Rodriguez v. State
| Citation | 991 A.2d 100,191 Md. App. 196 |
| Parties | Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ v. STATE of Maryland. |
| Decision Date | 24 March 2010 |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
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Anne K. Olesen, on the brief, Washington, DC, for appellant.
Michelle W. Cole (Douglas F. Gansler, Atty. Gen., on the brief), Baltimore, for appellee.
Panel: SALLY D. ADKINS,* WOODWARD, WRIGHT, JJ.
Jose Luis Rodriguez, appellant, was arrested on June 25, 2006, in connection with two burglaries of Fratelli's Restaurant in Salisbury, Maryland. On December 7, 2006, a jury trial was held in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County, Maryland, before Judge Donald C. Davis. The jury found appellant guilty of two counts each of burglary in the second degree, burglary in the fourth degree, and theft over $500, and one count of wearing, carrying or transporting a handgun in a vehicle on public roads. The judge sentenced appellant to an aggregate sentence of 33 years in prison, with all but 17 years suspended, and five years probation. Appellant was also ordered to pay restitution to the owners of the restaurant.
On appeal, appellant presents four issues1 for our review, which we have condensed into two questions:
For the following reasons, we shall affirm the judgments of the circuit court.
In June 2006, Fratelli's Restaurant was burglarized twice. The first burglary occurred early in the morning on June 23, 2006. At approximately 2 a.m., Sergeant Brian Waller of the Salisbury University Police Department reported to the restaurant in response to a security alarm, but did not see anything when he arrived. Nicholas Sakellis, one of the owners of Fratelli's Restaurant, testified that he discovered the restaurant had been burglarized when he arrived at about 9 a.m. He testified that he found the restaurant's side-door locked, an office window broken, a crowbar on the desk in the restaurant's office, and a Fratelli's bank bag missing. According to Sakellis, the missing bank bag contained seven or eight thousand dollars. He testified that nothing else was taken from the restaurant. Eugene Peed, a Salisbury University employee, testified that he saw a dark-colored Honda parked in the back of Fratelli's early in the morning on June 23, 2006.
In the early morning hours of June 25, 2006, Fratelli's was burglarized again. Sergeant Waller responded again, along with Officer Kelly Craven of the Salisbury University Police Department. Sergeant Waller testified that they saw a red Oldsmobile Alero parked in the restaurant's parking lot, and it was warm to the touch. He stated that Officer Craven informed him that the car had not been there when she patrolled the area earlier that morning.
Both Sergeant Waller and Officer Craven testified that, when they went to inspect Fratelli's, a man ran out of the restaurant and fled. Sergeant Waller chased him on foot, as did Sergeant Anthony Glenn, another police officer who responded to the scene of the burglary. Sergeant Waller and Officer Glenn lost sight of the suspect, searched the Salisbury University campus for forty-five minutes, but did not locate the man.
Sergeant Waller testified that he momentarily got a view of the man's side profile, and for the most part, only saw the man's back or his "back side at an angle." He described the man as six feet tall, slenderly built, light-skinned black or dark-skinned white, and wearing a light colored ball cap and a white t-shirt.
At about 8:30 a.m., on June 25, appellant was arrested in the Fratelli's parking lot when he arrived in a dark-colored Honda Accord with Corey Clark, Jessica Murphy, and Jose Luis Gonzales Ruperto. Appellant was driving the Honda toward the Alero, which was owned by Clark. Several officers testified that Ruperto was acting "antsy," "nervous, and kind of flighty" as he moved "all over the back of the Honda" and reached down "underneath the driver's seat." Appellant was described as being out of it, going "in and out of being asleep and awake" while seated in the car. Sergeant Waller testified that at one point, appellant was "laid over the steering wheel making a sound that sounded to me like he was snoring with his eyes shut and drool." Comparing appellant and Ruperto with the suspect he had chased hours before, Sergeant Waller testified that, although Ruperto was a little taller, he could not exclude either of them.
During a search of the Honda, officers found a handgun under the driver's seat and tools that matched the color and brand of the crowbar that was left at Fratelli's following the first burglary. The Alero was also searched; in the glove compartment officers found appellant's wallet containing his Maryland driver's license, social security card, and $810 in cash.
