Bishop v. Com., 830119

• Decision Date: 09 March 1984
• Docket Number: No. 830119,830119
• Citation: 227 Va. 164,313 S.E.2d 390
• Parties: Tyrone Everette BISHOP v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia. Record
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court

Page 390

313 S.E.2d 390

227 Va. 164

Tyrone Everette BISHOP v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

Record No. 830119.

Supreme Court of Virginia.

March 9, 1984.

David E. Boone, Richmond (Boone & Warren, Richmond, on brief), for appellant.

Robert B. Condon, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Gerald L. Baliles, Atty. Gen., on brief), for appellee.

Before CARRICO, C.J., and COCHRAN, POFF, COMPTON, STEPHENSON, RUSSELL and THOMAS, JJ.

RUSSELL, Justice.

Tyrone Everette Bishop was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, robbery, and the use of a firearm in committing each offense. Sentenced to life imprisonment plus seven years, he appeals, challenging only the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions.

The evidence, which we view in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, was entirely circumstantial. The victim, Raymond A. Miller, was employed as a packer in a warehouse at the Defense General Supply Center at Bellwood, in Chesterfield County. He lived in northern Henrico County and commuted to work daily in his green Dodge. He was slightly retarded mentally and somewhat immature, but was open, friendly, and well-liked. He had no known enemies.

On Friday, May 15, 1981, Miller received his paycheck at about 7:00 a.m. at the warehouse. The check was for $487.71, an unusually large amount due to overtime he had worked. About 11:30 a.m., Miller took a lunch break and went to the office of a credit union, where he stood in line until his check was cashed. As he left, he showed his money to a union official whom he met in the hallway. This conduct was not unusual for Miller, who was thought by co-workers to be financially irresponsible. He was given to making irrational purchases and was often "broke" soon after payday. The union official saw the defendant, Bishop, standing near the door of the credit union when Miller emerged.

Bishop had been a co-worker in the warehouse, but had been absent from work for several months. He appeared at Bellwood, however, on May 15. He and Miller were on good terms. Bishop had no car and was dependent upon others for transportation. When the working day ended at 3:30 p.m. on May 15, Bishop left Bellwood with Miller as a passenger in Miller's green Dodge. They were the only occupants of the car. A co-worker saw them together in the car at a traffic light on the Jefferson Davis Highway, near the Dupont plant north of Bellwood, at about 3:40 p.m. Miller was headed north toward Richmond. The two men were not seen together thereafter. This was the last time any witness saw Miller alive. Miller had been renting a television set from a firm on Hull Street in Richmond. He was expected there that afternoon to make a weekly rental payment, but he never appeared.

On Tuesday, May 19, at about 3:30 a.m., a Henrico County police officer saw the green Dodge parked in an isolated area on Tuxedo Boulevard, east of Richmond, in Henrico County, near the entrance to a dump. He noticed nothing unusual and did not examine it. On the following morning, Wednesday, May 20, at 2:40 a.m., he saw it still there, approached it, and looked inside with a flashlight. Miller's body was lying on the floor with his head on the passenger side. Bloodstains were visible, and papers were strewn about on the front seat. All four doors were locked. There were no car keys, wallet, or money in the car or in Miller's clothing.

Miller had been killed by two shots from a .38 caliber handgun, fired from Miller's right side, at a distance of less than three feet. The fatal bullets were recovered. Both had been fired from the same handgun, but the weapon which fired them was never found. The time of death was stipulated to have been in the evening of Friday, May 15. The body bore no defensive wounds and there was no sign of a struggle.

John Lee, age 14, who lived on Tuxedo Boulevard, had come home from a part-time job on the evening of Friday, May 15. He saw a green Dodge parked on Tuxedo Boulevard about fifty feet away from him. He could not see anyone in the car, but saw a black male standing outside on the driver's side. He had earlier seen a brown car parked in the same area, and someone lying underneath, working on it. The brown car left while it was still daylight, and he first saw the Dodge there just after dark. The sun set at 8:11 p.m. that day.

Lee was unable to identify the man he had seen outside the green car. When shown an array of photographs of black males, which included a picture of Bishop, he was unable to identify Bishop. Nearly six months later, Lee was shown a lineup of men, which included Bishop, at Henrico County Police Headquarters. Lee identified another man as the person he had seen standing by the green car. A younger boy had been with Lee on the evening of May 15, but he was unable to identify anyone.

A fingerprint, which was identified as Bishop's, was recovered from the inside of the passenger door of Miller's car near the lock. A fingerprint found on a Sears' bill lying on the front seat was that of another person. A palm print was recovered from the outside surface of the driver's side of the car, near where John Lee had seen a man standing. It was not Bishop's.

Detective Ross Mise interviewed Bishop on August 14, after giving him Miranda warnings. Bishop told Mise that he had not been at Bellwood on May 15, but had spent the day at the house of a girlfriend, and that he had never been in Miller's car in his life. Bishop's mother's home was in Henrico County, slightly more than one mile from the place the car was found, but Bishop had been living elsewhere at the time and Mise had been unable to locate him for several months. Bishop persisted in his false alibi until trial, when he admitted that he had lied to Mise because he knew that rumors at Bellwood had connected him with the murder, and he was afraid.

Bishop testified that he...