Lee v. State

• Citation: 975 A.2d 240,186 Md. App. 631
• Decision Date: 07 July 2009
• Docket Number: No. 270, September Term, 2008.,270, September Term, 2008.
• Parties: Christian Darrell LEE v. STATE of Maryland.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

975 A.2d 240

186 Md. App. 631

Christian Darrell LEE v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 270, September Term, 2008.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

July 7, 2009.

Piedad Gomez (Nancy S. Forster, Office of the Public Defender, on the brief), Baltimore, for appellant.

Ryan R. Dietrich (Douglas F. Gansler, Office of the Atty. Gen., on the brief), Baltimore, for appellee.

Panel: KRAUSER, C.J., DAVIS, and GRAEFF, JJ.

GRAEFF, Judge.

A jury sitting in Baltimore County convicted Christian Darrell Lee, appellant, of first-degree felony murder, first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree assault, three counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a felony, and three counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. The court sentenced appellant to life imprisonment on the first-degree felony murder conviction, 25 years on each of the two first-degree assault convictions, and 20 years on each of the three convictions for use of a handgun in a crime of violence convictions.¹ The sentences were consecutive, resulting in an aggregate sentence of life imprisonment, plus 110 years.

Appellant presents the following issues on appeal:

1. Did the court err in denying appellant's motion to suppress his statements to the police?

2. Did the trial court err in refusing to instruct the jury on second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter?

3. Did the trial court err in responding to a question from the jury during deliberations?

4. Did the trial court err in granting the State's motion to join for trial the two cases against appellant?

For the reasons set forth below, we shall affirm appellant's convictions.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On September 8, 2006, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Randy Hudson drove to pick up his daughter at the home of her grandparents, Anna and Eric Fountain. As Mr. Hudson approached the back door of the residence and inserted his key in the door, "some guy jump[ed] out from nowhere and grab [bed][him] from behind." The attacker forced Mr. Hudson into a headlock and dragged him into the alley behind the house. Two other men approached, one armed with a handgun. The men advised Mr. Hudson that he should be quiet, and they demanded his money. After the three men took approximately $3,000, Mr. Hudson broke free and attempted to run away, but he tripped on a manhole cover. The men caught Mr. Hudson, and they beat him. As a result of the physical assault, Mr. Hudson drifted in and out of consciousness.

Anna Fountain, who was sleeping on the couch in the living room with her granddaughter that night, testified that she woke up when she heard a noise in the house. She saw two men coming down the stairs. The men pointed a gun at Ms. Fountain and instructed her "not to look up at them." The men went out the back door, came back in, and then ran back upstairs. Each of the four times they did this, they pointed the gun at her and told her not to look at them. One of the men took Ms. Fountain's cell phone.² On the fourth trip into the house, they brought Mr. Hudson into the residence, kicked him, and dragged him upstairs.

After the men left, Ms. Fountain locked the back door. She ran upstairs and discovered her husband, Eric Fountain, who had been shot, and Mr. Hudson. Ms. Fountain went through Mr. Hudson's pockets, located his cell phone, and, at 10:57 p.m., called 9-1-1.

Officer Thomas Wehrle testified that he arrived at the scene in response to a call for a possible shooting, and he heard loud screams. The door to the residence was slightly ajar and he saw Ms. Fountain on her knees, screaming and crying. Upon seeing the police officers, Ms. Fountain stated, "he's upstairs. Hurry." The police officers discovered two bodies on the second floor. Mr. Hudson was lying on his back, unresponsive, but alive. Mr. Fountain was unresponsive, and "[i]t appeared initially that he was deceased." Medical personnel arrived and pronounced Mr. Fountain dead. The medical examiner later determined the cause of death to be two gunshot wounds to Mr. Fountain's torso.

On September 29, 2006, at approximately 4:30 a.m., the Baltimore County Police arrested appellant.³ Sergeant Marvin Haw transported appellant to police head-quarters. Appellant stated: "[W]hat took so long? It's been, like, three weeks."

Detective Craig Schrott, a homicide detective with the Baltimore County Police Department, interviewed appellant later that day from approximately 12:47 p.m. to 2:10 p.m. The detective informed appellant of his Miranda⁴ rights, including that "anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Appellant waived these rights and agreed to speak with the detective without an attorney present. The first thing that appellant said was: "What I want to know is[,] who the hell put me in this situation?" The detective responded: "[Y]ou remember the incident, `cause you were there that day, right?" Mr. Lee stated: "I'm not stupid. I'm not stupid. I know what you're talking about."

