Dawson v. State
| Decision Date | 13 March 1990 |
| Citation | 581 A.2d 1078 |
| Parties | David F. DAWSON, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee. . Submitted: |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Delaware |
Paul S. Swierzbinski and Bernard J. O'Donnell, Asst. Public Defenders, Wilmington, for appellant.
Ferris W. Wharton, Deputy Atty. Gen., Wilmington, for appellee.
Before HORSEY, MOORE, WALSH and HOLLAND, JJ. and JACOBS, Vice Chancellor (sitting by designation pursuant to Del. Const. art. IV, § 12) (constituting the Court en banc).
Following a jury trial in the Superior Court, in and for Kent County, the defendant-appellant, David F. Dawson ("Dawson"), was convicted of four counts of Murder in the First Degree, six counts of Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony, Robbery in the First Degree, Burglary in the Second Degree, and Possession of a Deadly Weapon by a Prohibited Person. 1 On June 28, 1988, after a two-day penalty hearing, the jury unanimously recommended a sentence of death for Dawson on each of the four counts of Murder in the First Degree.
On July 22, 1988, Dawson was sentenced to death by lethal injection, as a result of each of the murder convictions, in accordance with the jury's recommendations. The Superior Court also sentenced Dawson to be incarcerated for a total of 100 years with regard to the other convictions. On July 15, 1988, Dawson filed a motion for a new trial or, in the alternative, for a new penalty hearing. He also filed a motion to delay his sentencing. Both of those motions were denied.
Dawson's counsel filed a timely notice of appeal. An automatic appeal was also docketed. 11 Del.C. § 4209(g). Those appeals have been consolidated. Dawson's execution has been stayed.
In this direct appeal, Dawson argues that his convictions should be reversed because: (1) he was denied a fair trial and penalty hearing, when the Superior Court declined to rule on a motion in limine prior to jury selection; (2) the Superior Court denied his motion for a change of venue, which alleged Dawson also argues that he is entitled to a new penalty hearing because (1) the State's unbridled discretion in determining which defendants, convicted of Murder in the First Degree, will be subjected to a death penalty hearing is contrary to Delaware law and in violation of the Federal Constitution; (2) the Superior Court erroneously permitted the State to present evidence of his membership in the Aryan Brotherhood during the penalty hearing; (3) the Superior Court erroneously permitted the State to present evidence that his nickname was "Abaddon" along with the definition of that name, during the penalty hearing; and (4) the Superior Court erroneously instructed the jury, concerning its discretion in recommending the imposition of the death penalty.
that there had been prejudicial pretrial publicity or, alternatively, that the increased likelihood a Kent County jury will recommend a death sentence introduces an element of bias and arbitrariness into the penalty determination process; (3) the Superior Court failed to properly excuse several jurors for cause and denied Dawson's motion for additional peremptory challenges; (4) the State presented evidence relating to the theft of two vehicles, when the State did not have clear and convincing evidence to connect Dawson with either of those crimes; and (5) the State presented irrelevant and prejudicial evidence of his commission of a burglary at the residence of Frank and Dorothy Seeney on the morning that the victim, Madeline Kisner, was killed.
We have reviewed each of Dawson's contentions. We find no reversible error. Therefore, the judgments of the Superior Court, which resulted in Dawson's convictions and sentences, including the imposition of the death sentences, are affirmed.
On the morning of December 1, 1986, between midnight and 2:30 a.m., Dawson escaped from the Delaware Correctional Center ("DCC") near Smyrna along with three other inmates: Mark McCoy ("McCoy"), Richard Irwin ("Irwin") and Larry Nave ("Nave"). According to the State, McCoy, Irwin and Nave stole one car and proceeded north, while Dawson stole another car and travelled south, where the events for which he was convicted occurred. In support of its theory, the State presented evidence of several car thefts, items obtained from the stolen vehicles, eyewitness testimony, items found in Dawson's possession when he was apprehended, and expert testimony concerning the scientific analysis of certain evidence.
During the early morning hours of December 1, 1986, a 1965 Mustang automobile was stolen from the northern part of the Town of Smyrna. At approximately 6:15 a.m., the police discovered this vehicle parked on the northbound shoulder of Route 13, about one-half mile south of Fieldsboro. Fieldsboro is located approximately eight and one-half miles north of Smyrna. The police recovered a latent fingerprint from the vehicle, which was subsequently identified as McCoy's, and an address book belonging to Nave.
Wilbert Dill ("Dill") testified that he operated the Fieldsboro Service Station, located at the intersection of Route 13 and Noxontown Road. When Dill arrived for work at approximately 5:45 a.m. on December 1, 1986, he saw three men standing by the station's bathrooms. Dill testified that, from the station's office, he watched the three men attempt to enter vehicles which were parked at the businesses located on the other three corners of the intersection. According to Dill, all three men seemed to be wearing similar blue clothing.
Cathy Spence ("Spence"), Nave's sister, identified the three men seen by Dill as Irwin, McCoy and Nave. Spence testified that her brother had telephoned her during the early morning hours of December 1, 1986. In response to those telephone calls, Spence stated that she went to the Fieldsboro Service Station. There, she provided Irwin, McCoy and Nave with clothing to replace their blue prison uniforms and transported them away. According to Spence, she remained with Nave, Irwin and
McCoy until 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. that evening, riding around the back roads of New Castle area. Spence testified that she never saw Dawson that day.
