State v. Edwards
| Decision Date | 25 November 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 2001-389-C.A.,2001-389-C.A. |
| Parties | STATE v. Edwin B. EDWARDS III. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., LEDERBERG, FLANDERS, and GOLDBERG, JJ. and WEISBERGER, C.J. (Ret.)
Annie Goldberg, Aaron Weisman, Providence for Plaintiff.
Thomas Dickinson, Christopher S. Gontarz, Providence, for Defendant.
This case comes before us on the appeal of Edwin B. Edwards III (Edwards or defendant) from a judgment of conviction entered in the Superior Court of the crime of domestic murder in the first degree, following a jury-waived trial that began on January 8, 2001, and concluded on January 23, 2001. The trial justice found the defendant to be guilty of domestic murder in the first degree and further found beyond a reasonable doubt in accordance with G.L.1956 § 11-23-2(b)(4) that the defendant had committed this murder in a manner involving torture and aggravated battery to the victim. The trial justice proceeded to hold a sentencing hearing during which she took into account this aggravating factor and such mitigating factors as the defendant chose to present. She determined that the aggravating factor outweighed any mitigating factors, and sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment without parole. We affirm the conviction and also the sentence. The facts and procedural history of this case insofar as pertinent to this appeal are as follows.
This is a saga of a tragic quarrel between two people who had participated in a romantic relationship for approximately three years, according to the findings of the trial justice set forthin a carefully crafted and lengthy decision. The couple met in October 1996 at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet and began a substantive dating relationship. They were both in their late forties. Jeanne Robinson (Jeanne), the victim, had been married once before, to Wayne Robinson, and had two adult children from that marriage. She maintained a close relationship with her family. The defendant had been married twice before, first to Susanne Murray and then to Cynthia Edwards, but had no children. Jeanne worked as a charge nurse, and Edwards worked as a truck salesman for Colony Ford. Jeanne resided at 167 Fiat Avenue in Cranston, Rhode Island. Edwards maintained a nearby apartment in Cranston, where he lived by himself when he was not cohabitating with Jeanne at her house. The couple had had a rather turbulent relationship during the course of their dating and romantic involvement. There were quarrels that almost ended the relationship in 1997. However, by the end of 1998 Jeanne and Edwards became engaged. He gave her an expensive diamond ring (which he said cost $9,000). No date was set for a wedding.
The couple decided to postpone a wedding date until after the wedding of Jeanne's daughter, Jendra (which was scheduled to take place on September 18, 1999). The relationship between Jeanne and Edwards almost ended a month or so before the wedding. Jeanne discovered for the first time that Edwards had been married twice before. Until that time she had not known about his first wife. Jeanne told Edwards that she did not wish to see him anymore. His reaction made Jeanne fear for her life. However, the quarrel was resolved with the help of Jeanne's father (Albert Girard, Sr.), and Jeanne invited Edwards to attend her daughter's wedding.
The prospect of attending this wedding was emotionally difficult and challenging for Edwards. He did not wish to interact with or be in the company of Jeanne's former husband andhis family. Edwards was also jealous of the close relationship that Jeanne maintained with her family.
During the course of the relationship, Jeanne had recommended to Edwards that he should have medical assistance in order to manage his tendency towards anger. He consulted with physicians, including a psychiatrist, Dr. Susan DiMase, who recommended medications. His primary physician was a Dr. Savoretti who prescribed, among other medications, Klonopin. Edwards filled this prescription twice according to the findings of the trial justice. The recommended dosage was one to two tablets, twice a day as needed for anxiety. Although other medications were recommended by various physicians, as well as by Dr. Savoretti, the Klonopin became of paramount significance in the course of this trial.
On September 18, 1999, the day of Jendra's wedding, Jeanne was an excited mother of the bride, exhilarated by the prospect of the marriage. Edwards, on the other hand, did not really want to go to the wedding. He did not want to meet the family of Wayne Robinson or interact with Jeanne's family. Nevertheless, Edwards dressed in a tuxedo and assisted with the arrangements for a party that Jeanne was expecting to host at her house after the wedding. He carried beer and ice into the backyard and set up tables. Edwards had one beer but gave no signs of intoxication. He drove Jeanne and her friend, Josee Davis (Josee), to the wedding. During the ride, Edwards and Jeanne had an argument about medication. He took a pill from a vial over Jeanne's objection. At no time during the drive or at any time earlier in the day did Edwards show any outward signs of intoxication.
