Johnson v. State
| Decision Date | 23 May 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 282,282 |
| Parties | CARROLL JOHNSON, v. STATE OF MARYLAND |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
Circuit Court for Anne Arundel Co.
Case No. 2K13000356
UNREPORTED
Arthur, Reed, Zarnoch, Robert A. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.
Opinion by Reed, 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, Carroll Johnson, was indicted in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Maryland and charged with first degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, possession of a regulated firearm after having been convicted of a disqualifying crime, and wearing, carrying and transporting a handgun. After a jury trial, appellant was convicted of first degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, possession of a regulated firearm after being convicted of a disqualifying crime, and wearing, carrying and transporting a handgun. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment for first degree murder, a concurrent 20 years, with all but the 5 years mandatory minimum suspended, for use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, and a concurrent 15 years, with all but the 5 years mandatory minimum suspended, for possession of a regulated firearm, credit for time served, and to be followed by 5 years supervised probation. Appellant timely appealed and presents the following question for our review:
Is the evidence sufficient to sustain the conviction for first degree murder?
For the following reasons, we shall affirm.
At approximately 5:00 p.m. on December 30, 2012, Michael Nauton was working as a bartender at Dietrich's Tavern, a bar and carryout/package store located on Furnace Branch Road in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Several customers were inside, including appellant, known to Nauton as "C.J." Nauton testified that he knew appellant both as a customer and as a former employee of the bar.
At some point, the victim, Sir Keith English Queen Jones ("Sir Keith" or "Jones"), entered the bar, motioned in appellant's direction, and then went back outside. A moment later, Nauton saw appellant get up and walk out of the bar. Nauton did not see Jones with a weapon when he entered the bar. The next time Nauton saw Jones was approximately ten minutes later when he went outside for a cigarette break and saw a police officer performing "chest compressions on someone in the parking lot." That person was later identified as Jones.
Several witnesses, including Christopher Serio, Mallorie Smith, and Stephanie Brown, saw two men talking outside Dietrich's Tavern before the shooting, but none of them testified that they saw any weapons. In fact, Smith, who arrived with Brown to buy wine inside the package store, testified that the men appeared to be "casually talking, hanging out" and "maybe having a cigarette." After she entered the store, however, Smith heard two to three gunshots. When she went back outside, Smith saw one of the men lying next to her vehicle. The other man was gone.1 Several days after the shooting, Smith met with Detective Vincent Carbonaro and identified a photograph of the person she believed was the "shooter."
In addition to the testimony from these witnesses, the jury heard that Dietrich's Tavern used a surveillance video system that shot video of the bar area, the carryout/package store, and the parking lot areas around the outside of the establishment.The video, which was played for the jury, displayed various images of appellant and Jones, as well as other individuals, in and outside the bar area from between 4:45 and 5:10 p.m. on the day in question. Appellant was seen in the video wearing a fedora hat. The video did not capture the shooting.
After the shooting, Corporal Earnest Sasser of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, who was one of the first responders to the scene, aided in attempting C.P.R. on Jones. He also assisted in interviewing witnesses at the bar and developed a description of the suspect as an African-American male in his thirties, 5'9" tall, around 180 pounds, and wearing a blue heavy jacket, white hooded sweatshirt, and light blue jeans. Corporal Sasser testified that, although several witnesses heard gunshots, he never spoke to anyone who actually witnessed the shooting.
Jones was brought to the emergency room at Baltimore Washington Medical Center ("BWMC") in traumatic cardiac arrest. Ultimately, Jones was pronounced dead at 5:57 p.m. An autopsy was performed and it was determined that Jones died of multiple gunshot wounds. Jones was shot eight times, including in the upper chest, the back of the neck, the middle of the back, the left lower torso, the right buttock, the left arm, the right wrist, and the left thigh. The manner of death was classified as a homicide.
