Dyson v. State

• Decision Date: 24 September 2018
• Docket Number: No. 1969,1969
• Parties: ERIC SYLVESTER DYSON v. STATE OF MARYLAND
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

ERIC SYLVESTER DYSON v. STATE OF MARYLAND

No. 1969

COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND

September Term, 2016

September 24, 2018

Circuit Court for Montgomery County

Case No.: 126986

UNREPORTED

Wright, Kehoe, Battaglia, Lynne, A. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.

Opinion by Battaglia, J.

*This is an unreported opinion, and it may not be cited in any paper, brief, motion, or other document filed in this Court or any other Maryland Court as either precedent within the rule of stare decisis or as persuasive authority. Md. Rule 1-104.

Eric Sylvester Dyson, appellant, was convicted by a jury sitting in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County of second-degree murder, theft of a credit card belonging to another, two counts of use and disclosure of credit card numbers, and theft scheme¹ with a value between $1,000 - $10,000. The court sentenced Dyson to 47 years and six months' imprisonment. Dyson presents the following questions for our review:

1. Did the trial court err in allowing the State to introduce evidence of Dyson's statement to the police where the State had entered into a pre-trial agreement not to introduce such evidence unless three specific pieces of evidence were not admitted?

2. Did the trial court err in denying Dyson's motion to suppress his statement?

3. Is the evidence insufficient to sustain the conviction for credit card theft, use and disclosure of credit card numbers, and theft scheme?

4. Did the trial court err when it failed to merge Dyson's convictions and sentences for credit card theft, use and disclosure of credit card numbers, and theft scheme?

5. Did the trial court err in not striking the entire jury panel when it was discovered that members of the venire were discussing DNA evidence in the hallway?

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On February 23, 2015, Dan Belvin was found dead from multiple stab wounds in his apartment in Randolph Village, a senior living community in Gaithersburg. He was 95 years old.

The State adduced the following evidence at trial. Dyson's father, Leslie Dyson, also was a resident of Randolph Village. In August of 2014, Leslie Dyson was transferred to an inpatient facility for medical treatment and Dyson began staying in his father's vacant apartment. Dyson met Belvin at Randolph Village, and in January of 2015, Dyson helped Belvin repair a damaged tire on Belvin's car. Thereafter, Gregory Prather, the service manager of Randolph Village, observed Dyson and Belvin driving together in Belvin's car, and, at times, Dyson drove Belvin's car alone. On February 24, 2015, Mr. Prather observed Dyson enter the Randolph Village parking lot driving Belvin's car.

On February 23, 2015, Dijon Saunders, the assistant manager for Randolph Village, received a phone call from Belvin's friend who was concerned because Belvin had not answered her phone calls. Ms. Sanders knocked on Belvin's door but he did not answer. After noticing that Belvin's door was unlocked, Ms. Sanders entered the apartment where she found Belvin, who appeared to be deceased, with "a pool of blood" by his neck and head. She immediately called 911.

Sergeant Lawrence Haley and Detective Beverly Then of the Montgomery County Police Department responded to Randolph Village and initiated an investigation of Belvin's death. During a search of Belvin's apartment, Sergeant Haley and Detective Then located Belvin's cell phone and pocket calendar. Belvin's pocket calendar contained anentry for February 18, 2015 which read, "Get car keys back this p.m." A second calendar entry on the following day also read, "Get keys back!!" A "sticky" note attached to the calendar contained Dyson's name and phone number.

Cell phone records of Belvin and Dyson indicated that, on February 19, 2015, Belvin's phone received two incoming calls from Dyson; one at 8:38 p.m. and one at 8:40 p.m. Those were the last calls received on Belvin's phone. Dyson did not call Belvin's phone again after February 19, 2015.

The police thereafter executed a search and seizure warrant at Dyson's father's apartment and located a black jacket with gold lining and jeans belonging to Dyson. Laboratory testing of Dyson's black jacket revealed the presence of blood on the jacket lining. DNA analysis of that blood specimen matched Belvin's blood and DNA. Belvin's car keys were located inside a pocket of Dyson's jeans.

