Raras v. State, 474
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
| Citation | 140 Md. App. 132,780 A.2d 322 |
| Docket Number | No. 474,474 |
| Parties | Emilia Domingo RARAS, v. STATE of Maryland. |
| Decision Date | 31 May 2001 |
Clarke F. Ahlers (Carol L. James, on the brief), Columbia, for appellant.
Diane E. Keller, Assistant Attorney General (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General, Baltimore and Marna McLendon, State's Attorney for Howard County, Ellicott City, on the brief), for appellee.
Argued before MURPHY, C.J., DEBORAH S. EYLER and PAUL E. ALPERT (Ret., specially assigned). PAUL E. ALPERT, Judge, Retired, Specially Assigned.
A jury in the Circuit Court for Howard County convicted Emilia Domingo Raras, the appellant, of first degree murder and solicitation to commit first degree murder in the contract killing of her daughter-in-law.1 The court imposed concurrent prison sentences of life without possibility of parole for the murder conviction and life for the solicitation conviction.
We find no merit in either of these arguments and affirm the judgments of the trial court.
On November 14, 1998, someone broke into the Howard County home of Sara Jane Williamson Raras and brutally stabbed her to death. At the time, the victim was married to but separated from appellant's son, Lorenzo Raras ("Lorenzo"). The couple had a 16 month old son, who was not in the house when the murder was committed.
Police had no real leads in the case until the following summer, when an inmate of the Baltimore County Detention Center, Edison George, informed a Baltimore County police detective that another inmate, Ardale Tickles, had confessed to committing a murder. At the detective's suggestion, George agreed to initiate another conversation with Tickles regarding the murder and to surreptitiously tape record that conversation.
The Baltimore County police detective shared the tape recording with a Howard County police detective, Nathan Rettig, who linked Tickles' comments to the unsolved murder of Sara Raras. On August 24, 1999, Detective Rettig arrested Tickles at the Baltimore County Detention Center and transported him to a Howard County police station for interrogation.
Because the only factual disputes on appeal concern the denial of the motion to suppress, our recitation of the facts from this point on is based entirely on the evidence presented at the hearing on the motion. The parties stipulated at the hearing that, at the start of the interrogation, Tickles invoked his rights to remain silent and to counsel. On the advice of an assistant State's Attorney, however, Detective Rettig continued to interrogate Tickles. Tickles thereafter made comments that incriminated himself and appellant.
Detective Rettig immediately prepared an application for a statement of charges against appellant and obtained a warrant for her arrest. The warrant was executed that same day by Howard County Police Detectives Ellsworth Jones, Vickie Shaffer, and others. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Detective Jones testified that appellant was arrested at her home in Baltimore County at about 2:20 PM on August 24, 1999. At the time, appellant was 63 years old. She was babysitting her grandson—the victim's son.
Detective Jones stated that he handcuffed appellant and drove her to a police station in Howard County. During the ride, appellant asked about her grandson. Detective Jones told her that another officer, Detective Shaffer, was making arrangements for the child. Detective Jones informed appellant that the police had obtained evidence against her and that she was being charged with conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder. According to the detective, appellant said something to the effect of "I couldn't have done that." The detective then told appellant that she would be advised of her rights when they reached the station, and instructed her not to say anything further. Detective Jones recalled telling appellant that he "didn't want to hear her lying...." He advised her to "focus her attention on the future of her grandchild." The detective remarked that the officers needed to find out if anyone else was involved in the murder. In particular, they wanted to know if Lorenzo was involved because, if he was, the grandson could not be returned to him.
Upon arriving at the station at 3:00 to 3:15 PM, Detective Jones placed appellant in an interview room and removed her handcuffs. The detective left appellant alone in the room for five to ten minutes, then he and Detective Glen Case joined her. One of the officers placed a photograph of Tickles on the table, and Detective Jones began what he described as "[l]aying the foundation" for an interview.3 He informed appellant that the police knew that Tickles had killed the victim and that appellant had hired him. He reiterated that appellant was being charged with conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder. Detective Jones further reiterated that he wanted to know whether appellant's son Lorenzo was involved. The detective stated that, if Lorenzo was involved, appellant's grandson would not be returned to him.
Appellant indicated that she wanted to speak with an attorney. Through questioning, Detective Case established that appellant was sober and understood the English language.4 Appellant indicated that she was diabetic and had not taken her medication that day but did not require it at that time. Detective Case then fully advised appellant of her right to counsel and her right to remain silent, and at 3:30 PM appellant filled out and signed an advice of rights form, indicating that she would not waive her rights. Detective Jones instructed appellant not to say anything further.5
After the advice of rights form was completed, Detective Jones reiterated that the police knew about Tickles and had enough evidence to charge appellant with conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder. Detective Case then placed on the table a photograph of the victim's body at the crime scene6, and stated to appellant: "This is what your money paid for." Appellant glanced at the photo and immediately turned her head away. Detective Case then picked up the photo and left the room.
Appellant asked Detective Jones if she could call her family to let them know where she was. Detective Jones informed appellant that she could not do so at that time "[b]ecause the investigation was ongoing, interviews were still being made, a wiretap was attempting to be obtained; and a phone call I would have no control over would possibly hurt the investigation, so it was not to be allowed." The detective then left the interview room to arrange for the processing of appellant.
Detective Jones returned to the interview room with Detective Diana Peters at 3:45 PM. Appellant was again handcuffed, and the two detectives walked with her to the booking area. Detective Jones testified that appellant "asked about the process of getting a lawyer." He recalled that he "explained to her that she was going to be processed now, fingerprinted, photographed and placed into a cell; that she would more than likely be able to obtain a lawyer but I couldn't allow her to make any phone calls now because there was an ongoing investigation, and that eventually she would be allowed to make a phone call...." Another police officer who overheard the conversation between Detective Jones and appellant testified that Detective Jones made clear to appellant that "she would be given a phone call, but not right at that moment, but somewhere later in the processing time, she would be allowed a phone call."
According to Detective Jones, Detective Peters, and the other officer who overheard the conversation, appellant informed Detective Jones that she wanted to speak with him to "clarify" something regarding the charges. Detective Jones told appellant that he could not speak with her because she had invoked her right to counsel. Appellant continued to insist that she wanted to talk, and Detective Jones suggested that she go into a cell and think about it more. Appellant declined to do so and repeated her request, so Detective Jones finally agreed to talk.
Detectives Jones and Peters went back to the interview room with appellant.7 Detective Jones recounted that appellant had earlier invoked her right to counsel, that he had been prepared to begin booking procedures, but that appellant had asked to speak with him. The transcript of the audio tape of the discussion reflects that Detective Jones and appellant further recounted what had happened in the booking area as follows:
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