Later in the interview, appellant acknowledged going into the Fountain residence. He stated, however, that he went into the house after Darnell Smith, his cousin, and John Satterfield. He initially stated that he did not know what was going on inside the house. He admitted going to the second floor of the house and seeing Mr. Fountain, who had been shot, but he denied hearing any gunshots and denied that he knew "who did it." Appellant denied that he was with Darnell when the shooting took place.

Soon thereafter, Detective Schrott advised that he knew that appellant shot Mr. Fountain and explained why appellant would want to explain what happened:

[DETECTIVE:] But reason—has a difference, bud, in the end. It really does. It makes a difference to you; it makes a difference to that man's[] family. It makes, it makes a difference. It, it really does. Now, if you were cold-blooded and you went in there and you didn't care, this is what happened, so be it. But I can see that's not it. I mean, that, that's not even an option with you. I can see that. You got a heart. You got humanity to you. I think it's one of the things that just happened, you can't explain it. A bad decision to go inside that house.

You didn't even have a gun when you went up there. Your cousin were [sic] to go back outside, because he was upset because there wasn't any money upstairs, like [Mr. Hudson] said, and he gave you the gun and asked [] you [to] watch that man—and if that man would have just stayed in the bed, I have no doubt, no doubt in my mind you and I would have never met. Isn't that true?

[APPELLANT:] Oh, my God.

[DETECTIVE:] What's important—well, it's important for you, Chris; it's[] important for everybody. You don't[] want to be seen as coldblood[ed]. I know[] you're not. But you got to give an explanation. I mean, you're the only[] one that was up there when it happened, you know.

[APPELLANT:] (Witness shaking head no.)

[DETECTIVE:] I mean, if you don't tell the story, nobody's going to tell you it. And it just sounds—it's like reading a newspaper, you know. The two of you were upstairs. Darnell gives you the gun. He goes downstairs, at which time that man's shot. Nobody really knows what happened up there. I mean, could have been where people are going to say, well, maybe he said hell with it, he just shot him `cause he was pissed' cause there's no money up there. You don't want people thinking that, you know. I think it was an accident. I—true, I do—I can look on your face and I know it was an accident. But I need you to tell me that. It's no doubt whether you did it or not. There's no doubt, Chris. The only question is the details. I think it's important for you to be able to get this off your shoulders. I can see how you're living with this. It's important for that man's family to know, too. There's a difference in a situation like that from being perceived as cold-blooded or a situation that just took an ugly twist by no fault of your own. That something just happened, and that's the reaction it was. Or, or if he struggled, if he reached for the gun, maybe you went to hit him with the gun and the gun went off. I mean, what happened?

The detective then asked several questions about Mr. Fountain's location to "get a better picture of what's going on, what you're going through." The following then occurred:

[DETECTIVE:]—is he standing up, or was he still in bed? Was he sleeping? Was he awake? Chris, bud—all right. Was he still in bed or did he get up?

[APPELLANT:] I'm going to jail, right?

[DETECTIVE:] We're not talking about jail right now.

[APPELLANT:] Just—that's what the whole thing is about.

[DETECTIVE:] That ain't what it's about. It's about getting to what the truth is, that's what it's all about. Now, was he still in bed, or did he get out of bed while your cousin was up there?

[APPELLANT:] He was still in bed.

When asked what happened, appellant told the detective that Mr. Satterfield advised that there was money under the bed. The interrogation continued:

[DETECTIVE:] John told you that. So—all right, sir—so when you got there, you went into that room, was that man awake; was he asleep?

[APPELLANT:] He was asleep.

[DETECTIVE:] He was asleep?

[APPELLANT:] Yeah, this is being recorded [somewhere, aint it?]⁵

[DETECTIVE:] This is between you and me, bud. Only me and you are here, all right? All right?

[APPELLANT:] I'm trying to put together fact and accept that my life is basically over.

Appellant then stated that he, not John Satterfield, was getting a murder charge. Detective Schrott explained that, for felony murder, a person who did not personally kill the victim would be guilty of murder if the killing occurred during a felony in which the person participated.

The detective then returned to questioning appellant about the events that transpired immediately prior to the shooting:

[DETECTIVE:] Are you guys—do you wake him up, or does your cousin wake him up looking for the money, or...