People v. Tuite, D044943 (Cal. App. 12/14/2006)
| Decision Date | 14 December 2006 |
| Docket Number | D044943 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. RICHARD RAYMOND TUITE, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, No. SCD166932, Frederic L. Link, Judge. Affirmed.
A jury convicted Richard Raymond Tuite of voluntary manslaughter (Pen. Code,1 § 192, subd. (a)) as a lesser included offense of murder in the stabbing death of 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe (Stephanie). The jury also found Tuite used a deadly weapon (a knife). (§ 12022, subd. (b).) In a separate proceeding, the trial court found Tuite had a prior prison term conviction within the meaning of section 667.5, subdivision (b). The court sentenced Tuite to 13 years in prison.
On appeal, Tuite contends the trial court erred by: (1) denying him a continuance when investigators found Stephanie's DNA on a second piece of his clothing less than two months before the start of the trial and later denying his motion for a new trial on the same issue; (2) precluding defense counsel from cross-examining a prosecution expert witness about his efforts to prevent a defense expert from testifying; (3) improperly instructing the jury concerning evidence of uncharged acts; (4) limiting the jury's request for a readback of testimony during deliberations; (5) denying his new trial motion based on juror misconduct; and (6) failing to give a sua sponte instruction on involuntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense of murder. Tuite also contends he received an unfair trial as a result of the cumulative effect of the errors.
On January 21, 1998, at around 6:00 a.m., Stephanie was discovered lying in the doorway of her bedroom; she had been stabbed in her bed and had managed to crawl to the door before dying. Stephanie had nine stab wounds, two of which were fatal: one severed a major artery and caused external bleeding; and the other perforated a lung and caused blood to accumulate in the chest cavity. None of the nine wounds was below her chest. The condition of the body indicated Stephanie had died at least six hours before she was discovered.
Although Escondido police detained Tuite, who was a transient, because of his strange behavior in the Crowes' neighborhood the previous evening, police soon focused their investigation on Stephanie's older brother, Michael Crowe, then 15, and two of his friends, Joshua Treadway and Aaron Houser.2 Police arrested them after Michael made damaging admissions and one of his friends confessed during lengthy interrogations. The San Diego County District Attorney's Office prosecuted the trio, who were then high school freshmen, but the murder case against them was dismissed in February 1999 after tests showed Stephanie's blood was found on the red shirt Tuite had worn on January 20 and January 21, 1998.
In May 2002 the Attorney General charged Tuite with murdering Stephanie.
In essence, Tuite's trial, which began in February 2004, became a trial within a trial, as Tuite primarily presented a third-party culpability defense — namely, that Stephanie's brother and his friends killed Stephanie. Thus, while the prosecution in its case-in-chief linked Tuite to the homicide by presenting circumstantial evidence, including evidence that Stephanie's blood was on his clothes, Tuite's case-in-chief consisted largely of evidence, developed by the Escondido police, that Michael and his two friends killed Stephanie. Tuite also defended against the blood evidence by presenting evidence that Stephanie's blood was found on his clothes as a result of contamination caused by careless police work. In its rebuttal case, the prosecution essentially presented a defense of Michael and his friends. We now proceed to set forth in greater detail the evidence presented in each party's case.
One afternoon in early January 1998, Tuite knocked on the door of Cecilia Jachna's residence. Before Jachna responded, Tuite turned the door handle and tried to enter the house. Jachna shut the door, locked it with a deadbolt and asked Tuite why he was there. Tuite asked if "Tracy" was home. Jachna told Tuite no one named Tracy lived with her. Tuite left after Jachna repeated herself a couple of times and ordered him off her property.
"Tracy" was Tracy Nelson, who became friends with Tuite in 1987 or 1988; they had both used crystal methamphetamine at the time. The friendship lasted until 1994, when Nelson moved to a residence on East Valley Parkway in an area commonly known as the "Ranch." The Ranch was located near the Crowe residence. The last time Nelson saw Tuite was when he showed up at the Ranch. Nelson's then-husband told Tuite to leave.
