State v. Alston, No. 28410 (Haw. App. 3/31/2009)
| Decision Date | 31 March 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 28410.,28410. |
| Parties | STATE OF HAWAI`I, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. WILLIAM D. ALSTON, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Hawaii Court of Appeals |
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT, (CR. NO. 05-1-0936).
On the briefs:
Cynthia Kagiwada, for Defendant-Appellant.
James M. Anderson, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Defendant-Appellant William D. Alston (Alston) was convicted of offenses including attempted murder in the second degree and kidnapping. Alston's convictions were based on events that transpired at the apartment of James Swann (Swann). Among other things, Alston allegedly stabbed Swann and set Swann on fire and restrained with the intent to terrorize Swann, Alston's wife, Lygeia Alston, also known as Lygeia Harris (Harris), James Marable (Marable), and Darlene Deal (Deal).
After a jury trial,1 Alston was found guilty of attempted murder in the second degree of Swann (Count 1); kidnapping of Swann, Harris, Marable, and Deal (Counts 2, 4, 6, and 11); first degree terroristic threatening of Harris (Count 5); and abuse of Harris, a family or household member of Alston (Count 13). The jury acquitted Alston of first degree sexual assault of Deal (Counts 8 and 9) and third degree sexual assault of Deal (Count 10).2
Alston was sentenced to concurrent terms of imprisonment of life with the possibility of parole with a mandatory minimum term of fifteen years on Count 1;3 twenty years with a mandatory minimum term of six years and eight months on each of Counts 2, 6, and 11; twenty years with a mandatory minimum term of three years and four months on Count 4; five years with a mandatory minimum term of one year and eight months on Count 5, and one year on Count 13.
Alston appeals from the Amended Judgment filed on March 7, 2007, in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (circuit court). On appeal, Alston argues that the circuit court: 1) erred in refusing to dismiss all the charges against him because Plaintiff-Appellee State of Hawai`i (State) failed to preserve "potentially useful" physical evidence observed in Swann's apartment five months after the charged offenses; 2) erred in granting the State's motion to conduct a videotaped deposition of Deal, who was dying of cancer, to preserve her testimony; 3) erred in refusing to resolve defense counsel's oral motion to withdraw and substitute counsel before granting the State's motion for the videotaped deposition; 4) violated his right of confrontation by forcing defense counsel to represent him at Deal's deposition; 5) abused its discretion in denying additional motions for withdrawal and substitution of counsel made by Alston and defense counsel; 6) erred in admitting Harris's statements to a police officer, which were relayed to other officers, because they were hearsay and more prejudicial than probative; and 7) erred in admitting photographs of Swann's injuries because they were cumulative and more prejudicial than probative. Alston also argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for kidnapping Marable as a class A felony. We affirm the circuit court's Amended Judgment.
On an evening between April 30 and May 2, 2005, Swann, Deal, and Marable were at Swann's North Beretania Street apartment. All three had been drinking alcohol and smoking crack cocaine. Sometime after Swann retired to his bedroom to sleep, Alston and Alston's wife, Harris, arrived at Swann's apartment. Harris occasionally stayed at Swann's apartment and Swann allowed Harris to use his spare bedroom to store her clothing.
Harris testified that she and Alston went to the spare bedroom and fell asleep. When Harris awoke, they began arguing. Alston yelled and screamed at Harris, accusing her of "fooling around." When Harris denied being unfaithful, Alston grabbed Harris and hit her on the side of the face.
Swann testified that he awoke to the sound of Alston and Harris arguing in the next bedroom, and he told them to "quiet down." When the couple continued to argue, Swann picked up his cordless phone and told them, "I'm gonna call security." Swann testified that, before he could dial out, "[t]hat's when all hell broke loose." Alston immediately went to the kitchen, reappeared with two knives, and told Swann, "You going call the police, I'm going to kill you."
According to Swann, Alston attacked him with the knives. Swann grabbed a stand-up fan and attempted to shield himself from Alston's knife attacks. During the struggle, Swann fell over a coffee table, collapsed to the floor, and was stabbed. While Swann lay on the ground, Alston grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and poured it on Swann. Alston then used a lighter and set Swann on fire.
