Jackson v. Com.
| Decision Date | 17 April 1998 |
| Docket Number | Record No. 971720,Record No. 971721. |
| Citation | 255 Va. 625,499 S.E.2d 538 |
| Parties | Chauncey Jacob JACKSON v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia. |
| Court | Virginia Supreme Court |
James O. Broccoletti (Jon M. Babineau; Zoby & Broccoletti; Doyle & Babineau, on brief), Norfolk, for appellant.
Pamela A. Rumpz, Assistant Attorney General (Richard Cullen, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Present: CARRICO, C.J., COMPTON, LACY, HASSELL, KEENAN and KINSER, JJ., and WHITING, Senior Justice. WHITING, Senior Justice.
In these appeals, we review a capital murder conviction, a sentence of death (Record No. 971720), and five other related felony convictions (Record No. 971721).
I. PROCEEDINGS
On September 1, 1994, 16-year-old Chauncey Jacob Jackson was arrested and incarcerated on charges of capital murder and five other felonies.1 The alleged crimes had all occurred the day before. On September 21, 1994, the Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court issued transfer orders pursuant to Code § 16.1-269.1, certifying Jackson to the circuit court for criminal proceedings as an adult on those charges.
On October 5, 1994, indictments were issued in the circuit court charging Jackson with the following six felonies: (1) the capital murder of Ronald Gene Bonney, Jr., while attempting to rob him (Code §§ 18.2-31(4), 18.2-10), (2) attempted robbery (Code §§ 18.2-58, 18.2-26), (3) and (4) two charges of the use of a firearm while committing the above-mentioned offenses (Code §§ 18.2-53.1, 18.2-10), (5) the conspiracy to commit a robbery (Code §§ 18.2-22, 18.2-58, 18.2-10), and (6) the receipt of stolen property (Code §§ 18.2-108, 18.2-95). The trial date was fixed and continued eight times, six times on Jackson's motion and two times on joint motion of Jackson and the Commonwealth.
During the 23-month interval between the date of the transfer order and August 21, 1996, when Jackson's trial began, it was discovered that indictments had been issued before the circuit court conducted the review of Jackson's transfer required by Code § 16.1-269.6. On June 23, 1995, after conducting the required review, a circuit judge other than the trial judge concluded that the applicable statutes had been complied with and authorized the Commonwealth to proceed against Jackson by indictment. However, Jackson was not indicted on these charges for the second time until December 6, 1995.
At the beginning of a bifurcated jury trial on August 21, 1996, Jackson was arraigned on the December 1995 indictments. The trial was conducted pursuant to the provisions of Code §§ 19.2-264.3, -264.4, and -295.1, and Jackson was found guilty of all six charges. After hearing additional evidence, the jury fixed Jackson's punishment for the capital murder conviction at death, based on the "future dangerousness" predicate. Code § 19.2-264.2. After considering a report prepared by a probation officer pursuant to Code § 19.2-264.5, the court sentenced Jackson in accordance with the jury verdict in the capital murder case. Since he was a juvenile when the offenses were committed, the court sentenced Jackson on the remaining offenses in conformity with Code §§ 16.1-269.1 and -272 to terms of imprisonment aggregating 48 years. The court suspended eighteen years of the sentence for the conviction of receiving stolen goods, subject to 20 years' probation.
Pursuant to Code § 17-110.1(F), we have consolidated the automatic review of Jackson's death sentence with the appeal of right of his capital murder conviction. By order entered August 14, 1997, Jackson's appeal of his other convictions was certified from the Court of Appeals, Code § 17-116.06, and we have consolidated that appeal with the capital murder appeal and given them priority on our docket. Code § 17-110.2.
II. THE EVIDENCE
We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the prevailing party in the circuit court. Roach v. Commonwealth, 251 Va. 324, 329, 468 S.E.2d 98, 101, cert. denied, 519 U.S. ___, 117 S.Ct. 365, 136 L.Ed.2d 256 (1996).
A. Guilt Phase
The day after Bonney's murder, Jackson made a series of four oral statements to police investigators. The first statement was not recorded, but the remaining three statements were recorded and transcribed. The following facts appear in one or more of those statements.
