Hagez v. State

• Decision Date: 01 September 1995
• Docket Number: No. 387,387
• Citation: 110 Md.App. 194,676 A.2d 992
• Parties: Adel HAGEZ v. STATE of Maryland. ,
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

Page 194

110 Md.App. 194

676 A.2d 992

Adel HAGEZ v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 387, Sept. Term, 1995.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

May 30, 1996.

Samuel A. Abady (Rubin, Bailin, Ortoli, Abady & Fry, P.C., David N. Mair and Henry L. Saurborn, Jr., on the brief), New York City, for appellant.

Diane E. Keller, Asst. Atty. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr. Atty. Gen., Baltimore and Marna McLendon, State's Atty. for Howard County, Ellicott City, on the brief), for appellee.

Argued before CATHELL, MURPHY and HOLLANDER, JJ.

HOLLANDER, Judge.

Adel Hagez, appellant, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Howard County of first degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of that murder. He received a sentence of life imprisonment for murder and a three year concurrent sentence for the handgun offense. On appeal, he presents five questions for our review:

I. Whether the trial judge erred by failing to grant Appellant's motions for judgment of acquittal, where the sole evidence in support of the charge of first degree murder was Appellant's fingerprint on a gun never proven to be the murder weapon.

II. Whether the trial judge erred by failing to grant Appellant's motions for judgment of acquittal, where the State failed to offer any evidence that the killing was wilful, deliberate or premeditated, assuming, arguendo, that the killing could be attributed to Appellant.

III. Whether the trial judge erred by refusing to recognize spousal immunity for Appellant's wife based on his finding that Maryland Cts. and Jud. Proc.Code § 9-106 gave him discretion to decide whether or not to recognize the privilege.

IV. Whether the trial judge erred by permitting the State, over the Appellant's repeated objections, to call the Appellant's wife to the stand, and repeatedly threaten her with contempt in response to leading questions by which the State's Attorney testified against Appellant.

V. Whether Appellant's conviction must be vacated because the prosecutor engaged in prohibited misconduct by arguing facts in summation never put in evidence, and urging the jury to convict Appellant based on his wife's refusal to testify against him, in clear violation of the trial judge's instructions to the contrary.

For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that appellant was prejudiced by the nature and extent of questions that the State propounded to Ms. Hagez and by the State's closing argument. We shall therefore reverse.

Factual Summary

Twenty-four witnesses testified for the State. The defense did not present any witnesses, however. What follows is a summary of the State's case, in the light most favorable to the State.

On the morning of June 22, 1991, Riad Hijaz was shot and killed in Room 410 of the Holiday Inn in Jessup, Maryland. According to Dr. Donald Wright, Hijaz had been shot six times and died of multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the chest and two to the head. Three of the six wounds revealed stippling, indicating that the shots had been fired from within 18 inches.

Room 410 was registered to Virginia Hagez, a resident of Richmond, Virginia. On March 8, 1991, some three months before the death of Mr. Hijaz, Ms. Hagez and appellant were divorced, ending 21 years of marriage. Both appellant and Ms. Hagez were born in Lebanon.

At the time of the killing, Ms. Hagez and several men who apparently were of Middle East descent were affiliated with "The Mediterranean Chef," a portable food concession stand. The Mediterranean Chef was servicing the Columbia City Fair in Howard County. Ms. Hagez requested two rooms at the Holiday Inn, for herself and her staff. She specifically requested that the two rooms not be near each other, and that no one be informed of her room number. In addition to room 410, which Ms. Hagez occupied, she was assigned room 308.

On the morning of June 22, 1991, Howard County police officers responded to the motel in answer to a call that shots had been fired. At about 9:50 a.m., Officers David Ash and Paul Yodzis responded to Room 410 of the Holiday Inn. When they entered the room, they saw the body of the victim about a foot from the door. The room was hazy with cigarette smoke and gunpowder. Two full cups of coffee were located on a table in the room. On the dresser was a bag with five cans remaining from a six pack of beer. A copper jacket was found on the unmade bed; spent projectiles were found on the floor by the victim's body.

As Howard County Detective Luther Johnson drove onto the motel parking lot, a woman ran out of the entrance toward his vehicle. The woman, who identified herself as Virginia Hagez, was "hysterical" and was "screaming." She told Johnson that someone had been shot in Room 410 and she asked, repeatedly, "Is he dead?"