Detective Then obtained Belvin's bank records for his account at Navy Federal Credit Union, which indicated that at 9:04 p.m. on February 19, 2015, Belvin's debit card was used at a 7-Eleven on Georgia Avenue, located approximately three miles from Randolph Village, for a balance inquiry and withdrawal of $300. Belvin's debit card was subsequently used in multiple transactions at the following 7-Eleven locations: 1) in Washington, D.C. on February 20, 2015 at 3:06 a.m. for a withdrawal of $300, and again at 5:48 a.m. for a balance inquiry and withdrawal of $300; 2) University Boulevard on February 21, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. for five transactions; and 3) East-West Highway on February 22, 2015 at 2:07 a.m., and 5:57 a.m. for four transactions. Detective Then's review of the surveillance video of each of the 7-Eleven stores where Belvin's NavyFederal debit card was used showed that Dyson was present in those stores during the times of the transactions on Belvin's account.

Belvin's Navy Federal Credit Union bank records indicated that his debit card was used also at the Giant in Hyattsville on February 21, 2015 at 10:02 a.m. for two purchases; one for $166.82 and a second for $136.78. A few hours later, at 12:51 p.m., Belvin's debit card was approved for a purchase at a Riggs Mart in Hyattsville. At 3:24 p.m., Belvin's debit card, however, was declined in four attempts at a second Giant location.

Michelle Fajardo, an acquaintance of Dyson who had not seen him "in a few years," testified that she spent approximately three days with Dyson at a crack house in February of 2015. During that time, she saw Dyson with a Navy Federal Credit Union credit card and cash, which Dyson used to buy crack cocaine for Fajardo and himself. Fajardo recalled that she accompanied Dyson to a Giant store where he used a credit card to make a purchase and receive cash back.

Following his arrest, Dyson was interrogated by Detective Then, Detective Frank Springer and Sergeant Haley. The video recording of appellant's interrogation was introduced in evidence at trial. In that video recording, Dyson admitted to "going off," stabbing Belvin and disposing of the knife.

Dyson subsequently was convicted of second-degree murder, theft of a credit card belonging to another, two counts of use and disclosure of credit card numbers, and theft scheme between $1,000 - $10,000. Dyson noted a timely appeal.

DISCUSSION

Pre-Trial Agreement

At a pre-trial hearing, Dyson's counsel informed the court that the parties had reached an agreement that the State would not use Dyson's recorded statement to police in its case in chief if evidence of bank records, video surveillance and DNA evidence, which the court had not yet ruled upon, were admitted. The parties indicated that, in the event that either the bank records, video surveillance or DNA evidence was not admitted, they would ask the court to address Dyson's motion to suppress his statement at that time. Dyson had moved to suppress his statement on the following grounds: 1) it was involuntary because it violated his right to prompt presentment; 2) it was involuntary because it was the result of police coercion; 3) it violated his right to remain silent under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966); and 4) it violated his right to counsel under Miranda.

On the third day of trial, the State requested that the court address Dyson's motion to suppress his statement. The State argued that, because defense counsel's opening statement challenged the jury to consider why a knife recovered from one of the State's witnesses was not submitted for DNA testing, Dyson's statement to police, in which he informed police that he had thrown the murder weapon away, was now relevant to rebut defense counsel's statement. After hearing argument from the parties, the court determined that the defense had opened the door to the introduction of Dyson's statement and that it would have been inequitable to preclude the State from introducing Dyson's statement at trial.

In so ruling, the court explained:

There are many aspects of the situation that we have here. The first is the agreement of the State in the first place to essentially place a confession in abeyance and not proceed just in normal course to argue the motion to suppress and decide which way to go with it. The other issue is, that the defense counsel in this case had a copy of the statement and they knew what is in the statement and, in fact, they knew or should have known that there was a possibility based upon this agreement itself, that the contents of that statement may have in fact been allowed as evidence in this court, because the agreement really was a contingency agreement.

And so, if all the contingencies were not fulfilled, then subject to the motion to suppress[,] the statement could come in. And if the statement could come in then there it was, very, very clearly, as represented by counsel to me[,] was the statement of the defendant not only that was inculpatory, but indicated that he got rid of the murder weapon. And so, there would be no reason to look for any other weapon or investigate anybody else.

And so, then the defense opens its argument by asking the jurors to question the very reasons as to why all those other items were not in fact scrutinized more closely. Why there wasn't DNA on the knife from Mr. Keyes? Why there wasn't more of an investigation as to Mr. Keyes? ... And ... by their doing that and yet knowing what the statement says, they are unfairly putting the State in the position where they cannot in [any way] respond to the argument made by the defense and the

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