Randall v. State

• Citation: 223 Md.App. 519,117 A.3d 91
• Decision Date: 01 July 2015
• Docket Number: No. 1879, Sept. Term, 2013.,1879, Sept. Term, 2013.
• Parties: Crystal Hayslett RANDALL v. STATE of Maryland.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

223 Md.App. 519

117 A.3d 91

Crystal Hayslett RANDALL

v.STATE of Maryland.

No. 1879, Sept. Term, 2013.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

July 1, 2015.

Andrew Mendrala (Christopher Morgan, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP, on the brief), Washington, DC, for Appellant.

Christopher Mason (Douglas F. Gansler, Atty. Gen., on the brief), Baltimore, MD, for Appellee.

Panel: LEAHY, REED, LAWRENCE F. RODOWSKY (Retired, specially assigned), JJ.

Opinion

LEAHY, J.

In 2009, Alma Matthews Lynch—a Montgomery County, Maryland resident—passed away, leaving a will devising, among other things, real property located in Arizona to the beneficiaries of her residuary estate. As designated under the will, the Register of Wills for Montgomery County appointed Ms. Lynch's niece, Appellant Crystal Hayslett Randall, and Ms. Lynch's partner, Clifton Terry, as co-personal representatives of the estate. These appointments proved ill-fated. Appellant, an Arizona resident, sold the Arizona property, failed to account for the sale within the Maryland Estate, and took the lion's share of the proceeds for herself.

A Montgomery County grand jury indicted Appellant for embezzlement and theft on July 21, 2011. The following day, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County issued a bench warrant. The Sheriff's Office entered the warrant into a national database, but efforts to confirm Appellant's address in Arizona delayed her arrest until December 7, 2012.

After several failed attempts to fight her extradition to Maryland, Appellant filed a motion to dismiss alleging denial of her right to a speedy trial. The circuit court denied that motion after holding a hearing. Additionally, before trial and then during her motion for acquittal, Appellant challenged the State of Maryland's jurisdiction to prosecute the charges filed against her, contending that jurisdiction existed in Arizona where the alleged crime occurred. The circuit court denied the motion for acquittal, concluding that Appellant had a duty to account for the proceeds to the Maryland estate and that the effect of the crime was felt in Maryland. At the close of her trial on August 14, 2013, the jury convicted Appellant of both charges, and Appellant was sentenced to a total of ten years with all but 18 months suspended. In her timely appeal, Appellant presents three questions for our review:

I. “Did the Circuit Court err in denying Ms. Randall's motion to dismiss for failure to provide a speedy trial?”

II. “Do the courts of the State of Maryland have territorial jurisdiction to prosecute alleged theft and embezzlement offenses when all of the acts comprising the elements [of] those offenses occurred, if at all, in Arizona?”

III. “Did the Circuit Court err in permitting Linda Hawkins, the Deputy Register of Wills, to testify to the practices and procedures of the Montgomery County Regist[er] of Wills, when those practices and procedures are based on the Regist[er]'s interpretation of legal rules and requirements?”

We conclude that the circuit court did not err in denying Appellant's motion to dismiss on speedy-trial grounds because the State of Maryland engaged in a reasonably diligent attempt to locate Appellant in Arizona and bring her to trial. See Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647, 651–52, 112 S.Ct. 2686, 120 L.Ed.2d 520 (1992). Appellant—cloaked in authority issued by the State of Maryland as personal representative of the estate—had a duty to report the proceeds from the sale of the Arizona property in Maryland, and therefore, we hold that the State of Maryland possessed territorial jurisdiction to prosecute the crimes against Appellant under the “duty to account” theory espoused in Wright v. State, 339 Md. 399, 663 A.2d 590 (1995). Finally, we hold that even if the court erred in admitting the testimony of Ms. Hawkins as improper expert testimony by a lay witness, that error was harmless because her testimony, although relevant to the issue of jurisdiction and the general administration of an estate, was not relevant to proving the charges Appellant was facing and was not otherwise prejudicial. We affirm the judgments of the circuit court.

BACKGROUND

Appellant stood trial before a jury in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County on August 12–14, 2013, charged with embezzlement (fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary) and theft of property with a value of at least $10,000.00 but less than $100,000.00. The testimony and evidence presented at trial reflected the following.

