Snyder v. State

• Decision Date: 01 September 1994
• Docket Number: No. 481,481
• Citation: 657 A.2d 342,104 Md.App. 533
• Parties: William L. SNYDER v. STATE of Maryland. ,
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

Page 533

104 Md.App. 533

657 A.2d 342

William L. SNYDER v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 481, Sept. Term, 1994.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

April 26, 1995.

George E. Burns, Asst. Public Defender (Stephen E. Harris, Public Defender, on the brief) Baltimore, for appellant.

Diane E. Keller, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baltimore (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen., Baltimore, and Sandra A. O'Connor, State's Atty. for Baltimore County, Towson, on the brief), for appellee.

Submitted before MOYLAN, BISHOP and HOLLANDER, JJ.

BISHOP, Judge.

Appellant, William L. Snyder, was charged with first and second degree murder. A jury, sitting in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, found appellant guilty of first degree murder. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Issues

Appellant raises the following questions, which we rephrase:

I. Was the evidence sufficient to sustain appellant's conviction?

II. Did the trial court err in admitting evidence of police speculation?

III. Did the trial court err in allowing the State to question defense witnesses regarding prior bad acts of appellant?

IV. Did the trial court err in allowing the State to question defense witnesses regarding prior statements made by the witnesses?

V. Did the trial court err in refusing to allow appellant to consult with his attorney?

VI. Did the trial court err in allowing State witnesses to testify that the victim had feared for her life?

VII. Did the trial court err when it permitted appellant to discharge his attorney at the close of all the evidence, but before jury instructions and closing argument?

VIII. Did the trial court err in denying appellant's motion for a new trial?

We answer appellant's second question in the affirmative and, thus, reverse and remand for a new trial. To the extent they have been preserved, we address several of the remaining questions for the guidance of the trial court. Rule 8-131(a); Bedford v. State, 317 Md. 659, 668, 566 A.2d 111 (1989).

Facts

On February 14, 1986, the victim, Frances Kay Snyder, left her house shortly after 6:00 a.m. to go to work; however, she never arrived at work that day. At approximately 2:30 p.m., the victim's husband, appellant, found his wife's body at the edge of a wooded area across the street from their residence. The victim had been bludgeoned. In 1993, appellant was convicted of murdering his wife, although the State had no forensic evidence connecting appellant with the murder. The State, rather, presented detailed testimony regarding appellant's actions on the day of the murder and subsequent to the murder. Among the State's witnesses were Tanya, Valerie, and Bonnie Snyder, and Robin Hock, daughters of appellant and the victim, and William Snyder, Jr., son of appellant and the victim.

Officer Robert Martin testified that, on the date of the murder, he went to appellant's home in response to a call for a cardiac arrest. When he arrived at the scene, the fire department was already present. Officer Martin testified that, "[the victim] was lying down in about a 6 foot ravine off of Clark Boulevard, so you really couldn't see the body until you were kind of on top of it." The victim's shattered eye glasses were found lying in the driveway of the Snyder residence. Near the eye glasses, the police found a blood spot, measuring about seven inches in diameter, in which there were also strands of dark hair and gray matter. There were also more blood spots in the road toward the driveway and on the far side of Clark Boulevard.

When Officer Martin arrived on the scene, the victim's car was parked in her driveway. Appellant advised Officer Martin that he had seen the car parked at Village Auto Body Shop, a nearby garage, and that he had driven it from the garage to the driveway. Appellant told Officer Martin that, after appellant parked the car in the driveway, he noticed something "that he thought was suspicious or something along in the woods." According to Officer Martin, appellant's comment was unusual because, standing in the driveway "and looking into the woods toward where the body was lying[,] there was nothing that you could see.... There was nothing that would have le[ ]d me to believe that something out of the ordinary or the fact that there was a body back there. There was just nothing visible." Officer Martin testified that appellant had first told him that he had seen something suspicious in the woods when he got out of his wife's vehicle in the driveway, but then, appellant, while writing his statement, indicated that he "did not notice something suspicious in the woods until he was half way into Clark Boulevard." Officer Martin did not include in his report, however, where appellant showed him he had first seen the body.