On the evening of January 20, 1998 — the night Stephanie was killed — Tuite went to a home in the Ranch, which was then occupied by Danette Mogelinski, Frank Romanelli and Frank's daughter, Jessica. Tuite knocked on the door. Assuming it was a neighbor, Mogelinski said, "It's open, come in." Tuite opened the door and asked for "Tracy." When Mogelinski said she did not know anyone named Tracy, Tuite shut the door. A few seconds later, Tuite reopened the door without knocking and asked: Tuite stared into the house as Mogelinski closed and locked the door.
Tuite headed up a hill to a duplex near Valley Center Road and Lake Wohlford Road, which was occupied by Sheldon Homa, his son Shannon and his daughter-in-law Dawn. Tuite pressed his face against the window of Sheldon's unit and looked inside. Grabbing an axe for protection, Sheldon ran outside and asked Tuite what he wanted. Tuite said he was searching for a girl named "Tracy" and that Mogelinski had suggested he check for her at the Homa residence. Sheldon told Tuite he was lying and ordered him to leave.
Sheldon went to his son's unit and asked him to telephone the police. Shannon and Dawn decided to follow Tuite in their car. Tuite walked down Valley Center Road, went to the parking lot of the Lutheran church, walked over to Lake Wohlford Road and stood in the road with his hands in the air, walking in circles.3 Tuite then headed back up Valley Center Road and turned right. Shannon and Dawn returned home and telephoned the police.
Escondido Police Officer Barry Ososkie responded to the Homas' call and arrived at the Lutheran church at 8:15 p.m. Ososkie did not see Tuite and "closed out" the call.
Between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m., Tuite approached the Green/West property, which was between one-quarter and one-half mile away from the Crowe residence, banged on the door of a trailer and yelled: "This is Richard, I want to see your daughter Tracy." Patrick Green, who lived in the trailer with his wife and daughters, told Tuite no one named Tracy lived there and ordered him to leave. However, Tuite, who appeared intoxicated, insisted Tracy was there and kept banging on the door. Green grabbed his pellet gun, and he and wife went outside to warn his father-in-law, Gary West, who lived in the main residence with his wife. Tuite banged on the Wests' door and said, "I want to see the girl." West ordered Tuite to leave and said he was calling the police. Tuite walked backwards down the driveway, staring at West and the Greens. Then, he turned around and headed up the road leading to the Crowe residence. West went inside and telephoned the police.
Responding to West's call, Escondido Police Officer Scott Walters drove around the area looking for Tuite but did not see anyone. Walters circled the Wests' driveway in his patrol car and then drove to the Crowe residence. Walters noticed the door leading from the laundry room to the interior of the house was open.4 As Walters circled the Crowes' driveway, his patrol car activated the sensor light above the exterior laundry room door, and the door closed from the inside. Because he did not see Tuite, Walters considered it a no contact call, and left. He listed the suspect as "gone on arrival."
Inside the Crowe residence, the evening of January 20 had been fairly routine. Stephanie's uncle, Michael Kennedy, had visited the Crowes and left about 9:00 p.m. through the laundry room door. Michael Kennedy left the door unlocked. Stephanie watched television and later spoke on the telephone with her best friend until a few minutes past 10:00 p.m. Stephanie's younger sister, Shannon Crowe (Shannon), also watched television. Shannon shared a bedroom with her maternal grandmother, Judith Kennedy; both of them went to bed about 9:00 p.m. As he often did, Stephanie's brother, Michael, spent most of the evening in his bedroom. Stephanie's father, Stephen Crowe (Stephen), had a headache when he got home after work and went to bed early. Stephanie's mother, Cheryl Crowe (Cheryl), went to bed about 10:00 p.m. The Crowes always shut their bedroom doors at night as a fire precaution.
During the night, Cheryl heard knocking or pounding on the wall, and the door to the master bedroom "was opened and shut and opened." She did not investigate. Michael also heard pounding on the laundry room door; he thought someone had answered the door, and he went back to sleep.
After Stephanie's body was discovered at around 6:30 the following morning by Judith, Stephen called 911. He then ran outside to direct the first emergency responders. Stephen was surprised to find the laundry room door locked — by both the knob lock and the deadbolt — because the door was normally unlocked.
The Crowe family gathered in the living room after the police arrived to begin their investigation. At one point, Michael told his family that he had awakened with a headache at 4:30 a.m. and went to the kitchen to get Tylenol and a glass of milk. Although Michael would have passed Stephanie's room on the way to the kitchen, he did not see her in the hallway; instead, he said he thought her door was...
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