A. Ms. Lynch's Last Will and Testament

Alma Matthews Lynch, a resident of Montgomery County, Maryland, executed her last will and testament on July 10, 2009. She designated Clifton Terry, her lifetime partner, and Appellant, her niece and a realtor by profession, as the co-personal representatives of her estate. After bequeathing certain property to various individuals, Ms. Lynch directed that her residuary estate be devised accordingly:

All of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate and property of every nature, whether real, personal or mixed, wheresoever situate, of which I may die seized or possessed or to which I may in anywise be entitled at the time of my death, after allowance or payment therefrom of all estate, succession, legacy or inheritance taxes and charges of every description, I give, devise and bequeath as follows:

A. THIRTY–FIVE PERCENT (35%) to the then surviving descendants of my sister, NADEAN M. HAYSLETT, who survive me for thirty (30) days, per stirpes.

B. FIFTEEN PERCENT (15%) to my friend, CLIFTON W. TERRY, if he survives me for thirty (30) days.

C. The then remainder to my sister, NADEAN M. HAYSLETT, if she survive me for thirty (30) days. In the event that she does not so survive me, distribution shall be made in accordance with paragraph A of this Item.

The residuary estate included real property that Ms. Lynch owned in Arizona, located at 1342 West Coral Reef Drive in the town of Gilbert, Maricopa County (hereinafter “Arizona property”). Her family members were familiar with this residence, as they would gather at this home for Christmas.

Several months after executing her will, Ms. Lynch passed away on September 14, 2009. On September 23, 2009, the Register of Wills for Montgomery County, Maryland, issued an administrative probate order admitting Ms. Lynch's will dated July 10, 2009, into probate and appointing Appellant and Mr. Terry as personal representatives of the estate. That same day, a “List of Interested Persons” under Ms. Lynch's estate, totaling 20 individuals, was filed with the Maryland Register of Wills. Appellant and Mr. Terry thereafter filed the “First Account”¹ of the estate for the period of September 14, 2009, through July 30, 2010, which reflected the value of the total estate at $763,761.99. This account did not include the value of the Arizona property,² although it identified expenses relating to the Arizona property that would be covered by the estate. On September 1, 2010, notice that the First Account was filed was sent to all Interested Persons pursuant to E.T. § 7–501.

B. Concealing the Sale

For over a decade, Appellant had been a resident of Gilbert, Arizona, where the Arizona property was located and also where her parents resided. Accordingly, Mr. Terry and Appellant agreed it only made sense for Appellant, a realtor by profession, to handle the sale of the Arizona property. Appellant retained an Arizona attorney on behalf of the estate, who, on November 3, 2009, filed a certified copy of a letter of administration issued by the State of Maryland in the Superior Court of Arizona in and for the County of Maricopa.³ The letter was filed pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated § 14–4204,⁴ to declare Appellant and Mr. Terry's proof of authority to administer the estate's Arizona property.

Although both Mr. Terry and Appellant signed the listing agreement for the home at the outset, only Appellant served as the listing agent for the Arizona property. It took some time for the property to sell after it was put on the market, but on December 21, 2010, Appellant was able to sell the property for $220,000.00. After closing costs and satisfaction of a mortgage held by Wells Fargo on the property, the remaining proceeds totaled $90,960.30. As listing agent, Appellant received a $7,325 commission.⁵

As requested by the title company at settlement, on December 21st Appellant also filed an “estate tax affidavit.” The affidavit, dated December 17 and sworn before a notary on December 20, was filed with the Official Records of Maricopa County Recorder in Arizona. Appellant avowed that “all debts owed by the Decedent at the time of death, all claims against the estate, all estate expenses, including costs of administration ... have been paid in full.” She further attested that “the estate of the Decedent was valued at $12,000 so the estate was less than the exemption provided under federal estate tax law and the Arizona statutes relating to estate taxes, and, therefore, no taxes were due.”

Bank records reflect that on the day of settlement, all proceeds from the sale—$90,960.30—were wire-transferred to M & I Bank in Arizona and deposited into a checking account that Appellant had previously opened in the “name of Alma M. Lynch Estate, Crystal L. Hayslett, personal representative[.]” Mr. Terry testified at trial that he was unaware Appellant had opened this account. Appellant was the only person authorized to conduct transactions relating to this account, and she immediately made two withdrawals: one in the amount of $74,734.88 and another for $1,000.00. With the larger withdrawal, Appellant purchased certified checks and then issued two certified checks to herself in amounts of $64,000.00 and $1,000,⁶ and three certified checks to three beneficiaries under the will in the amounts of $4,855.00, $1,817.44, and $1,757.44. She also withdrew $1,280.00 in cash. After bank fees were withdrawn, at the end of the day on December 21st, only $15,255.67 remained in the account.

The...