Sometime between 10:00 p.m., November 30, 1986, and 7:15 a.m. on December 1, 1986, a 1979 Oldsmobile Starfire was stolen from a location on the southern side of the Town of Smyrna. That vehicle was recovered by the Delaware State Police on County Route 139 outside of Kenton. Kenton is located southwest of Smyrna. The vehicle was first observed in this location between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. on December 1, 1986.
Early that same morning, the home of Frank and Dorothy Seeney (the "Seeneys") was burglarized. The Seeneys' house is located on County Route 168, approximately 2 miles southwest of Kenton, not far from where the 1979 Oldsmobile Starfire car was found. Mr. Seeney testified that on the morning of December 1, 1986, he left home about 5:30 a.m. Mrs. Seeney left their home about 6:30 a.m. Upon returning from work, sometime after 3:30 p.m., Mrs. Seeney discovered the burglary. An inspection of the Seeney's home revealed that a men's size forty-eight motorcycle jacket, several pocket watches, and containers of loose change had been stolen. Prior to trial, Dawson pled guilty to the two counts in the indictment which charged him with the burglary of the Seeneys' home.
The residence of Richard and Madeline Kisner is located approximately one-half mile from the Seeneys' home. Richard Kisner testified that on December 1, 1986, he left for work shortly after 7:30 a.m. His son, Brian, who was sixteen at the time, had left for school a few minutes before him. Richard Kisner testified that when he left for work, Mrs. Kisner was still at home. Her car, a 1986 Chrysler LeBaron, and a Ford pickup truck remained in the driveway.
Madeline Kisner, who usually arrived at her job by 8:30 a.m., never reported to work on December 1, 1986. Mrs. Kisner's friend and co-worker, Alice Holman ("Holman"), testified that she tried unsuccessfully to telephone Mrs. Kisner at home around 8:45 a.m., shortly after 9:00 a.m. and again about 1:15 p.m. When Holman telephoned Kisner's home again at approximately 3:40 p.m., Brian answered. According to Holman, Brian told her that his mother was apparently sleeping and he thought that she must be sick.
Brian testified that, on December 1, 1986, he arrived home from school between 3:30 and 3:40 p.m. and immediately went to his bedroom to change his clothes. Brian testified that, as he walked past his parents' room, he noticed his mother lying on her bed. She was wearing a red house coat, which she usually wore. It appeared to him that she was asleep. Brian said he assumed that his mother was sick and made no attempt to talk to her at that time.
Brian testified that after he received Holman's phone call, he went from the kitchen to the doorway of his parents' room. Brian then called to his mother but received no response. At this point, he noticed blood around his mother's head. Brian testified that he then went to his room, armed himself with a knife and, called the police. Thereafter, Brian went outside, locked himself in the family's Ford pick-up truck, and waited for the police.
When the police arrived, they found Madeline Kisner's body lying on her bed. She was dressed in a red housecoat. A nylon stocking was around her neck. Mrs. Kisner's hands had been bound behind her back with shoe laces. She had been gagged with a sock which had been placed over her mouth and knotted behind her head. She had lacerations on her forehead and multiple stab wounds to the chest area. 2
At about 5:30 p.m., when Richard Kisner arrived home, the police were still conducting their investigation. Mr. Kisner testified that he was asked to ascertain what, if anything, had been taken from his house. He determined that the keys to...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Marshall
... ... Similarly, Delaware's universe consists of a comparison between the subject case and "the penalties in all first degree murder cases which have gone to trial and a penalty hearing." Dawson v. State, 581 A.2d 1078, 1108 (1990) (citations omitted), judgment vacated, 503 U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1093, 117 L.Ed.2d 309 (1992). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court uses a universe that requires "an independent evaluation of all cases of murder of the first degree convictions which were prosecuted or ... ...
-
Dawson v. Snyder
...the other convictions. The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed Dawson's convictions and sentences on direct appeal. See Dawson v. State, 581 A.2d 1078 (Del.1990) ("Dawson I"). Dawson subsequently petitioned the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to consider whether constitutio......
-
State v. DiFrisco
...--- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1323, 122 L.Ed.2d 709 (1993); State v. Pelletier, 209 Conn. 564, 552 A.2d 805, 810 (1989); State v. Dawson, 581 A.2d 1078, 1093-96 (Del.1990), vacated on other grounds, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1093, 117 L.Ed.2d 309 (1992); Trotter v. State, 576 So.2d 691, 693 (Fla.......
-
State v. Hickman
...error, absent prejudice to the defendant. See, e.g., Pickens v. State, 301 Ark. 244, 783 S.W.2d 341, 345 (1990); Dawson v. State, 581 A.2d 1078, 1093-94 (Del.1990), vacated on other grounds by Dawson v. Delaware, 503 U.S. 159, 112 S.Ct. 1093, 117 L.Ed.2d 309 (1992); Trotter v. State, 576 So......
-
The Delaware Death Penalty: An Empirical Study
...Affirmed Executed DeShields v. State, 534 A.2d 630 (Del. 1987), cert. denied , 486 U.S. 1017 (1988). Affirmed Executed Dawson v. State, 581 A.2d 1078 (Del. 1990), rev'd and remanded, 503 U.S. 159 (1992), 608 A.2d 1201 (1992). Reversed-S Executed Sanders v. State, 585 A.2d 117 (Del. 1990). R......