Monroe v. State

• Decision Date: 12 December 1994
• Docket Number: 1993,No. 426,426
• Citation: 652 A.2d 560
• Parties: Bobby L. MONROE, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee. . Submitted:
• Court: Supreme Court of Delaware

Page 560

652 A.2d 560

Bobby L. MONROE, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee.

No. 426, 1993.

Supreme Court of Delaware.

Submitted: Dec. 12, 1994.

Decided: Jan. 25, 1995.

Upon appeal from the Superior Court. REVERSED and REMANDED.

Joseph A. Gabay, Wilmington, for appellant.

Richard E. Fairbanks, Jr., Dept. of Justice, Wilmington, for State.

Before VEASEY, C.J., HOLLAND and HARTNETT, JJ.

VEASEY, Chief Justice:

In this appeal we consider the contention of defendant below-appellant Bobby L. Monroe ("Monroe") that there was insufficient evidence to sustain his convictions for Burglary Third Degree ¹ and Theft Felony. ² This case presents the questions of whether: (i) latent fingerprints of defendant on the outside door to a burglarized, commercial building is sufficient to convict in the absence of any other evidence in the State's case-in-chief; and (ii) the failure of defendant to move for judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of the State's case bars him from raising sufficiency of evidence claims on appeal. For the reasons set forth below, we hold that: (i) the Superior Court committed plain error in not entering sua sponte a judgment of acquittal based on insufficient evidence linking Monroe to the offenses; (ii) the trial court's error is reversible; and (iii) the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States Constitution ³ and the Delaware Constitution ⁴ require that we remand the case for an entry of a judgment of acquittal.

I. FACTS

In the early morning hours of July 4, 1991, the American Appliance Center (the "appliance center"), located in Wilmington, Delaware, was burglarized. When the manager of the appliance center arrived at the crime scene, he observed that the lower half of the front plexiglass door was broken. Upon inspection, he found that seven camcorders and four video cassette recorders were missing.

When officers from the Wilmington Police Evidence Detection Unit arrived at the scene, they surmised that a steel pipe found nearby was used to break the plexiglass door, which they concluded was the point-of-entry ("POE"). Though the officers could not lift any fingerprints from the pipe due to its rough surface, they were able to remove several sets of latent prints from nearby pieces of shattered plexiglass. The police later matched some of these prints to Monroe. The other prints, both identifiable and unidentifiable, could not be matched. Based on the print match, the police obtained and executed a warrant to search Monroe's house. They did not, however, uncover any stolen goods or other incriminating evidence.

The police nonetheless procured an arrest warrant for Monroe. Upon his arrest, Monroe denied his involvement in the burglary and told the arresting officer that he was with his brother at the time of the burglary.

On August 5, 1991, Monroe was charged with Burglary Third Degree and Theft Felony. A jury trial commenced on January 7, 1992. The State presented testimony from several witnesses, including Officer John Ciritella ("Officer Ciritella"), who originally lifted the fingerprints from the plexiglass shards, and Officer Thomas Liszkiewicz ("Officer Liszkiewicz"), a fingerprint expert who examined the prints.

After the State rested, Monroe put on his defense. As part of his defense, Monroe presented an alibi. He offered the testimony of his former girlfriend, Latonya Roundtree, who testified that she went to a movie with Monroe and that they window-shopped at the appliance center on July 3, 1991. Though she stated initially that they saw the movie "Boys 'N the Hood" that night, when confronted on cross-examination with evidence indicating that the movie had yet to open in Delaware as of July 3, 1991, she conceded that she might have been mistaken about the date she saw the movie with Monroe.

On January 9, 1992, the jury returned a guilty verdict as to both counts. Monroe did not move to dismiss the indictment at the end of the State's case, or for a judgment of acquittal either before or after the verdict. On May 1, 1992, the Superior Court sentenced Monroe to three years of incarceration for Burglary Third Degree and two years of suspended incarceration for Theft Felony. Monroe did not file a timely appeal.

Subsequently, Monroe filed a successful motion for post-conviction relief from the time limit for filing a direct appeal, resulting, inter alia, in a renewal of that time period. On November 24, 1993, Monroe timely filed this direct appeal, contending that the State presented insufficient evidence at trial to sustain his convictions. In an Order dated September 20, 1994, this Court ordered supplemental briefing and scheduled the case for oral argument. The Court heard oral argument on December 6, 1994.

II. MONROE'S WAIVER IS EXCUSED

As an initial matter, the State argues that Monroe waived his insufficiency of evidence claims by failing to move timely for a judgment of acquittal in the Superior Court. Though we find that Monroe did waive his insufficiency claims, we hold that the waiver should be excused under the circumstances of this case.

