Com. v. Shifflett

• Decision Date: 08 January 1999
• Docket Number: Record No. 980187,Record No. 980188.
• Citation: 257 Va. 34,510 S.E.2d 232
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Virginia v. Vernon Leroy SHIFFLETT. Commonwealth of Virginia v. Emmitt Laron Taylor.

510 S.E.2d 232

257 Va. 34

COMMONWEALTH of Virginia v. Vernon Leroy SHIFFLETT.

Commonwealth of Virginia v. Emmitt Laron Taylor.

Record Nos. 980187, 980188.

Supreme Court of Virginia.

January 8, 1999.

Richard B. Smith, Assistant Attorney General (Mark L. Earley, Attorney General, on briefs), for appellant.

Scott Goodman, Charlottesville, for appellee (Record No. 980187).

Robert J. Hill, Fairfax, for appellee (Record No. 980188).

Present: All the Justices.

COMPTON, Justice.

These two criminal appeals, involving findings of guilty in noncapital felony prosecutions, present a common issue: Did the Court of Appeals of Virginia err in reversing the respective circuit courts, which limited evidence the defendants sought to introduce during the sentencing proceedings conducted as part of the bifurcated jury trials?

Code § 19.2-295.1 sets forth the procedure in such cases. It provides, in part, that after the prosecution has had the opportunity to present evidence of the defendant's prior convictions, "the defendant may introduce relevant, admissible evidence related to punishment." We are concerned here with the meaning of the statutory term "relevant."

At the outset, we issue a caveat. We shall adhere strictly to the content of the records made in the respective trial courts, a practice not followed in either of these cases by the Court of Appeals, as we shall demonstrate.

In one case, appellee Vernon Leroy Shifflett was found guilty by a jury in the Circuit Court of Albemarle County of operating a motor vehicle on a public highway in January 1995 after having been adjudicated an habitual offender, it being a second or subsequent offense.

Prior to commencement of the sentencing proceeding, the trial court and counsel discussed "what's relevant" with reference to punishment. The attorney for the defendant represented to the court, "I do intend to put on mitigating testimony about his employment, his family responsibilities."

Responding, the court mentioned "factors" that may be relevant to punishment, "range of punishment established by legislature, injury to the victim, use of weapon, extent of offender's participation, the offense, offender's motive in committing the offense, prior record and rehabilitative efforts, drug and alcohol use, age, health and education." The prosecutor then stated, "Why he did it ... is relevant.... But not his job responsibilities and his family responsibilities and the fact that impliedly the common law wife and the children are going to have to make it without him for a while. That has no relevance to it." Defense counsel responded, "I think it does, I think it does."

The trial judge then ruled he would limit the defendant's evidence to the applicable factors previously mentioned and said, "one of them isn't how the family is affected by it." The prosecutor and the court then agreed with defense counsel that "defendant's motive for committing the offense" was admissible. Defendant's girlfriend, and mother of his two small children, claimed she had become ill while driving defendant home from work, necessitating defendant becoming the operator of the vehicle and resulting in his arrest.

Continuing, defense counsel argued to the trial court that he wished to present evidence of the girlfriend's participation in the offense "and what happened that day and the mitigating factor that led him to be behind the wheel [and] testimony from her about his support of the children, his income — the income that the family has that he brings in and support for her position that she did have those spells and the doctor is here now to testify on the treatment that she's had, to verify what she says and that goes to why he took the wheel, the offender's motive for committing the offense." Responding, the court stated that evidence of defendant's "motive to commit the offense" would be admissible.

The prosecutor then stated he did not object to testimony from the girlfriend's physician but said, "I do object to her getting on the stand and saying I only make so much money and I have to take care of the kids and all those other things." Defense counsel answered, "I think that should come in." The court ruled, "And that's what I'm ruling is not coming in."

During presentation of the evidence during the sentencing phase, the court adhered to its prior rulings that were based on defendant's arguments presented to the court. The girlfriend testified she became dizzy, could no longer operate the vehicle safely, and was forced to allow the defendant to drive. The girlfriend's physician testified he had been treating her for vertigo. The defendant's employer, a painter, testified defendant worked for him but the trial court refused to allow testimony about "defendant's present employment," the trial judge stating he was being consistent with his prior ruling.

