Reeves v. State Of Md.

• Decision Date: 03 May 2010
• Docket Number: No. 1723 Sept.Term,2008.,1723 Sept.Term
• Citation: 994 A.2d 469,192 Md.App. 277
• Parties: Alfred Jerome REEVESv.STATE of Maryland.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

192 Md.App. 277

994 A.2d 469

Alfred Jerome REEVESv.STATE of Maryland.

No. 1723 Sept.Term, 2008.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

May 3, 2010.

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Allison Pierce Brasseaux (Elizabeth L. Julian, Acting Public Defender, on the brief), Baltimore, MD for Appellant.

James E. Williams (Douglas F. Gansler, Atty. Gen., on the brief), Baltimore, MD, for Appellee.

Panel: DAVIS, ZARNOCH and FREDERICK J. SHARER (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.

ZARNOCH, Judge.

Appellant, Alfred Jerome Reeves, a resident of the District of Columbia, was tried by a jury in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County on charges of armed carjacking and related offenses. The jury found appellant guilty of carjacking, robbery, car theft, theft of goods with a value of over $500, second degree assault, and fleeing and eluding. The court originally sentenced appellant on August 29, 2008. Appellant filed a Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence, which was granted on May 20, 2009. Subsequently, the court sentenced appellant to 30 years' incarceration, with all but 10 years suspended, for the carjacking conviction, and to a concurrent 15 years' incarceration, all but 10 years suspended, for the robbery conviction. All other convictions were merged for the purposes of sentencing.

In this timely appeal, appellant presents three questions for our review, which we have slightly modified as follows:

1. Did the trial court violate appellant's right to be present at every stage of trial when it took the jury's verdict in appellant's absence without first conducting an adequate inquiry to ensure that his absence was voluntary?

2. Was the evidence insufficient to prove that appellant committed a carjacking and a robbery?

3. Was the evidence insufficient to prove that appellant was the person who committed the crimes?

For the reasons set forth below, we shall affirm the circuit court's judgments.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 27, 2007, Joseph Durda, a man in his eighties, and his wife returned home from lunch and parked their 2001 Ford Windstar in the driveway of their Fort Washington home. Intending to wash the minivan, Durda briefly went into the house to change his clothes. He went to the garage and prepared the water and hose to complete the chore. Deciding that he wanted to move the minivan to the middle of the driveway, Durda re-entered his home to retrieve his keys.

When Durda came back out, a stranger was standing in his garage. The man said, “I want your wallet and keys.” Durda hesitated and responded, “What?” The man said, “I want your wallet and keys, or I'll shoot you.” ¹ The man then reached out and grabbed the keys from Durda's hand, quickly patted Durda down, then ran out the garage door and jumped in Durda's car. The man backed the car out of the driveway and took off down the road. Durda immediately called 911.

Durda testified that the man who accosted him was African-American and wore light blue jeans and a blue jacket. The man was of average height, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, and muscular. Durda guessed that the man was about 25 years old. Durda testified that the encounter lasted only ten to fifteen seconds. At trial, he identified appellant as the man who stole his vehicle. Durda also testified that he had seen and recognized appellant in the hallway and men's room of the courthouse prior to the commencement of the trial.

Officer Myron Young of the Prince George's County Police Department was on patrol when he heard the broadcast about a carjacking of a gray Ford Windstar van. Within five minutes of the call, Officer Young spotted the van and pulled out behind it. The van started “to run” and ran a red light, so Young activated his emergency lights. Young called in the van's tags to verify that it was the stolen vehicle. The van continued at a high rate of speed, at some points in excess of 100 miles per hour, and ran at least one more red light.

On Interstate 295, Officer Richard Leska joined the pursuit. The van attempted to evade the police by swerving around the police cars and going the wrong way on an exit ramp at high speed. The officers continued pursuing the van as it entered the District of Columbia. At some point, Young's police car stalled. Leska, however, continued pursuing the van. When Young was able to restart his car, he continued in the direction that the van and Leska had gone, and soon saw Leska pursuing appellant on foot. Young joined the foot pursuit, eventually apprehending appellant on the porch of a house. At trial, Young identified appellant as the man he apprehended.

