Parson v. State

• Decision Date: 21 July 1966
• Citation: 222 A.2d 326
• Parties: Norman Benjamin PARSON, Appellant, v. The STATE of Delaware, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Delaware

Page 326

222 A.2d 326

Norman Benjamin PARSON, Appellant, v. The STATE of Delaware, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Delaware.

July 21, 1966.

Appeal from Superior Court in and for Sussex County.

Jackson W. Raysor, of Tunnell & Raysor, Georgetown, and Irving Morris of Cohen, Morris & Rosenthal, Wilmington, for appellant.

William Swain Lee, Deputy Atty. Gen., Georgetown, for the State.

WOLCOTT, C.J., and CAREY and HERRMANN, JJ., sitting.

WOLCOTT, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal by Norman Benjamin Parson from a conviction of murder in the first degree, without a recommendation of mercy. A mandatory death sentence was imposed. Parson, in his appeal, urges upon us several alleged errors taking place prior to and during his trial which he says were so prejudicial that his conviction must be set aside and a new trial granted. These alleged errors are:

1. The verdict was contrary to and against the weight of the evidence.

2. The trial judge erred in failing to instruct the jury in the light of State v. Opher, 8 W.W.Harr. 93, 188 A. 257, and in instructing as to inferences permitted when a deadly weapon is used.

3. Parson was denied his constitutional right to counsel and, accordingly, his confession was inadmissible in evidence.

4. Parson's confession was involuntary and was therefore inadmissible in evidence.

5. Parson's confession was obtained during a period of unlawful detention and was therefore inadmissible in evidence.

6. The trial judge erred in limiting the use by Parson of psychological and psychiatric testimony.

7. The trial judge abused his discretion in denying a change in venue.

We take up the contention that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. Since the argument in this respect is based upon the assumption by Parson that his confession is inadmissible in evidence, we will assume its absence in evidence. By other uncontradicted evidence the State proved the following case: ¹

In the early evening of January 31, 1964, Kathleen Rae Maull, a fifteen-year-old girl, was left as a baby-sitter in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Zak in a rural area of Sussex County several miles from Rehoboth Beach. At the time, Kathleen was attired in dungarees, a blouse, stockings and leather loafers.

Mr. and Mrs. Zak returned to their home about 10:00 p.m. They entered the front door and found blood on the living room floor and the kitchen floor and walls splattered with quantities of still-wet blood. There was blood also splattered over the kitchen counters, refrigerator and sink. On a counter top was a bloodstained butcher knife. In the kitchen were two straight chairs, not ordinarily there, placed side by side.

The dungarees which Kathleen had been wearing were crumpled on the kitchen table with one nylon stocking hanging from one leg. On a couch in the living room were Kathleen's school books, the coat she had worn to the Zak home, and on the floor by the couch were her shoes.

The back door of the house which entered into the kitchen was standing ajar. This door was never used by the Zaks and was ordinarily kept locked. In point of fact, some time prior to January 31, 1964, Mr. Zak had locked this door and caulked it against the winter winds. The back door had an outside storm door, ordinarily kept bolted, which also stood ajar.

On entering upon this scene Mrs. Zak ran to a bedroom to see to the safety of her infant child while Mr. Zak searched the house and yard for Kathleen. She was not to be found. The Zaks then called the State Police.

Subsequent police examination of the premises produced a ladies' watch, later identified as Kathleen's, found on the back doorstep. In the front yard near the public road a bloodstained blouse, later identified as Kathleen's, was found. On the kitchen floor were several broken front teeth later identified as Kathleen's. Later on, the police found the panties and bra worn by Kathleen.

Shortly after the police arrived, one of them stopped an automobile passing by. The driver of this car, in response to the Trooper's questions, stated that he had driven past the Zak house on three occasions that evening and, on the last two, had noticed a car parked on the wrong side of the road in front of the Zak house. He identified the car as one belonging to Parson, whom he knew.

Two State Troopers, upon receipt of this information, went to Parson's home where they found the car described by the passerby with Parson in it behind the wheel. There were blood stains on the rear seat and on the cover of the trunk. Parson was ordered to get out of the car, was handcuffed and a tourniquet applied to his right arm to stop the flow of blood from what appeared to be a bad cut on his right hand.