Officer Bobbie Jo Donoway drove appellant to the Sheriff's Office following his arrest. Officer Donoway testified that, during the transport, Mr. Rodriguez went "from one extreme to the other;" he was "completely enraged" one moment and then "falling asleep" the next. According to Officer Donoway, appellant's "eyes were extremely red, and he was very upset." Officer Donoway testified that she asked him a series of questions in an effort "to calm him down and to make sure that he was, in fact, okay." She testified that, at one point appellant said: "I can't keep doing this, I'm already in trouble, I'm going to jail, I did it."
At appellant's trial, on December 7, 2006, Clark and Murphy testified for the State. Clark stated that she had known appellant for a couple months, and they had spent a lot of time together. In the beginning her relationship with appellant was "sexual," but then they were "just friends." Clark testified that she would use heroin and crack cocaine with appellant. Clark stated that on the evening of June 24, she and appellant were at "some house over on the west side" with Murphy, Ruperto, and a Puerto Rican man. According to Clark, she, Murphy, appellant, and Ruperto were all "getting high" over the course of the next 12 hours. Clark testified that appellant left the house around 3 a.m. on June 25 and returned a couple hours later without her car. Clark also testified that she remained in one room the entire night with Murphy and Ruperto, and was "awake that whole time." Clark also testified that a few days before June 25, she saw a bank bag in appellant's car and appellant "all of a sudden" was in possession of a large sum of money that he kept in stacks folded in a towel in his closet.
Murphy testified that on the evening of June 24, she, Clark, appellant, Ruperto, and some other men were at a house on the west-side. Murphy admitted that she, Clark, appellant and Ruperto were doing drugs and engaging in sexual activities. Murphy stated that appellant left the house sometime in the early morning for "maybe an hour and 45 minutes." She only learned that appellant had left when she noticed that Clark's car was not outside the house. Murphy testified, as did Clark, that later in the morning of June 25, appellant drove her, Clark, and Ruperto to Fratelli's restaurant to pick up Clark's car.
Appellant testified in his own defense. According to appellant, on the evening of June 24, 2006, he and Ruperto rode in appellant's Honda to meet Clark and Murphy in the parking lot of Fratelli's Restaurant. Appellant testified that Clark and Murphy were in Clark's Alero, and the four agreed to leave the Alero at Fratelli's so that they could ride in one car to buy drugs for the night. Appellant testified that they then drove to a house "just to have sex and use some drugs." Appellant testified that the four left the house in his Honda and returned to Fratelli's parking lot to pick up Clark's car. Finally, appellant stated that the cash in his wallet was part of the $2000 that his parents had sent him to rent an apartment.
The defense also called Ruperto to testify. Outside the presence of the jury, Ruperto invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination when asked about the burglaries. With the jury present, Ruperto was questioned about the gun found under the driver's seat of appellant's Honda and invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege.
Following Ruperto's testimony, Deputy Mark Walker took the stand. Deputy Walker testified that Ruperto admitted to him that the gun was his. Deputy Walker explained that, after Ruperto testified at appellant's trial, Ruperto was taken to the holding area. At some time thereafter, Ruperto started beating on the holding cell door. Deputy Walker asked him if there was something wrong. Ruperto responded, in broken English, "gun mine, charges mine, he's innocent."
At the conclusion of trial on December 7, 2006, the jury returned a verdict, finding appellant guilty of two counts of burglary in the second degree, two counts of burglary in the fourth degree, and two counts of theft over $500, and one count of wearing, carrying or transporting a handgun in a vehicle on public roads. The judge sentenced appellant to 15 years' in prison with all but seven years suspended on one count of second degree burglary, to a consecutive 15 years' imprisonment with all but seven years suspended on the other count of second degree burglary, and to a consecutive three years' incarceration on the hand gun charge. Appellant was placed on five years' probation upon release from incarceration. The remaining convictions merged for sentencing purposes. Appellant was also ordered to pay restitution to the owners of Fratelli's Restaurant. On December 26, 2006, appellant timely noted this appeal.
We will set forth additional facts and proceedings below as necessary to discuss the questions presented.
On December 1, 2006, at a motions...
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