bernard BENNETT v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia. Record |
Robert J. Rice (Fred A. Talbot, Mark S. Brennan, Bremner, Baber & Janus, Richmond, on brief), for appellant.
Richard B. Smith, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Mary Sue Terry, Atty. Gen., on brief), for appellee.
Present: CARRICO, C.J., POFF, COMPTON, STEPHENSON, RUSSELL and THOMAS, JJ., and GORDON, Retired Justice.
Ronald Bernard Bennett was convicted, in a jury trial, of the capital murder of Anne Keller Vaden during the commission of robbery while armed with a deadly weapon, Code § 18.2-31(d), of robbery, Code § 18.2-58, and of breaking and entering the victim's dwelling place at night with the intent to commit larceny, Code § 18.2-91. He was sentenced to life in prison for the robbery and ten years in prison for the breaking and entering. Following a separate sentencing hearing, with regard to the capital murder conviction, the jury fixed his sentence at death based on the vileness of the crime. Code § 19.2-264.4(C).
We have consolidated Bennett's appeal of his capital murder conviction with the automatic review of his death sentence required by Code § 17-110.1. In addition, by order dated April 11, 1988, we certified Bennett's appeal of his robbery and breaking and entering convictions from the Court of Appeals, Code § 17-116.06, and have given the entire matter priority on our docket, Code § 17-110.2.
The victim was murdered on November 16, 1985, at her apartment in Chesterfield County. Anne's parents spoke to her on the night of November 15, because all three of them were planning to leave on a trip early the next morning. Anne agreed to meet her parents at their house in time to depart by 5:30 a.m.
Anne's father knew she was a late sleeper so he called her at 4:50 a.m. the morning of November 16. When she answered the phone her voice was weak. She said "Daddy are you coming to get me." He reminded her that she was supposed to be at his house at 5:30. She replied "Oh, that's right." When he hung up the phone Anne's father felt something was wrong; he asked his wife to call again. She called at 5:00 a.m. This time the victim said: "Mother, I'll be all right."
Anne's father called again at 5:20 a.m. but got no answer. He thought she might have left to come to his house but decided to drive to her apartment, which was only eight miles away. When he got there, Anne's car was still there, but she did not respond to his pounding at the door.
Mr. Keller returned home and had his wife call the apartment complex to have someone meet him with a key. When Mr. Keller returned to the apartment he touched the door and this time the door flew open.
He found his daughter's nude body at the foot of the bed. Her body was still warm. She was bound hand and foot with blue pantyhose material. The same blue material was around her neck. She was dead.
The medical examiner testified that Anne had been beaten over much of her body with a blunt object, most probably a liquor bottle found at the scene. She had sustained multiple blunt impact injuries to her head, face, and right hand. She had been stabbed four times: three times in the neck and once in the abdomen. She had been strangled. All of the injuries had been inflicted while she was alive. Each type injury was fatal. In the medical examiner's opinion it would take twenty to thirty minutes for the victim to have sustained all these injuries. The cause of death was determined to have been all the separate categories of injury. The medical examiner testified as follows: "I felt there was actually, in this case, three separate types of injuries which each could have caused her death."
The victim was Caucasian. The defendant is Black. An examination of hairs taken from her sheets and pillowcases identified hairs of Negroid origin. However, the hair fragments were such that no more specific identification could be made.
No unidentified fingerprints were found in the apartment. However, the clear imprint of a bloody, gloved left hand was found on one of the sheets. The evidence established that when Bennett worked as a maintenance man, he always wore cotton gloves.
For more than a year, the Chesterfield police had no real leads concerning the crime. Then, in December 1986, the police received a telephone call from officials in California reporting that a woman named Mary Bennett had advised California authorities of a murder which had been committed in Virginia approximately a year earlier. Chesterfield police officers flew to California, interviewed Mary Bennett, and retrieved from her a custom-made diamond ring which, according to Mary, had belonged to the murder victim. Based on the information provided by Mary, the defendant was arrested in December 1986 and indicted in March 1987.