After the jury retired to deliberate punishment, defense counsel stated to the court that "with regard to Mr. Leroy Shifflett's employment, Your Honor, that was certainly relevant in terms of where he worked, how he got back and forth to work, what he made in his employment, credentials and how good a worker he was. That's certainly all very relevant." The court responded that "employment" was not among the "factors" discussed earlier that was relevant to punishment.

The jury fixed defendant's punishment to confinement in the penitentiary for three years. After the jury was discharged and before the court sentenced defendant, he presented testimony of his employer. He stated that he had employed defendant for four months, that defendant was an "excellent" worker, that he (the employer) "need[s]" defendant because he had "a lot of... work lined up in the future," and that defendant had been able to find persons to drive him to work. The court sentenced defendant in accordance with the verdict in a September 1995 judgment order.

Upon appeal, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals, one judge dissenting, affirmed the conviction and sentence. Shifflett v. Commonwealth, 24 Va.App. 538, 484 S.E.2d 134 (1997). The court stated that defendant contended on appeal "the trial court erred in preventing him from eliciting testimony at the sentencing phase of his trial concerning the impact of his incarceration upon his family and his employment." Id. at 540, 484 S.E.2d at 135 (emphasis added). The court held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to allow defendant "to elicit testimony from his girlfriend and employer concerning the financial impact his incarceration would have on his family and employer." Id. at 543, 484 S.E.2d at 136. That testimony, the court said, was "not relevant evidence related to punishment for consideration by the jury under Virginia law." Id., 484 S.E.2d at 137.

Upon rehearing en banc, the Court of Appeals, in a 6-3 decision, reversed the case and remanded it for a new sentencing proceeding. Shifflett v. Commonwealth, 26 Va. App. 254, 261, 494 S.E.2d 163, 167 (1997). The court stated that the "employer's testimony regarding Shifflett's success at work and his efforts to maintain a commuting schedule that obviated his need to drive reflects on Shifflett's `character and propensities,' "which are relevant to sentencing. Id. at 260, 494 S.E.2d at 166. The court further stated that the girlfriend's testimony "was not offered merely to prove the family's apparent need for his income. Her testimony would have proved that Shifflett was a responsible father who worked earnestly to provide for his children. Certainly, evidence that a defendant has contributed positively to his family situation is a relevant circumstance." Id. at 261, 494 S.E.2d at 166. We awarded the Commonwealth this appeal from that judgment of the Court of Appeals.

In the other case, appellee Emmitt Laron Taylor was found guilty by a jury in the Circuit Court of Arlington County of conspiring to distribute five or more pounds of marijuana, possessing with the intent to distribute the same amount of the drug, and transporting the same amount of the drug into Virginia with the intent to sell or distribute it. The defendant was arrested on October 10, 1995 on the premises of Washington National Airport.

During the sentencing proceeding, the Commonwealth presented evidence that defendant, 22 years of age at the time of the February 1996 trial, had been convicted in California in 1990 of armed robbery and in 1994 of a violation of California's narcotics laws.

Following presentation of this evidence, the defendant took the witness stand and was asked by his attorney to "tell the jury about your family." After defendant stated he had an older brother, an older sister, and a younger brother, and that the younger brother had been "killed" because "they had a grudge against him," the trial court sustained the prosecutor's objection to the testimony. A discussion followed among the court and counsel about what evidence was relevant to punishment under the applicable statute. Defense counsel argued that "who Emmitt Taylor is is certainly a relevant issue." Responding to the court's question, "What do you propose to have him testify to," defense counsel responded, "About his life." The court interjected, "Life story?" and counsel responded, "Yes."

The court ruled that evidence "just relating the whole story" was inadmissible and not relevant to sentencing. After defense counsel said, "Note my objection, Your Honor," the court stated: "Now, the statute that permits relevant and admissible evidence from the Defendant on the sentencing phase of the case is limited to that, and I don't want to limit you anymore than that; but it does not permit just a complete open door telling of everything." Defense counsel responded, "All right, Your Honor."

The sentencing phase continued with the defendant testifying that he was 17 years of age at the time of the armed robbery conviction and that he pled guilty to the narcotics charge because he was told it ...