In her videotaped deposition. Deal largely corroborated Swann's account of Alston's attack. Deal testified that after Swann picked up the phone, Alston went to the kitchen and emerged with a knife. Alston began stabbing at Swann who attempted to block the attacks with a fan. Alston told Swann, "Motherfucker, you going to call the police on me I'm going to kill you." Deal stated that Alston picked up a bottle of rubbing alcohol, poured it on Swann, and set Swann on fire.
During the commotion, Harris attempted to leave the apartment, but Alston physically prevented her from doing so. Harris testified that Alston pulled her away from the door by the hair and said,
Swann eventually extinguished the flames by tearing off his t-shirt and rolling on the floor, but he was experiencing a great deal of pain and was "bleeding all over." Deal testified that Alston threatened to kill everyone if Swann died as a result of his injuries. Harris told Alston that Swann needed to go to the hospital, but Alston refused to allow Swann to leave the apartment. Instead, Swann was dragged into his bedroom where Alston and Harris, at Alston's direction, bound Swann's wrists and ankles, gagged him, then tied his legs to a clothing rod in the closet. At one point, Swann had to use the bathroom and was forced to urinate in a bucket. Swann recalled that during his confinement in his bedroom, he was going in and out of consciousness and nearly passed out due to the loss of blood.
Alston tore bed sheets into strips and instructed Harris to tie up Deal and Marable. After Harris restrained Deal and Marable in the bedroom, Alston tied up Harris's hands and legs. Alston gagged all three by placing socks in their mouths. At some point while Harris was restrained, Alston poured 151proof rum on her, told her that she was "gonna burn," and then laughed when she begged him to stop. Harris recalled Alston saying that "nobody going nowhere, nobody could leave."
In the afternoon on May 2, 2005, Harris persuaded Alston to allow her to leave the apartment in order to purchase something sweet for Marable, who was diabetic and did not have his medication. In addition to going to the store, Harris went to Aala Park to buy cocaine because she thought "it would calm down the whole situation." On her way back to the apartment Harris saw Honolulu Police Department (HPD) Officer Roosevelt Blanco (Officer Blanco) and flagged him down. Officer Blanco testified that Harris told him that her husband had tied up some people in the apartment and had stabbed one of them. Officer Blanco told Harris to remain downstairs. Instead, Harris ran back into the apartment building because, according to Harris, she "didn't want nothing else to go wrong." Based on Harris's statements. Officer Blanco radioed for assistance, and five or six police officers responded to the scene.
A short time later, the officers went up to Swann's apartment and knocked and announced their presence. Alston opened the door, and he was placed on the floor and handcuffed. During a patdown search, an officer recovered a fold-down knife from Alston's person. The officer who transported Alston to the police station for booking did not notice any injuries on Alston.
Officer Blanco conducted a sweep of the apartment and followed a blood trail on the floor that led to the bedroom where he discovered Swann, still bound, covered with blood. Another officer observed that Swann had burn marks and that Swann's shirt was covered in what appeared to be dried blood and pus. When the officers located Deal in the bedroom, she was laying on the ground with her hands and feet bound with cord. Photographs showing Deal restrained, as well as photographs depicting the ligature marks on her wrists and ankles after the officers removed her restraints, were admitted in evidence. Marable was not bound when the police entered the apartment. An HPD evidence specialist testified that there were pools of blood in the living room and along the hallway, and that the couches and other furniture were covered with blood.
Dr. Susan Steineman, the physician who treated Swann when he was brought to the emergency room, testified that Swann suffered stab wounds to his abdomen, hand, thigh, and forearm. The deepest laceration was a stab wound to Swann's left forearm, which resulted in laceration of the muscle. Swann had first- and second-degree burns over eight percent of his body, including burns to his face (on the left side), lips, neck, upper chest and shoulder, and right hand and forearm.
During a viewing of Swann's apartment five months after the charged offenses, Alston'>s counsel and defense investigators observed apparent drug paraphernalia and drugs in the apartment and notified the prosecutor's investigator who was present. Alston contends that this evidence was exculpatory, in that it could have been used to impeach Swann's credibility, and that the State acted in bad faith in failing to seize the evidence. Alston argues that the State's "destruction of or failure to preserve" this evidence...
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