The evidence adduced at trial by the Commonwealth came in large part from Mary's testimony. Prior to and after Anne's murder, Bennett had worked as a maintenance man at Anne's apartment complex. On two occasions, Bennett had done work in Anne's apartment; once when she was home, another time when she was not. On the occasion when Anne was at home, she gave Bennett and his supervisor something to eat. As a maintenance man, Bennett had access to the apartment complex's "grand master key." This key gave Bennett access to every unit at the complex. Prior to the murder, Bennett had secretly made a copy of the grand master key.
On November 15, 1985, about 5:30 p.m., Bennett, his cousin, Kenneth Harris, and Mary went to the Church Hill section of Richmond to a "dope house" to purchase and use drugs. After his money ran out, Bennett said he was going to go get more money and left Mary and Ken at the dope house. He left between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. Mary and Ken waited until 1:00 a.m., but Bennett never returned.
Mary called Bennett's mother who picked up Mary and Ken and took them to the apartment shared by Mary and Bennett. Mary's keys were locked inside so Ken forced the door open to gain entry. Mary retrieved her car keys and she and Ken drove around until 3:00 a.m. looking for Bennett; they did not find him.
Bennett returned to the apartment about 7:00 a.m. on November 16. Ken opened the door. Bennett was covered with blood and carrying a brown airline-type carry-on suitcase. Blood was on Bennett's shirt, pants, and tennis shoes. He explained to Ken and Mary that he had gotten into a fight with some men in Church Hill. Mary did not believe him.
Bennett and Mary went into the bedroom. There she argued with him about his being out all night. He then told Mary that "he had just killed a girl at the Boulders Apartments." Later, he explained that he had to kill her because she could identify him. Bennett removed his bloody clothes and took a shower. Then he put the discarded clothes in a garbage bag and threw the bag in a dumpster behind his apartment.
That night, he took some rings from the brown flight bag and put them on the kitchen counter saying that he had taken them from the victim's apartment. One ring was a diamond ring with one large stone and eleven smaller stones. Another was an opal ring. The victim had worn these rings almost all the time. She was last seen wearing them at work about 3:00 p.m. on November 15. Mary kept the diamond ring. Bennett gave the opal ring to his brother who in turn gave it to his wife.
After the murder, Mary broke up with Bennett and ultimately moved to California. There, in December 1986, Mary showed the diamond ring to a friend, told the friend how she had gotten the ring, and made clear that she wanted to tell someone what had happened. Mary told authorities in California who called authorities in Virginia. These calls resulted in Bennett's arrest.
Bennett was arrested on December 17, 1986, at his mother's house. He was advised of his rights and taken to police headquarters where his arrest warrants were read to him. One warrant was for aggravated sexual assault. When this warrant was read to him, Bennett remarked as follows: "You ain't saying I raped that girl, are you." A search of Bennett's mother's house produced the brown flight bag taken from the victim's apartment.
Mary Allbee Bennett was the Commonwealth's key witness. Bennett's entire trial strategy was to prevent her from testifying. Indeed, defense counsel advised the trial court in an ex parte hearing that unless Mary could be prevented from testifying, Bennett had no defense.
In his effort to exclude Mary's testimony, Bennett relied upon Code § 19.2-271.2 which provides in pertinent part that "[i]n criminal cases ... neither [husband nor wife] shall be compelled, nor, without the consent of the other, allowed to be called as a witness against the other...." Bennett contended at trial that he and Mary were husband and wife. The trial court disagreed and allowed Mary to testify. Bennett contends the trial court erred in permitting Mary to testify. In our opinion, the trial court correctly decided this issue.
On October 14, 1987, the trial court held a hearing to determine whether Bennett and Mary were married and whether Code § 19.2-271.2 applied to Mary. Bennett contends it was error to permit Mary to testify at that threshold hearing.
In order to explain this argument fully, we must set forth additional facts. The trial had originally been scheduled for August 20, 1987. On August 15, 1987, defense counsel requested a continuance. They refused to state, in the presence of the Commonwealth's Attorney, their reasons for requesting the continuance.
The trial court permitted Bennett's counsel to state their reasons in an ex parte proceeding. There, they advised the court that Mary and Bennett had participated in a marriage ceremony on September 22, 1980, in California, but that previously, on November...
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