Robertson v. State

Citation685 A.2d 805,112 Md.App. 366
Decision Date01 September 1996
Docket NumberNo. 60,60
PartiesRoy Monroe ROBERTSON v. STATE of Maryland. ,
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
Michael R. Braudes, Assistant Public Defender (Stephen E. Harris, Public Defender, on the brief), Baltimore, for Appellant

Thomas K. Clancy, Assistant Attorney General (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General, Baltimore, and Jerry F. Barnes, State's Attorney for Carroll County, Westminster, on the brief), for Appellee.

Submitted before HARRELL and WILNER *, JJ., and JAMES S. GETTY (retired), Specially Assigned.

HARRELL, Judge.

Appellant, Roy Monroe Robertson, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Carroll County of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. The court sentenced appellant to life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole, for the murder conviction and a consecutive fifteen year term of imprisonment for the handgun conviction. Among appellant's several points of alleged error is the trial judge's refusal to grant his request for a specific jury instruction on an alibi defense. We conclude that there was sufficient evidence in the record to have compelled granting appellant's request for an alibi instruction. We further conclude that, under the facts and circumstances of this case, the trial judge's failure to propound the requested alibi instruction, or one otherwise instructing the jury as to an alibi defense, constituted reversible error. Accordingly, we shall reverse the judgment of the circuit court.

ISSUES

Among the six questions presented by appellant for our review is the following, which we have rephrased as follows:

Whether testimony regarding an accused's alibi that is offered by a prosecution witness in the form of statements made to him by the accused, standing alone, constitutes sufficient evidence to warrant an alibi instruction, if requested.

Because our resolution of this question is dispositive of this appeal, we need not consider appellant's five other questions. 1

FACTS

On 18 February 1993, at approximately 12:20 p.m., the body of Charles Prodoehl was discovered in a snow-covered fishing area near Starner's Dam on the Monocacy River in Carroll County. A doctor who examined the body within five minutes of its discovery initially concluded that the victim had been dead for approximately eighteen to thirty hours. An investigation of the crime scene indicated that there were no signs of a struggle or robbery. The autopsy report revealed that Prodoehl had been shot twice in the head, although no defensive wounds were found on the body. Further, one of the victim's wounds had gunpowder stippling, indicating that the gun used in the shooting was touching or very near the victim's head when it was discharged.

Three individuals became immediate suspects in the murder: the victim's wife, Gina, and two of her lovers, appellant and Douglas Crouse. At the time of the murder, appellant was living in the Prodoehl home. The police investigated the murder for almost two years before charging appellant with the murder. Most of the evidence against appellant came from conversations he had with Trooper George Forsythe and John Staubitz, Jr.

Ten months after the murder, appellant was arrested on unrelated charges and incarcerated at the Carroll County Detention Center pending trial on those charges. From 31 December 1993 to 5 January 1994, Trooper George Forsythe, posing as an incarcerated murder suspect, was placed in appellant's cell. During this time, appellant confided in Forsythe that Gina and he had been having an affair and that they had planned on splitting a $100,000 life insurance policy on Prodoehl's life. When Forsythe intimated that appellant had been "duped" by Gina, appellant replied, "[s]he knows, if I go away for a long time, she will, too."

The most incriminating statements appellant made to Forsythe came during a discussion in which appellant, using the rhetorical device of third-person self-reference, recounted in detail Prodoehl's murder. During this discussion, appellant told Forsythe that the murderer threw the murder weapon into Big Pipe Creek from a bridge off of Maryland Route 140. Forsythe relayed this information to the police who conducted a search of the creek and the surrounding area for the gun. The police discovered a .32 caliber gun deep in the river bed, yet within throwing distance of the bridge. A firearms expert determined that the gun was more likely than not the murder weapon.

In August 1994, appellant was sentenced on the unrelated charges and transferred to the Roxbury Correctional Institute in Hagerstown, Maryland. During his incarceration at Roxbury, appellant became friendly with a fellow inmate, John Staubitz, Jr. 2 Appellant went to Staubitz seeking help in setting forth a chronology of events surrounding the murder. Over the next several months, appellant also went to Staubitz for legal advice and assistance in writing letters about his case. Sometime in February 1995, appellant approached Staubitz in a highly anxious state. Appellant told Staubitz that the investigators had gathered more evidence than he originally thought, and that Gina might now testify against him. Appellant wanted Staubitz's help in filling in the details of his earlier chronology. Appellant then gave Staubitz a detailed and descriptive account of the murder. During this recounting of events, appellant told Staubitz three or four times that he had killed Charles Prodoehl.