Officer Victoria Plank also saw Ms. Hagez as she ran from the motel. She described Ms. Hagez as "rather hysterical at the time." Ms. Hagez told Officer Plank that she had asked a man with her group, who was staying in the downstairs room, to assist her with her luggage. When the man arrived, she went to the motel clerk because of a discrepancy in the bill. Upon her return to the room, the man who was supposed to help with the luggage was on the floor and she ran for help. According to Officer Plank, Ms. Hagez "continued to state that there was nothing going on between the two of them. That he had just been there to help with the suitcases."

On the morning of Saturday, June 22, 1991, Detective A.J. Bellido-Deluna was off duty and was working as a security officer at the Columbia Fair. He recalled that, at about 9:00 a.m., a red "Datsun Nissan type vehicle" with Virginia license plates parked behind him. He noticed a man who appeared to be of Arab descent, with a briefcase, exit the car and proceed to the Mediterranean Chef, where two men were setting up. After a brief conversation, the man left. All of the men appeared to be of Arab descent.

Bruno Kujat had a concession stand near the Mediterranean Chef. He was acquainted with a woman he thought was named "Virginia" at the Mediterranean Chef, having seen her at previous festivals. When they chatted the night before, she told Kujat that she was Lebanese and had three workers. On Saturday morning, Kujat talked with the two men who were at the stand. He recalled seeing another man, who carried a briefcase, walk away from the stand that morning.

Bernadette Williams was the receptionist on duty at the front desk of the Holiday Inn at the time of the killing. She testified that, shortly before 9:45 a.m., two men carrying "money bags" identified themselves as Virginia Hagez's employees from the carnival and asked for Ms. Hagez's room number. According to Williams, Ms. Hagez "kept calling downstairs and saying don't tell them what room I'm in." Williams did not disclose the room number. A third man approached the men and talked to them. Then, all three walked away. Two of the men went outside, but the third one went toward the elevators. Williams did not know if appellant was one of the three men.

Room 415, which was across the hall from Room 410, was occupied at the time by Jerry and Rita Green, who were from North Carolina. At about 9:30 a.m., Mr. Green, who had been in the security business, was in the hall looking for a luggage cart. He noticed a vacuum cleaner leaning up against the door to Room 410. He returned to his room and, about fifteen minutes later, heard the sound of vacuuming, which he thought was unusual given the hour of the day. Then he heard three knocks, followed by a woman saying "oh no." He then heard a single gunshot, followed by four or five shots. He shoved his wife into the bathroom and, unable to dial 911 directly, he called the front desk to report the shooting. Ms. Green also heard the vacuum, the scream and the gunshots, although she did not hear the knocks. After calling for help, they looked out of their door and saw the vacuum cleaner in the hall.

During the investigation, Sergeant Glenn Hansen interviewed Virginia Hagez several times. ¹ On June 25, 1991, using information obtained from Ms. Hagez, he directed Montgomery County police to the Shady Grove Metro Station parking lot. There they found a red Nissan with Virginia license plates and parking tickets, dated June 24 and 25, 1991. The car was registered to "The Roast Beef Co., Inc.," 2012 Fon-du-lac Road, Richmond, Virginia.

The police obtained a search warrant and seized the vehicle. Documents in the car established appellant's residence at 2012 Fon-du-lac Road in Richmond. Inside the passenger compartment of the Nissan, police found a white bank pouch that appeared blood stained. It contained eleven .38 caliber bullets. In the trunk were two briefcases. The first contained items belonging to Virginia Hagez. The second briefcase held papers that appeared to be bloodstained. Between the papers was a bloodstained revolver with six spent cartridges, four from .38 caliber bullets and two from .357 caliber bullets. The number of spent casings was consistent with the six gunshot wounds to the victim. The gun was a Colt Lawman MK III 357 OTG revolver.

Also found in this briefcase were bloodstained papers, including a letter addressed to appellant, the victim, and another man at 2012 Fon-du-lac Road, Richmond, Virginia. The same address also appeared on other business papers, including a check drawn on the account of "The Roast Beef Company" and signed by appellant.

Appellant's fingerprint was found on the gun. FBI Special Agent J.R. Williamson, a firearms expert, testified, however, that he could not determine if the bullets and bullet fragments recovered from the body of the victim and Room 410 were fired from the gun found in the car, due to insufficient microscopic markings. Nevertheless, he concluded that certain of the bullets and bullet jackets could have been fired from the revolver in issue, based on the specific rifling impressions. He also said that certain of the .38 caliber...