Lampkins v. State

• Decision Date: 15 November 1982
• Citation: 465 A.2d 785
• Parties: Japhis LAMPKINS, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee. Tyrone BROOKINS, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee. . Submitted:
• Court: Supreme Court of Delaware

Page 785

465 A.2d 785

Japhis LAMPKINS, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee.

Tyrone BROOKINS, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Delaware.

Submitted: Nov. 15, 1982.

Decided: Aug. 2, 1983.

Upon appeals from Superior Court. Affirmed.

Joseph B. Green and Edmund M. Hillis (argued), Asst. Public Defenders, Wilmington, for appellant Lampkins.

Mary C. Boudart, Wilmington, and Neal A. Phillips (argued), Wilmington, for appellant Brookins.

Fred S. Silverman, Deputy Atty. Gen. (argued), Wilmington, for appellee.

Before HERRMANN, C.J., HORSEY and MOORE, JJ.

HERRMANN, Chief Justice:

In these appeals, the cases having been consolidated, the defendants seek reversal of their convictions for Murder in the First Degree (11 Del.C. § 636), Conspiracy in the First Degree (11 Del.C. § 513), Possession of a Deadly Weapon during the Commission of a Felony (11 Del.C. § 1447) and Burglary in the Second Degree (11 Del.C. § 825). Both defendants contend that the Trial Court committed reversible error in denying their motions for severance. Defendant Lampkins further contends that the Court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of a statement which he gave to police shortly after his arrest. Defendant Brookins further challenges the Court's admission of certain physical evidence.

I.

The defendants, Japhis Lampkins and Tyrone Brookins, were indicted on the above charges in connection with the burglary of a Wilmington apartment and the killing, during the course thereof, of a resident of the apartment.

A.

At trial before a jury, the State presented evidence as follows:

Fifty-nine year old Mary Dugan (hereinafter "victim") lived with her son in an apartment at 1409 Delaware Avenue in Wilmington. On April 2, 1980, about noon, the victim telephoned her son at work, as was her custom. During the conversation, the son asked his mother to shop for groceries at a local supermarket. At approximately 3:00 p.m., a police officer responded to a "woman screaming" complaint at the victim's apartment house. The officer entered the victim's apartment through an open door after his call went unanswered. Upon entering the living room, the officer saw the victim on the floor, blood flowing from the left side of her face, her mouth opening and closing, her eyes fluttering. Standing nearby was her shopping cart with two bags of groceries. Alongside her body were several of her kitchen knives, including one from which the blade had been broken off. Another knife was lodged, up to its handle, in the victim's left buttock. Her panties lay beside her. The officer called immediately for an ambulance. The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The Medical Examiner who performed the autopsy testified that the condition of the victim's head and face was "awful." His examination revealed that she was repeatedly stabbed in the face, struck on the head with a blunt instrument, and strangled to the extent that blood vessels in her eyes burst. In addition to her head wounds, she had stab wounds in her chest, abdomen, back, and crotch. She was stabbed 23 times. The Medical Examiner testified that any one of several of the wounds would have been fatal, including the blow to the head, the stab wound in the heart, and asphyxiation from strangulation. The Examiner concluded that, based on the number, nature and location of her wounds, the victim had been attacked by more than one person. The Medical Examiner also testified that a wound, as depicted in a photograph of Brookins' right hand taken on April 11, 1980, was consistent with having been caused by a knife with handle breaking off while being used in stabbing a person; that the wound had occurred within 2 weeks prior to the photograph.

Thomas M. Butler was indicted with the defendants for Conspiracy in the Second Degree (11 Del.C. § 512). Prior to trial, Butler plead guilty to Manslaughter (11 Del.C. § 632) and the Conspiracy charge. In return, he testified for the State against both defendants. ¹

Butler testified as follows: On the morning of April 2nd, he and Lampkins committed an armed robbery in Newark and separated upon their return to Wilmington. In the afternoon, he again met Lampkins, this time with Brookins. Brookins was a drug addict. The three men smoked marijuana and Brookins and Lampkins injected themselves with cocaine and "crank" (methamphetamine). Butler was "high" while Lampkins and Brookins were "messed up." Knowing that Lampkins and Butler had committed a successful robbery earlier in the day, Brookins was anxious to "make a sting." The three decided to go to the nearby supermarket. There they saw the victim pulling her cart and followed her home. Butler waited outside while first Brookins, and then Lampkins, went into the victim's apartment. When Butler heard Lampkins' voice, scuffling, and a woman moaning, he fled.