During appellant's fourteen day trial, it was the State's theory that appellant shot and killed Prodoehl for a portion of the $100,000 life insurance policy on Prodoehl's life, and so that he and Gina could continue their relationship. According to the State, the crime was committed at approximately 4:30 At trial, the State introduced other evidence that, during the investigation, appellant was asked for his work boots to determine if they matched the boot imprints taken from the snow near Prodoehl's body. Appellant attempted, however, to "pass off" a pair of his co-workers boots as his own. Appellant's boots were later discovered hidden in a shed on the farm where appellant worked. These boots were "similar and consistent" to the boot imprints found at the crime scene, except for "slices" on the soles of the boots. One of appellant's co-workers observed appellant slicing the soles of his boots with a knife sometime that spring.

p.m. on 17 February 1993. In contrast, the defense theory was that Douglas Crouse, Gina's other lover, was the actual perpetrator. Appellant asserts on appeal, as he did in statements made to Sgt. Coppinger which were introduced at trial, that throughout the day that the murder allegedly occurred, he was engaged in innocuous activities: primarily at his job, at home, running errands, and at a bowling alley.

The State also offered the testimony of Sgt. Thomas P. Coppinger, who recounted a statement appellant had given to him on 23 February 1993. In that statement, appellant claimed that he arrived home at approximately 1:45 p.m. According to appellant, around that time Prodoehl was preparing to go fishing and invited appellant to join him. Appellant declined the invitation. Appellant stated that he and the victim left the house at approximately the same time, the time being "no later than 3:00 p.m.," and each went their separate way. After leaving the Prodoehl residence, appellant went to the Sheetz store, the post office, and then to the K-Mart in Westminster so that he could rendezvous with Gina Prodoehl. Appellant met Mrs. Prodoehl at the K-Mart, but he did not go inside because he had soiled his undergarments. Next, appellant stated that he returned home, discarded his underwear, and cleaned himself and his pants in the shower. According to appellant's statement, Mrs. Prodoehl returned home with her son, Carl, at approximately 4:45 p.m. Appellant ate dinner with them and then went bowling. Appellant, however, did not testify in his own defense at trial.

At the close of all the evidence, appellant made several requests to the court for proposed jury instructions. Among those was a request that the court propound Maryland Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction Number 5:00 (Alibi). That instruction reads as follows:

Evidence has been introduced that the defendant was not there when the crime was committed. You should consider this evidence along with all other evidence in this case. Thus, in order to convict the defendant, the State must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the crime was committed and the defendant committed it. MPJI-Cr. 5:00 (1995).

The court denied this request. In so ruling, the trial court reasoned as follows:

I do not feel that is a proper instruction for this case simply because I have heard no [alibi] witnesses take the stand in the Defense case. [Mr. Robertson] present[s] a theory that the Defendant can offer an alibi through statements that he made to various police officers who testified as witnesses for the State. I don't think that the instruction or the various cases which are referred to in the comment section anticipate an alibi defense being made in the way that you wish to present that defense. There have been no alibi witnesses for the Defense in this case.

Appellant was subsequently convicted of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. From those convictions he noted a timely appeal to this Court.

ANALYSIS

We begin our analysis of the sole issue that we need address by reiterating a settled proposition of Maryland law that "it is incumbent upon the court, ... when requested in a criminal case, to give an instruction on every essential question or point of law supported by the evidence." Bruce v. State, 218 Md. 87, 97, 145 A.2d 428, 433 (1958). Accord Smith v. State, 302 Md. 175, 179, 486 A.2d 196, 198 (1985); Pulley v. State, 38 Md.App. 682, 686, 382 A.2d 621, 624 (1978); Couser v. State, 36...

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  • In re Lavar D.
    • United States
    • Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
    • December 30, 2009
    ...the crime with which the defendant is charged, including his criminal agency, beyond a reasonable doubt," Robertson v. State, 112 Md.App. 366, 375, 685 A.2d 805 (1996), the "only evidence produced by the State to demonstrate appellants' criminal agency was the fact that each was identified ......
  • Schmitt v. State
    • United States
    • Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
    • August 31, 2001
    ...generate the issue." Smith v. State, 302 Md. 175, 180, 486 A.2d 196 (1985). No other "alibi" witness is required. In Robertson v. State, 112 Md.App. 366, 685 A.2d 805 (1996), this Court went further and held that, even when the defendant himself did not testify, his out-of-court statement t......
  • Martin v. State
    • United States
    • Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
    • October 28, 2005
    ...doubt." With respect to the absence of an alibi witness charge, Razzaq, citing this Court's decision in Robertson v. State, 112 Md.App. 366, 386, 685 A.2d 805 (1996), asks us to note plain error because, "[w]ithout such instructions, there is an inherent risk that a jury may simply weigh th......
  • General v. State
    • United States
    • Maryland Court of Appeals
    • January 14, 2002
    ...Jury instructions direct the jury's attention to the legal principles that apply to the facts of the case. See Robertson v. State, 112 Md.App. 366, 685 A.2d 805 (1996). The defendant is entitled to have the jury instructed on any theory of the defense that is fairly supported by the evidenc......
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