A motion for judgment of acquittal must be presented either before a case is submitted to a jury or within seven days of the jury's discharge. Super.Ct.Crim.R. 29 ("Rule 29"). A claim of insufficiency of evidence is reviewable only if the defendant first presented it to the trial court, either in a motion for a directed verdict or a Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal. Absent any such motion, the claim is waived. Gordon v. State, Del.Supr., 604 A.2d 1367, 1368 (1992); see Supr.Ct.R. 8 ("Rule 8"). This Court may excuse a waiver, however, if it finds that the trial court committed plain error requiring review in the interests of justice. Supr.Ct.R. 8; e.g., Davis v. State, Del.Supr., No. 283, 1993, slip op. at 2-3, 1994 WL 10980, Moore, J. (Jan. 12, 1994) (ORDER).

In the instant case, Monroe did not move for a directed verdict or a judgment of acquittal. Rule 8, however, requires only that a "question[ ] [be] fairly presented to the trial court[.]" Supr.Ct.R. 8. Monroe presented the insufficiency claim to the trial court in his post-conviction motion under Superior Court Criminal Procedure Rule 61. In that motion, he sought relief from his counsel's failure to heed his request to file an appeal within the time-frame provided for in Supreme Court Rule 6(a)(ii) ("Rule 6(a)(ii)"). ⁵ In granting relief from the dereliction of Monroe's trial counsel, the Superior Court renewed the time to file a direct appeal. Such renewal, however, placed Monroe in only as good a position as he would have been absent the trial counsel's dereliction with regard to the filing of the appeal. See Dixon v. State, Del.Supr., 581 A.2d 1115, 1117 (1990). Though the Superior Court granted Monroe a fresh opportunity to meet the requirements of Rule 6(a)(ii), which he did, the failure to move originally for a judgment of acquittal under the time-frame provided for in Rule 29 was not excused. Nonetheless, the Court finds that, in view of its holding infra that Monroe would have been entitled to an entry of a judgment of acquittal if that motion had been made at the conclusion of the State's case, the interests of justice require that we review Monroe's claims on a plain error scope of review. See, e.g., Davis, slip op. at 2-3.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW FOR INSUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE CLAIMS

The standard of review in assessing an insufficiency of evidence claim is "whether any rational trier of fact, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, could find [a] defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." Robertson v. State, Del.Supr., 596 A.2d 1345, 1355 (1991); accord Shipley v. State, Del.Supr., 570 A.2d 1159, 1170 (1990); Skinner v. State, Del.Supr., 575 A.2d 1108, 1121 (1990). In making this determination, "[t]he fact that most of the State's evidence [is] circumstantial is irrelevant; 'the Court does not distinguish between direct and circumstantial evidence.' " Robertson, 596 A.2d at 1355 (quoting Shipley, 570 A.2d at 1170).

In the instant case, the State's evidence, though purely circumstantial, was sufficient to sustain the jury's finding that the appliance center was burglarized. The key issue, however, is whether the fingerprint evidence presented here was sufficient to establish, prima facie during the State's case, the identity of Monroe as the burglar. As to that issue, we agree with Monroe that no rational trier of fact could have concluded that he committed the charged offenses based on the evidence presented during the State's case.

IV. INSUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE CLAIMS

Monroe argues that his convictions and sentence should be reversed because of an insufficiency of evidence as to each charged offense. The State responds that, although the evidence against Monroe is only circumstantial, it is sufficient to sustain the guilty verdicts.

Although we have not previously addressed the question before the Court in this case--whether fingerprint evidence under circumstances such as those presented here is sufficient to establish a perpetrator's identity--other jurisdictions have dealt with similar issues. A substantial number of jurisdictions appear to have adopted the following rule in one form or another: a conviction cannot be sustained solely on a defendant's fingerprints being found on an object at a crime scene unless the State demonstrates that the prints could have been impressed only at the time the crime was committed. See, e.g., State v. Carter, 118 Ariz. 562, 562, 578 P.2d 991, 992 (1978) (in banc); State v. Payne, 186 Conn. 179, 440 A.2d 280, 282 (1982); In re J.C.M., D.C.App., 502 A.2d 472, 474-75 (1985); J.C. v. State, Fla.App., 377 So.2d 731, 732-33 (1980); Tyler v. State, 198 Ga.App. 685, 402 S.E.2d 780, 782 (1991); People v. Rhodes, 85 Ill.2d 241, 52 Ill.Dec. 603, 422 N.E.2d 605, 608 (1981), limited on other grounds by People v. Pintos, 133 Ill.2d 286, 139 Ill.Dec....