Included in the evidence in this case was a baggie that was recovered from Jones's underwear at the hospital, as well as two bullets found about his person. Also included in the evidence was Jones's cell phone, found inside a Ravens jacket in the parking lot after the shooting. Cartridge casings and another bullet were also found at the crime scene. In addition, two bullets were recovered from Jones's autopsy. A firearms expert opined thatthe cartridge casings recovered in this case were all .380 auto caliber, and that seven out of eight of these casings were fired from the same firearm. The remaining casing could not be identified or eliminated. The five bullets were identified as being either .380 auto or nine millimeter Luger caliber, copper-jacketed projectiles, all fired from the same firearm. No weapons were recovered in this case, either near, on, or about the victim, i.e., Jones, or the minivan belonging to Jones's girlfriend that was found at the scene. Therefore, the firearms expert was unable to compare a weapon to the recovered ballistics evidence.
Several of appellant's acquaintances implicated him in the shooting. Joseph Alvini, a friend of appellant's, visited appellant at his mother's house, where appellant was staying at the time, a day or two prior to the shooting. Appellant possessed a silver, semi-automatic handgun, and Alvini believed the gun had the word "Lorcin" printed on it.2 Appellant told Alvini the gun was for self-defense because he was "scared" and "worried."
Alvini further testified that he saw appellant the day after the shooting, December 31, 2012, back at his mother's house. Alvini and appellant talked about the shooting and how "it was going to be hot," and appellant stated that "he had to take care of his business." They also discussed the possibility that appellant would be caught. Appellant knew Dietrich's, as well as the layout of the surveillance cameras, but was not worried about being seen because "he was outside of the field of vision, often." Appellant never indicated that Jones had a gun on his person at the time. On cross-examination, Alvini agreed thatappellant was nervous and that he, Alvini, believed it was because appellant "was being shook down."
Kenneth Pitts was at Dietrich's Tavern on the night of the shooting and agreed that appellant was there as well. At some point, Pitts and Lawrence Lewis, known to Pitts as "Black," decided to leave and saw appellant casually talking to Jones in the parking lot. Approximately two minutes after Pitts and Lewis drove away, Lewis received a phone call indicating someone had been shot. They returned to Dietrich's and found Jones in the parking lot. Appellant was no longer present at the scene.
Lawrence Lewis testified at trial and agreed that he knew both appellant, a.k.a. "CJ," and Jones. On December 29, 2012, appellant texted Lewis on his cellphone, stating The next day, at approximately 5:00 or 6:00 p.m., Lewis brought some nine millimeter bullets with him to appellant's apartment, located off Oakwood Road in Glen Burnie. After his memory was refreshed, Lewis testified that he knew that appellant owned a black .380 handgun.
While inside appellant's apartment, the subject of Jones came up. Lewis testified that appellant wanted to talk to Jones at Dietrich's Tavern about "some money issues." Before they went to the bar, appellant changed into dark clothes, putting on a dark jacket, a hat, a turtleneck, and a hoodie, as well as some sort of "[l]ong johns[.]" Lewis testified that appellant put this latter item over his arm and explained, It appearsthe "long johns" were actually a "cut-off sock, at the footie part," over his arm.3 In addition to this attire, appellant also took a loaded .380 handgun with him, placing it in his "dip," which Lewis explained meant "[c]lose to your groin."
Lewis drove his car to the bar, testifying that appellant told him that Jones would be there. When they arrived, they saw Jones. Lewis said a quick "what's up," and then Lewis and appellant went inside the bar and sat beside Kenneth Pitts. After ordering drinks, Lewis testified that he talked to appellant, trying to "see if I could smooth everything out," because he, Lewis, knew Jones and thought he could talk to him. Appellant replied that meaning Jones.
Thereafter, appellant went outside the bar. Lewis followed a few minutes later and saw appellant and Jones arguing, "with their hands," while they were sitting inside Jones's van in the parking lot. Lewis texted appellant to see if everything was okay, and appellant responded "yeah." Lewis then went back inside the bar and sat down. Appellant returned,...
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