Officer Leska testified about his participation in the high-speed pursuit of the van. After a ten or fifteen minute chase, the driver of the van lost control and struck a tree or pole on the side of the road. Leska observed appellant, dressed in a blue jacket and blue pants, exiting the driver's side of the van. As he was running, appellant removed and dropped the blue jacket. Appellant ran around the back side of a nearby home, but was blocked by a fence. He then doubled back through the yard and ran three or four houses up the street before crossing the road and running up onto the porch of a house. Leska exited his car and pursued appellant on foot onto the porch. Appellant was out of breath when Leska caught him. Leska held appellant at gunpoint until Young arrived and placed appellant under arrest. Leska testified that he did not lose sight of appellant at any time during the foot pursuit. He also identified the blue jacket appellant had dropped during the pursuit, as well as a pair of gloves retrieved from just outside the front driver's side of the minivan.

Late that night, Detective Richardson met with the victim. Durda chose appellant's photo from an array and identified him as the perpetrator. Durda signed and dated the photo he recognized. On the back, Durda wrote in the comments section, “He resembles him.” Durda testified that the intent of his written comment was that the man in the photo looked like the man who accosted him.

Appellant was arrested on January 27, 2007. He posted bond on July 26, 2007, and was released until trial.

Appellant's trial began on November 5, 2007. Appellant and his attorney were present during that entire day. The case went to the jury at 5:40 p.m. At 5:54 p.m., the court dismissed the jury for the day, instructing them to return to continue deliberations at 9:00 a.m. the next morning. The judge also told the jurors that they would assemble in a different court room the next day. After the jury exited, the prosecutor asked, “Reassemble at 9:00?” The judge answered, “We'll just record what time they start their deliberations. It will take at least two hours or so at a minimum probably, so just make certain we know where you're at.”

When the case was called the following day, November 6, 2007, at 11:20 a.m., appellant's absence was noted in the record. The following discussion then occurred:

THE COURT: It's 11:20, we have the attorneys present. [Prosecutor]? You can have a seat. [Defense Counsel].

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: All I can represent is he's on his way. I don't know if the Court wants-

THE COURT: Have you had communication at all? I know yesterday he got here about ten o'clock or so.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Right. I talked to his family members, and I actually finally got to him. He said he's on his way.

THE COURT: We're going to take the verdict in his absence. It's now 11:20. He was here yesterday when we told everyone that the jury would return at 9:00 today. Bring the jury in, please.

The jury was called, and it rendered the guilty verdicts. Appellant's attorney requested that the jury be polled. All of the jurors confirmed that they agreed with the verdict. The judge discharged the jury at 11:24 a.m. The judge then issued a bench warrant for appellant's arrest.

Appellant turned himself in on December 3, 2007. He was held without bail, and sentenced on August 29, 2008. At the sentencing hearing, appellant admitted that he was on the run from November 5, 2007, the day the verdict was rendered, until he turned himself in on December 3, 2007, at which time “[he] got sick and tired of running, and [he] had to surrender.”

The prosecutor filed a Notice of Mandatory Sentence before the sentencing hearing, stating that appellant had previously been convicted of a crime of violence and requesting that appellant be sentenced to 30 years and not less than a mandatory 10-year sentence. At the sentencing hearing on August 29, 2008, the prosecutor said that appellant had previously been convicted of four robberies in Montgomery County and assault, but the prosecutor was unsure whether it was a felony or misdemeanor assault. Appellant and his counsel both mentioned appellant's history of bipolar disorder and drug abuse and said that he was in a program that was helping him with those problems. As noted, the court sentenced appellant to 30 years' incarceration, with all but 10 years suspended, for the carjacking conviction, and to a concurrent 15 years, all but 10 years suspended, for the robbery conviction. Although appellant filed post-trial motions, none raised the issues pressed here.

Additional facts will be provided as necessary.

ANALYSIS

I. Appellant's Absence

Appellant contends that the trial judge erred when he failed to conduct a reasonable inquiry to determine whether appellant's absence from court when the verdict was read was voluntary. Appellant further asserts that the court failed to make a necessary finding on the record that his absence was voluntary, and that the trial judge abused his discretion when he took the verdict in appellant's absence. He argues that his constitutional right to be present at every stage of trial was violated, and therefore his convictions must be reversed.

The State responds that appellant's claim should be rejected because he was represented by counsel, and both he and his attorney were present for the entire...