State v. Angell

• Decision Date: 09 August 1979
• Docket Number: No. 78-43-C,78-43-C
• Citation: 122 R.I. 160,405 A.2d 10
• Parties: STATE v. Robert A. ANGELL. A.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 10

405 A.2d 10

122 R.I. 160

STATE v. Robert A. ANGELL.

No. 78-43-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Aug. 9, 1979.

Dennis J. Roberts II, Atty. Gen., John E. Migliaccio, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., for plaintiff.

William F. Reilly, Public Defender, Barbara Hurst, Chief Appellate Atty., Providence, for defendant.

OPINION

BEVILACQUA, Chief Justice.

The defendant, Robert A. Angell, was indicted for murder and tried before a jury in the Superior Court. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the judge sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment. The defendant appeals from that judgment.

The testimony developed at the trial established that Antonio Bettencourt and defendant were at the Watchemoket Bar in East Providence on the evening of September 19, 1973. A bartender at that bar, John Medeiros, testified that the two men drank from approximately 6:30 p. m. until 8 p. m. and that Bettencourt was buying "rounds" of drinks for himself and defendant.

Medeiros also testified that Bettencourt had a wallet full of money. Under further questioning Medeiros stated on cross-examination that someone had told him that Bettencourt had cashed a check that evening. He later testified on redirect examination, over defendant's objection, that he was told that the amount of the check was approximately $230.

The defendant and Bettencourt left the Watchemoket Bar near 8 p. m. and went to the East Providence Athletic Club. James Carroll, a bartender at that club, testified that the two men came in together and drank and played pool. He further testified that defendant left the club at approximately 8:30 p. m. after he stated that he was going home to get his car to give Bettencourt a ride home. Carroll also stated that Bettencourt left the club a few minutes after defendant.

Carroll further explained that approximately 20 minutes later, defendant, whom he described as being "out of breath," came back into the bar to look for Bettencourt but left when Carroll told him that Bettencourt was gone. Carroll also testified that from his position behind the bar he could normally see and hear cars that entered and left the club parking lot. He stated that upon defendant's return to the bar, he neither heard nor saw any car enter or leave the parking lot.

Testimony was also elicited from Joseph Coelho and William McNally, who were in the vicinity of the club that evening. McNally testified that he saw Bettencourt walk into the club that evening with another man. He stated that sometime later he saw Bettencourt walking away from the club followed up the street by the same individual with whom he had entered the club. Coelho also stated that he saw Bettencourt walk along the street away from the club that evening and that a man who fit the description of defendant followed Bettencourt up the street.

Testimony was also given by Edward Stanley, an East Providence resident. Mr. Stanley testified that during the evening of September 19, 1973 he was in his home on Fifth Street when he heard someone moaning outside. He stated that when he went outside, he found Bettencourt lying face down along the side of the curb, whereupon he proceeded to call the police.

The medical examiner, Augustine Colella, testified that Bettencourt had a laceration between the back and top of his head and that he had suffered a hemorrhage within the subdural space of his head. He stated that the causes of death were severe head injuries, including the subdural hemorrhage, and the hemorrhage was consistent with blunt trauma.

Sergeant John Hardy of the East Providence Police Department, an investigating officer, testified that the following day he and another officer went to the area where Bettencourt was found to look for evidence relating to the incident. He stated that they found a 2- by 4-inch board approximately 10 inches long about 6 to 10 feet from the area in which Bettencourt was found. According to Sergeant Hardy, the board was tagged for identification and turned over to the East Providence Bureau of Criminal Identification. The board was not presented as evidence at the trial, however, because it was destroyed by a fire in the East Providence Police Station.