Parson knew the Trooper who handcuffed him, called him by name and said, 'I am in a mess of trouble.' About five minutes later, during which time the tourniquet was being applied, a State Police Detective arrived and took over the investigation. He got the keys from Parson's car and started to open the bloodstained trunk when Parson said, 'She is not in there. She is in a ditch. I will show you where.' The three State Policemen and Parson then got in a police car and Parson directed them to a bridge crossing a stream known as Rabbits Ferry where they found the body of Kathleen, lying on her back with her feet toward the center of the stream. The body was nude except for a nylon stocking on the left foot. En route to this scene Parson was asked if she was dead, to which he answered, 'Yes.' ²

From an autopsy performed in the early morning of February 1, 1964, it appeared that Kathleen had suffered a massive blow from some blunt instrument across the bridge of the nose which broke the nose, and broke the upper jaw, or maxilla, into a crumbled mass of bone fragments. This blow broke off all of the front upper teeth. In addition, she had been subjected to a severe beating evidenced by numerous bruises and lacerations, as well as two wounds described by the pathologist as stab wounds. Her body was covered with blood and dirt and showed scrapes and abrasions as though it had been dragged along the ground.

The pathologist who performed the autopsy testified that the cause of death was shock, secondary to multiple injuries and concussions, but, in particular, to concussions caused by the massive blow across the nose.

In addition, the pathologist testified that examination of the vaginal area revealed that the labia majora were intact and without injury but smeared with blood, and that the hymen membrane showed a recent laceration and was covered with blood not of a menstrual nature.

The following specimens were obtained by the State Police and turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for laboratory examination: Pubic hair combings from the body of Kathleen; pubic hair combings from Parson; samples of pubic hair from the body of Kathleen; samples of the pubic hair of Parson; a specimen of Kathleen's head hair; scrapings from under the fingernails of Kathleen; scrapings from under the fingernails of Parson; squares cut from the bloodstained floor and seat coverings of Parson's car; a bloodstained hammer from the trunk of Parson's car; scrapings from the trunk of Parson's car; a blood sample from the body of Kathleen; a blood sample from the body of Parson, to the taking of which he consented in writing; samples of blood scraped from the floor, walls, sink, counters, cabinets and furniture of the Zak home; various articles of clothing worn on January 31, 1964 by Kathleen; and the clothing worn by Parson at the time he was apprehended.

Expert testimony of F.B.I. special agents established that from microscopic examination it is possible to determine whether hair is from a human being or from an animal. If the hair is human, it is possible to tell the race of the individual from whom it originated, i.e., the Caucasian race, the Mongoloid race or the Negroid race. In fact, it is possible to determine from the microscopic examination of hair whether the individual whose hair it is is a mixture of two or all of the three racial classifications. In addition, it is possible to determine the area of the body from which the hair was taken. It is possible also to distinguish the hair of one individual from that of another, and also to determine whether or not the particular hair in question could have originated from a particular individual by comparison of it with a known sample of his hair.

As a result of the examination of the various specimens turned over to the F.B.I. for examination, it was determined that on the samples of stained seat and floor coverings of Parson's car were found samples of light brown hair of Caucasian origin which were identical in all individual microscopic characteristics with the hair sample taken from the head of Kathleen. In addition, similar hairs were found to be on the door trim, refrigerator and cabinet in the Zak kitchen.

In the scrapings of the fingernails of Parson were found to be several blue cotton fibers which were such that they could have originated from the blue jeans worn by Kathleen, which were also examined. Furthermore, an examination of the blue jeans themselves indicated they had been forcibly torn apart.

Examination further revealed light brown pubic hairs of Caucasian origin, many removed forcibly from the body, on the pieces of rear seatcover and floor mat of Parson's car, all of which could have originated from the body of Kathleen. In addition, in the combings of the pubic area of Parson were found numerous light brown pubic hairs of Caucasian origin which could have originated from the body of Kathleen.

From other F.B.I. laboratory examinations it appeared that Parson's blood was Group O while Kathleen's blood was Group A. The examination of the specimens of blood scrapings revealed that the blood on the kitchen floor of the Zak home was Group A; that the blood on the living room floor was Group A; that the blood on the...