Edwards did not enjoy the interaction with Jeanne's family and that of her ex-husband during the course of the wedding and the reception in Bristol. Ultimately, Edwards, Jeanne, and Josee left the wedding reception at about 10:30 p.m. There was no plan for the guests to returnto Jeanne's house for further celebration. Edwards drove, Jeanne sat in the passenger seat, and Josee sat in the back seat. The drive from the reception in Bristol to Jeanne's house in Cranston required about thirty minutes of travel. The trial justice found that defendant had no difficulty driving home. His speech was fine. He did not appear to take any pills or have any conversation about medication on the way home. Edwards did state in the course of talking about the wedding that he did not want anything to do with the family of Jeanne's former husband. As they neared Jeanne's house, she told Edwards that she would like to go to bed and that she would like him to leave. She said that she wasn't feeling well.
Edwards drove into the driveway of Jeanne's house. All three left the car, Josee went into Jeanne's house to obtain her automobile keys so she could drive home. Jeanne and Josee spoke for a few minutes before Josee left. Josee departed for her home in Warwick sometime after 11 p.m. on September 18.
After Josee's departure, Jeanne again told Edwards to leave. They exchanged some harsh words, which resulted in Jeanne's removing her engagement ring and throwing it at Edwards. He attempted to find the ring, and eventually found it with the assistance of a flashlight that Jeanne provided to him. He put the ring back in its box and placed the box in his automobile. He then reentered the house through the outside door which was unlocked.
When he arrived at Jeanne's bedroom, he found that the door was locked. He asked Jeanne to let him in, and when she refused, he kicked the door and broke its lock. By his own admission, he then choked Jeanne while she was in her bed. He released her and she arose from the bed crying for help, asking him why he had done it. She went downstairs to the kitchen and drank some water to catch her breath. Edwards seized a large flashlight, which was on the table, and struck her with it repeatedly. Both Edwards and Jeanne fell to the floor. Jeanne then stoodup and went outside, with Edwards following. Jeanne was saying in a soft voice, "Help me, Help me." At this point, Edwards got into his automobile and ran over Jeanne twice, crushing her with the weight of the car.
A neighbor, Alma Miller, who had been a friend of Jeanne for more than twenty years, heard the call for help from outside. She opened the door and turned on the lights. She saw Edwards drive the car backward and forward and then leave the driveway. She saw the body. She took her cell phone and a flashlight and ran out to the street where the body lay. The body was lying in the roadway with injuries so severe that it was unrecognizable to Alma Miller. To Alma, Jeanne looked like "a rag doll." At this point she called 911 and summoned the police. A Sergeant Russell Henry of the Cranston Police Department arrived and saw the body of the victim, who was covered with "road rash," a combination of dirt and lacerations from her body's hitting the pavement. Although he found pictures of Jeanne in the house, he could not make a positive identification. He noticed blood in the street and in the driveway. Inside the house he noted large puddles of blood in the kitchen, blood smears on the kitchen floor, and a large black flashlight covered with blood on the kitchen floor.
Meanwhile, Edwards, at about 12:04 a.m. on September 19, used his cell phone to call his sister, Debbi Pappas, who was the chief secretary and records clerk for the Portsmouth Police Department. He told her He further told his sister that he was driving to the Newport bridge to jump into the water because he did not want to go to the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI). He said, "I am wearing a tuxedo and its covered in blood." He further said, "I hit her with a flashlight and ran her head over twice." To his sister he sounded intoxicated, or at least she knew that something was wrong with him. At 12:17 a.m., Edwards called his sister, Cindy, and told her that he was heading to the bridge to jump. Atabout this point, he arrived at the Newport Bridge and drove to the center span. His presence was noted by Stephen Clarke (Clarke), the supervisor who was working at the entrance of the Newport Bridge in Jamestown. Clarke notified the State Police and the Newport Police and then drove to the top of the bridge in his own emergency vehicle. Neither Clarke nor James Romano, the toll collector, noticed that anyone...
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