Butler's testimony was corroborated in several ways:

An F.B.I. expert in hair comparisons testified that a hair found on the back door of the victim's apartment and a hair on a tissue found beside the victim were microscopically similar to Brookins' head hair and pubic hair, respectively. The expert testified that such dual hair similarities were rare for one individual.

A shoe print lifted from the bloody floor beside the victim was also examined by an F.B.I. expert. He testified that, although the print lacked clarity and sufficient detail to support a positive opinion, similarities existed both in the design and size of the footprint and the "sneaker" Brookins was wearing when he was arrested.

A blood-stained vase found on a chair near the victim was also introduced. A blood expert testified that the blood on the vase did not match the victim's blood; that it matched Brookins' blood type in all but one of the blood components. The examiner testified that although the variant component could indicate that the blood on the vase was not Brookins', he had never seen known and unknown samples match in all but one component. He testified that the sample manifesting the variant component could have been contaminated by the victim's blood; that such a mix or contamination would have "masked" the Brookins' component.

A police detective testified that, on April 10, 1980, he spoke with Lampkins' brother, Acey Lampkins, at the latter's request, and that Acey told him the following: that Acey had spoken with Butler shortly after the murder; that Butler told Acey that Butler and two others had followed a woman from a supermarket to her home along Delaware Avenue; that Butler said they knocked on the door and, when the woman opened it, stabbed her in the face; that his brother, Japhis, related substantially the same story to him.

Acey later recanted his statement, both to police and at trial. He conceded at trial, however, that his initial statement was wholly voluntary. He further testified that, prior to his recantation, he thought about the possibility of his brother receiving the death penalty if convicted.

Timothy Wright, Japhis Lampkins' nephew, testified that he had given statements to police on April 11, and April 14, 1980, regarding his knowledge of Lampkins' involvement in the murder. Wright testified that in the first statement he denied any knowledge of Lampkins' involvement but that he had not told police all he knew. In the second statement, Wright admitted to police that Lampkins told him he had followed an old lady from a supermarket to her house and robbed her. At trial, however, Wright recanted the statement, testifying that he never had such a conversation with Lampkins, that he made the statement only because of threats by the police "to lock [him] up," and that the statement was based not on his personal knowledge but on what the police told him regarding Lampkins' involvement.

A neighbor living above the victim's apartment testified that, just before the police arrived, she heard the apartment building's front door slam and saw a man running from the building dressed in white hat, blue denim pants, and blue denim jacket. A witness who had seen Lampkins and Brookins at the scene of the morning Newark robbery testified that one of the robbers, who matched Lampkins' description, was dressed almost entirely in dark blue and, at one point, put on a white hat.

So went the State's case.

B.

At trial, both defendants testified in their own defense, each presenting a separate alibi.

Lampkins admitted committing the morning Newark robbery with Butler, but said that at the time of the killing he was across town cleaning his car. When the prosecutor pointed out to him that the car he claimed to have been cleaning was a rental car he had rented only a day or two earlier, Lampkins testified that sticky "cherry things" had dropped on the car the night before and he was concerned with liability for damage to the finish. When the prosecutor asked Lampkins what type of tree would be dropping anything at the beginning of April, he responded that it was "an evergreen." An expert called by the State testified that there were no trees or plants growing in New Castle County in general, or on the defendant's street in particular, which would have been producing a sticky substance in early April, 1980.

Brookins claimed that, at the time of the murder, he was shopping in downtown Wilmington with Debbie Benson, the mother of his children. At trial, Benson supported Brookins' alibi. In an earlier written statement, however, she had indicated that Brookins was with her until only 1:00 p.m. on the day of the murder; that he then told her he was going to a poolroom and she did not see him again until the evening.

Brookins explained that the cut on his hand was caused by falling on a piece of glass during a handball game with Eric Jones. Jones testified that although he told defense counsel he could substantiate Brookins' story, he did so because he had received a...