On the evening of August 31, 1994, Jackson was riding in a Jeep Cherokee driven by his friend, Rashad Vick. Vick stopped the vehicle when three other friends, standing near a so-called "dope house" on Vine Street, waved at them. One of the three friends suggested robbing a man, later identified as Ronald Gene Bonney, Jr., who was within sight, seated in the driver's seat of a Chevrolet Blazer parked nearby. Jackson and Vick agreed.
Accordingly, two of the group acted as "lookouts." Jackson procured a .25 caliber Beretta handgun from the Jeep. Accompanied by Calvin Outlaw and Angelo Artis, the other two members of the group, Jackson approached the parked vehicle. Outlaw placed his leg against the driver's door, next to Bonney, and later took the keys from the ignition switch when Bonney tried to drive away. Jackson, armed with the handgun, entered the front seat of the vehicle from the passenger's side, and, according to his last statement, Jackson told Bonney to "[g]ive it up." Bonney then The gun fired three bullets which hit Bonney in the chest and arm and caused his death.
Jackson fled in the Jeep. He was arrested late that night and brought to police investigators for an interview at 7:20 a.m.
B. Penalty Phase
The Commonwealth introduced evidence of Jackson's criminal record. It began with a finding that he was not innocent of the theft of a car when he was 13 years old and included, a few months later, a finding that he was not innocent of receiving stolen property. When Jackson was 14 years old, he was also found not innocent of possession of cocaine. Additionally, Jackson was found not innocent of a number of offenses dealing with motor vehicles, such as unauthorized use of an inspection sticker, driving without a license, altered license plates, and speeding. Many of the offenses were committed while Jackson was on probation for earlier offenses.
Jackson had been incarcerated for more than 13 months on the present charges when he was released on bond on October 24, 1995. In December 1995, while free on bond awaiting trial for the subject offenses, Jackson was involved with several other persons in the unlawful entry of a house in Jackson's neighborhood, and later convicted of the following 14 felony charges arising therefrom: statutory burglary, four abductions, robbery, attempted robbery, and seven charges of use of a firearm during the commission of those crimes.
Additionally, an inmate testified that Jackson, again incarcerated after the December 1995 incidents, assaulted him in jail on February 9, 1996. This assault occurred less than two months after Jackson had committed the December 1995 crimes and before his capital murder trial in August and September 1996.
Jackson called as witnesses Dr. Evan S. Nelson and Dr. Thomas Pasquale, both forensic psychologists, who had examined and evaluated him. Both testified that Jackson had an antisocial personality disorder, basing their diagnosis in part on Jackson's history of aggressive acts. Dr. Nelson assessed Jackson as having a high number of "risk factors" for violent conduct and Dr. Pasquale at one time had evaluated Jackson as being a "moderate to severe [assault] risk." However, both psychologists declined to say that Jackson would be a future danger to society. Dr. Nelson felt that an affirmative answer to the question required a psychologist to "predict with certainty that someone will commit an offense of violence in the future." Dr. Pasquale "follow[ed] the guidelines of the American Psychological Association" which state that "psychologists are best not to make such predictions due to the fact that we have not developed the circumstances sufficiently to be able to do so."
Although both psychologists testified that an antisocial personality disorder cannot be cured, Dr. Pasquale opined that a person with such a disorder could be "amenable to management." On the other hand, Dr. Nelson thought that Jackson's history of continued violent acts, especially when under the constraints of probation, bond, and incarceration awaiting trial on these charges, was a "very negative indicator for how much change [from his violent acts against Bonney] we can expect from him over the years."
Jackson's mother and grandmother, with whom Jackson lived, testified that Jackson had been a normal child, and that they had a good relationship with him. The grandmother said that Jackson had been a good boy "until, you know, he got with the wrong bunch of kids." And the mother testified that Jackson received a "long-term" suspension from school because, while waiting in the school office for some sort of a disciplinary interview, Jackson had told another student that he would kill "somebody" if he were suspended from school.
Neighbors and persons who had contact with Jackson when he was living at home described him as "respectful," "polite," and "courteous." A member of Jackson's community also testified that Jackson called her to ask "how [she] was doing" after an operation.
One of the members of the family that was burglarized and robbed by Jackson and other intruders in December 1995 testified that she knew Jackson and that he "just stood there" and "had some tears in his eyes" during the robbery. However, she also testified that Jackson had a gun and, like the other intruders, was wearing a hood that partially masked his face.
III. WAIVER OF CERTAIN ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR
Jackson did not...
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