The defendant's wife, Evelyn Angell, also testified at the trial. Mrs. Angell, who failed to give the police a statement concerning her husband's alleged culpability in Bettencourt's death until 3 years after the incident, testified that on the evening in question defendant left their apartment about 5:15 p. m. to go to the Watchemoket Bar. She stated that he returned that evening between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m. out of breath with blood on his T-shirt. According to Mrs. Angell, defendant stated that he had hit Bettencourt with a board and that he thought that he had killed him. She further testified that defendant told her that he had taken money from Bettencourt and that he had showed her between $100-$175. She also stated that her husband replaced his torn T-shirt with burnt-orange one. She then disposed of the old T-shirt by putting it in the garbage. According to Mrs. Angell, she and defendant rehearsed an alibi at his insistence. The alibi concerned a visit to her mother's house and was to be used if the police questioned Mrs. Angell. During cross-examination, Mrs. Angell indicated that the police had told her that when Bettencourt was found, money was missing from his person.

The defendant also took the witness stand to testify on his own behalf. He stated that he was at the Watchemoket Bar with approximately $10-$20 when he began drinking with Bettencourt. Pursuant to Bettencourt's invitation, he went to the East Providence Athletic Club, where the two continued to drink. He stated that he left the club alone and that he went home to get his car to give Bettencourt a ride home. According to Angell, he returned to the club with his car but was told that Bettencourt had already left. He stated that he then returned home and took his wife to visit with his mother-in-law. The defendant denied that he struck and robbed Bettencourt.

Alfred Nesbit, Mrs. Angell's brother, testified as a rebuttal witness. Mr. Nesbit stated that he was living with his mother on Northup Street in Warwick on September 19, 1973, and that defendant had not been there to visit that evening. He further testified that defendant had not been to the Northup Street residence to visit since November 1972.

The defendant alleges three errors on appeal, which we will consider individually.

I

The defendant contends that the trial justice erred in his denial of his motion for a judgment of acquittal because the state failed to establish the corpus delicti of the crime of murder. The defendant argues that a death, standing alone, does not establish criminal homicide and that there must be some evidence independent of a confession or an admission on the part of a defendant. The defendant thus asserts that because the record is completely devoid of evidence to support a finding of criminal homicide, the motion for a judgment of acquittal should have been granted.

We do not dispute the principle that the corpus delicti of a crime must be established before extrajudicial confessions or admissions connecting the accused with the crime are admissible into evidence. State v. Wilbur,115 R.I. 7, 13, 339 A.2d 730, 734 (1975). As a result, there must be proof of the crime from some source other than defendant's admission. Hall v. Superior Court, 120 Cal.2d 844, 847, 262 P.2d 351, 352 (1953); People v. Cullen, 37 Cal.2d 614, 624, 234 P.2d 1, 7 (1951). The prosecution is thus required to establish the corpus delicti through the production of sufficient direct or circumstantial evidence to establish that the crime charged was committed, regardless of who may have committed it. State v. Boswell, 73 R.I. 358, 362-63, 56 A.2d 196, 198 (1947). We are of the opinion that only prima facie proof of corpus delicti must be established prior to the introduction of defendant's admissions on confessions. People v. Bolinski, 260 Cal.App.2d 705, 709, 67 Cal.Rptr. 347, 350 (1968).

An examination of the record in the instant case, excluding the alleged admissions made by defendant to his wife, reveals evidence that indicated that defendant and Bettencourt were together at two bars the night Bettencourt sustained his injuries. The testimony also indicated that Bettencourt, who had cashed a check that evening, had a substantial amount of money and that he was buying drinks for himself and defendant. Additional testimony also indicated that defendant followed Bettencourt up the street away from the East Providence Athletic Club shortly before Bettencourt was found injured in the street.

The medical testimony introduced indicated that Bettencourt suffered an injury to the back of his head and that the injury was consistent with a blunt trauma. Doctor Colella testified that the injury could have been caused by, Inter alia, the striking of the head by an instrument such as a billy club or baseball bat. A 2- by 4-inch board approximately 10 inches long was found near the area Bettencourt was injured. Furthermore, there was the testimony of Mr. Stanley, who found Bettencourt lying face down on the street with the injury to the back of his head.

The defendant's wife testified that on the night in question, defendant returned home between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m., perspiring and out of breath with blood on his T-shirt. The defendant's wife also stated that her husband changed his shirt and gave it to her to destroy. Furthermore, defendant's wife testified that defendant counted approximately $100-$175 in her presence. This testimony was consistent with...