Grade v. State
| Decision Date | 08 January 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. 0803,0803 |
| Parties | JARON TYREE GRADE v. STATE OF MARYLAND |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
UNREPORTED
Opinion by Woodward, 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.
Appellant, Jaron Tyree Grade, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County of two counts of first degree murder and one count of use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. After appellant was sentenced to two life sentences, concurrent, to be followed by a consecutive 20 years for use of a handgun, appellant timely appealed, presenting the following questions for our review:
For the following reasons, we shall affirm.1
On September 13, 2003, Natasha Heath hosted a party at her residence, located at 959 Punjab Drive, Essex, Maryland. Heath invited the victims, Ricardo Cabera and Broadus "Teon" Funderburke. She also invited her sister, Keisha Williams, and her boyfriend, Jerome Vines.
At around 12:45 a.m., Heath was outside her residence with a group of friends, including Funderburke, when a person nicknamed "Country," arrived. Heath started to introduce Funderburke to Country, but, at that same moment, Otis "Chuck" Jones "camearound to the back of [Funderburke] and just shot him in the back of his head." Funderburke fell on Heath, and Heath saw Jones continue to shoot, approximately five or six times, from less than 18 inches away. Heath was shot twice in the leg during this incident. Meanwhile, as Jones continued to shoot Funderburke, Heath heard "a whole lot of shots" coming from her right. However, Heath did not see who else was shooting, other than Jones, and on cross-examination, she agreed that she never saw appellant with a weapon.
Jennerio Shird testified pursuant to an arrangement with the State whereby he would receive leniency in an unrelated handgun case in exchange for his testimony in this case. Shird testified that he went to the party with his cousins, Jerome Vines ("Jerome") and Brandon Vines ("Brandon"). Appellant, whom Shird knew through mutual friends, was already there with Jones. During the party, Shird went to a liquor store with appellant and bought some Hennessy. Shortly after they returned, the liquor ran out, and there was an altercation between appellant and some other individuals. Another witness, Shanika Gray, testified that the argument involved "all the guys that were at the party." Gray clarified that Funderburke was "in the middle" of the altercation, but she could not recall if appellant was involved.2
At some point after this altercation, Shird looked through a window and saw appellant outside, holding a revolver. Shird also saw appellant hand a gun to Jones. Shirdwatched as appellant began Shird saw appellant shoot this person three or four times. Shird also saw Jones shoot a second person. Shird would later testify that Cabera was the first person he saw appellant shoot, and Funderburke was shot second. After the shooting, Shird left the party and went home.
About four days later, Shird and his cousins met appellant at appellant's residence in Baltimore. At that time, appellant admitted his involvement in the shooting. Shird explained that the shooting was all because of "[a] bottle of Hennessy."
Jerome testified that, at some point during the party, he went for a walk with Williams. When they were about a half a block away, Jerome heard approximately five gunshots. Jerome could see muzzle flashes coming from two guns. The two guns did not sound the same, according to Jerome. Jerome could not see the shooters. When he got back to the party, Jerome noticed that appellant and Jones were no longer there.
Four days later, Jerome was at appellant's home in Baltimore with Brandon and Shird. Jerome testified that appellant stated "that the guy told him to, 'Calm your boy down,' and at that time he turned his back and he shot him." Jerome clarified that appellant admitted that he shot Cabera.
As part of the police investigation, appellant's residence was under surveillance by the Baltimore County Police Department. Still photographs were taken from a recording of that surveillance. Shird confirmed that he, Jerome, and Brandon were photographed with appellant, outside of appellant's residence, when appellant admitted to being involvedin the shooting. Jerome agreed that he saw a still photograph from the surveillance recording of this meeting. But, Jerome did not agree with defense counsel's question that he was laughing and joking at the time appellant told him about the shooting.
Williams was present at the party and testified that she saw a number of individuals, including the two victims, appellant, and Jones. At around 1:00 a.m., she and Jerome walked outside, then a short distance up the street to the right and away from the party. When they turned to go back, Williams heard approximately two or three "fairly loud" gunshots. She also saw "flares" coming from two separate guns. One flare was coming from the street, and the other one was coming from the sidewalk near the house.
As Jerome ran back towards the house, Williams stayed on the street and saw appellant and Jones "take off running past me but on the opposite side of the street." Appellant and Jones fled immediately after the shooting stopped. Williams testified that she could not see what they were holding in their hands, but "one was tucking something under his shirt and the other was holding his pants up." Williams agreed on cross-examination that she never saw a gun.
As a result of the shooting, Ricardo Cabera sustained three gunshot wounds, including one to the chest, one to the back, and one to the groin. Two large caliber, copper jacketed bullets were recovered from Cabera during an autopsy. Funderburke sustained three gunshot wounds, including one to the head, the left buttock, and the left forearm. Two large caliber, copper jacketed bullets were recovered from Funderburke during anautopsy. The cause of death for both victims was multiple gunshot wounds, and their manner of death was by homicide.
A total of five bullets were examined in this case by an expert. That expert testified that two bullets were fired from one handgun, and three Remington bullets were also fired from one handgun. The expert could not testify, however, whether one or two guns were used in the shooting.
Detective Gerald D'Angelo, who has since retired from the Baltimore County Police Department, was the lead detective assigned to this case. One bullet was found at the crime scene, but no casings, and no guns were ever recovered. During the course of the investigation, on or around October 3, 2003, Detective D'Angelo spoke with appellant at appellant's residence. In that initial conversation, appellant told the detective that he went to the party alone, he left in a "hack," or an unlicensed cab, and was home when the shooting occurred. Appellant did not know anyone by the name "Chuck." After that, Detective D'Angelo left appellant's residence. Detective D'Angelo returned to appellant's residence again on October 10, 2003, and, in a signed question and answer statement, appellant maintained that he went to the party alone and did not know Jones.
Detective D'Angelo also interviewed appellant's girlfriend, Latonya Shuron, who gave a statement concerning this incident. Shuron was called to testify by the State, but, because the trial court found that she was "feigning . . . lack of knowledge," Detective D'Angelo was permitted to read her prior statement to the jury. In that statement, Shuron informed the detective that, after she fell asleep, appellant took her car, and both he andJones went to the party. When appellant and Jones returned to her home, appellant told Shuron that he left her car at the party because there had been a shooting. Shuron stated that appellant left the car behind because "[h]e was scared." Appellant also told Shuron that he did not know what caused the shooting.
Appellant testified on his own behalf at trial. Appellant stated that Shuron took him and Jones to the party. Appellant did not have a gun with him that night, and he also did not see Jones with a gun. Appellant denied shooting anyone. In fact, appellant testified that he left the party before the shooting and stayed with Shuron afterwards. Appellant did not know either of the victims in this case and denied getting into an argument with them at the party.
Appellant further testified that he spoke to a police officer several days later, told him that he did not know anything, and he did not want to speak to him. Appellant also testified that the reason he denied knowing Jones was because the officer continued to try to question him, and "I started being reluctant to his questions." He testified that his written statements to the police were not truthful. However, he felt obligated to answer the police questions "[w]hen my mother was home, yes."
On cross-examination, appellant agreed that he gave a written statement at his residence when his mother was home. Although the officer did not physically threaten him, appellant testified that "[h]e kept on pursuing me after I told him to leave me alone." And, this happened in the presence of his mother as appellant stated, "[y]eah, she's the one that let them in."
On further cross-examination, appellant testified that he left the party and went to a "hang-out spot" in East Rock...
To continue reading
Request your trial