On cross-examination, Officer Martin stated that he failed to note in his police report that nothing unusual could be seen from the vantage point of appellant's driveway. Officer Martin also acknowledged that nowhere in his police report did he include anything about a ravine or that the victim's body was below the level parallel to the plane of Clark Boulevard. Detectives William Ramsey and Milton Duckworth, the investigating homicide detectives, confirmed Officer Martin's observation that it was impossible to see the victim's body from the driveway because of its position twelve to fifteen feet behind two cars parked on the side of the road.

On the day of the murder, appellant made the following handwritten statement:

I woke up about 5 o'clock. My wife said she was running late would I make her coffee while she took her shower. I signed Valentine cards for the kids and hers and left them on the table. I started her car about 6 and came in the house. I put some clothes from washer into dryer jeans ... [--] laid down. I woke about 6:35 checked on Valerie and made her get up for work. I made her lunch bag and breakfast. She left at about 7:40[.] I believe my daughter Tanya was up at this time[.] [A]t about 8 o'clock I called Frank Smallwood [a/k/a "Adolph"] and asked him to drop me off at Fox to buy a 1975 Torino. I then called Balt[imore] Wash[.] Auction and got 3 numbers for cars for Tuesday's sale. Frank came[.] I woke Bonnie before I left for Fox. I bought the Torino and came home. I woke Billy for work at about 9:20. I [went] outside to move a '74 Mustang that was stuck[,] it wouldn't start. Me and my son left for Fulton Auto Sales at about 10 o'clock. (I took shower prior to leaving). I left Fulton about 10:20 with my son to take a car to Fox Chevrolet. We then left and went to Russell Toyota to buy a part for '79 pick up truck, ordered part, waited until U[/]C manager was free. Me and my son bought a 1975 Ford wagon. I came home, arrived about 11:45. My daughter Bonnie had left for work about 5 minutes previous. My daughter Tanya was still here getting ready to go to doctor's. I waited for Tanya to get ready[,] folded some jeans and straightened up the house. I called Kay's work, spoke with someone named Bob. He said he hadn't seen her but didn't know if she was in or in that department today. About 12 [o'clock,] I became concerned. My daughter felt she went to the doctor[']s. After my daughter Tanya was ready we [rode] down Washington Boulevard to beltway and to BW Expressway out to Westinghouse looking for my wife's car. We then stopped at a card shop on Camp Meade Road. Tanya and I bought some candy and a card for her mother. I then took her to her doctor for exam about 1:45. We left the doctor's at 2:15[,] I took Tanya to my mother's[,] came towards house to look for doctor's phone number to find out if Kay was there or had appointment coming up Clark. I thought I saw her car in Village Auto Service[.] I asked where my wife was or what was wrong with her car or why was it here. I was told it had been there since about 8. I looked at car[.] [I]t seemed like no mechanical problem. I brought my '78 Datsun home then walked down and drove Kay's car up[.] I then noticed her purse and purse contents scattered about. Realizing something is wrong I started looking around. I noticed what I thought was red paint and then I noticed something not right across the street. I then crossed the street and saw it was Kay. She was half naked and bloodied. I tried to talk to her[.] I tried to cover her but her clothes wouldn't move. I ran to my house and called 911. The lady told me to hold on and go see if she was breathing and an ambulance was on the way. I think I checked her and couldn't tell first or second trip she told me to roll her over then the ambulance was there.

After making this statement, appellant was asked what made him look across the street. Appellant responded:

I don't know, I just panicked and noticed what I thought was red paint by the driveway. I think I was half way in the street when I noticed something wrong in the woods. I noticed what appeared to be, what looked like red paint and something else. I don't know what else it was, just something. I was just looking everywhere. When I came to check out the area I saw my wife.

Appellant denied that he and the victim were having marital problems, but admitted that, in the course of their marriage, they had been separated three times. The most recent separation was during the summer of 1985; however, appellant told Officer Martin that, since that reconciliation, "it had been great and getting better all the time."

Detective George Thiess, a Crime Unit officer, testified that the victim's body was found in a ravine, twelve to fifteen feet behind two vehicles parked on the far side of Clark Boulevard. Detective Thiess testified that the position of the victim's clothing indicated that the victim had been dragged to that location.

A search of the victim's car at the Baltimore County Police Department Headquarters produced various personal items, including a twenty dollar bill and the victim's purse, which contained more personal items and $59.55. From the trunk of the victim's...