State v. Halstead, 79-24-C

• Citation: 414 A.2d 1138
• Decision Date: 19 May 1980
• Docket Number: No. 79-24-C,79-24-C
• Parties: STATE v. Robert J. HALSTEAD. A.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Rhode Island

Page 1138

414 A.2d 1138

STATE v. Robert J. HALSTEAD.

No. 79-24-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

May 19, 1980.

Dennis J. Roberts, II, Atty. Gen., Henry Gemma, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for plaintiff.

Charles J. Rogers, Jr., Providence, for defendant.

OPINION

DORIS, Justice.

The defendant, Robert J. Halstead, was convicted by a jury in the Superior Court of murder in the first degree and of possessing a firearm. On appeal, he argues that the Superior Court lacked jurisdiction to try him, that the body of the victim should have been suppressed because the police lacked probable cause to arrest him, and that he was denied his right to counsel during a custodial interrogation. We find no substance to these arguments and affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.

On March 21, 1976, at 4:30 a. m., two officers of the Rahway, New Jersey police department, Paul Landolt and Edward Hannan, were on patrol in a high crime area. While they were parked at an intersection, the officers observed a Ryder rental truck with Georgia license plates ¹ travel through the intersection some fifteen to twenty miles per hour below the speed limit. As the truck passed in front of the police car, the occupants of the truck stared at the police for approximately five seconds, a length of time both officers thought to be unusually long. Because the officers had not often seen rental trucks in that neighborhood so late at night and thought it unusual that any vehicle would be traveling so slowly on that highway at that time of night, they decided to check the truck. The officers followed the vehicle for a short distance and then ordered the driver to stop the truck at the side of the road approximately one-half mile later. Officer Landolt approached the truck and asked the driver, Joseph Sciotto, for his license and the truck's registration. Sciotto gave Landolt his Rhode Island driver's license and an illegible copy of a Ryder rental contract. Officer Landolt advised Sciotto that he would be arrested unless he had a valid registration for the truck in his possession. When Sciotto could not produce the registration, the police officers ordered both Sciotto and the passenger, Robert J. Halstead, to get out of the truck. Officer Landolt then arrested Sciotto for not having the registration and informed him that the truck would be impounded because it was a hazard to traffic. ² Upon being told that the truck would be impounded, Sciotto attacked Officer Hannan, striking him in the face with his fist. Halstead then made a movement toward Officer Landolt who, believing Halstead was about to attack him, fired a warning shot, that stopped the altercation. At this time, Halstead, defendant in this appeal, was placed under arrest for assault. In a subsequent search of defendant, the police discovered two spent .45-caliber shell casings in his pocket. ³ The police, in accordance with their inventory procedures and in an effort to find the registration of the truck, ⁴ forced open the lock on the rear doors. Upon looking inside, they discovered the body of one Edward Palmisciano, which had a number of bullet wounds in it. ⁵

While in Rahway on March 22, 1976, defendant made a written statement in the presence of three officers of the Providence Police Department. The officers later testified that although they had informed Halstead of his rights several times, he did not request an attorney. When defendant filled out a waiver of rights form prior to making the statement, however, he wrote "Yes" in response to a question asking whether he wanted an attorney. On March 25, 1976, Lieutenant Philip Bathgate of the Providence Police Department and several other officers went to Rahway to return defendant and Sciotto to Rhode Island. During the trip, defendant asked the police whether they had apprehended one Michael Diano. Lieutenant Bathgate informed defendant that they had done so and that they had also recovered the gun that had been used in the murder. ⁶ The defendant then asked whether Diano had given a statement to the police and, after learning that Diano had done so, asked to read it. Upon arriving in Providence, the police consulted with their legal advisor who allowed Halstead and Sciotto to read Diano's statement. After reading Diano's statement and being advised of their rights, both Halstead and Sciotto informed the police that they too each wanted to make a statement. Halstead then confessed that he and several others had conspired to rob Edward Palmisciano, that as part of the robbery plan he shot and killed Palmisciano in Providence, and that when they were stopped in New Jersey he and Sciotto had been transporting Palmisciano's body to Pennslyvania in order to conceal the crimes.

The defendant subsequently was indicted on four counts: murder in the first degree, possession of a firearm, robbery, and conspiracy to rob. The trial justice denied defendant's motion to suppress the body but granted a judgment of acquittal on the last two counts on the ground that the state had not proved corpus delicti. The justice denied a motion for acquittal on the remaining counts, finding that the state had established corpus delicti with evidence independent of defendant's confession and that the confession, when subsequently admitted, established the jurisdiction of the court. The jury then convicted defendant of both charges, and he now appeals from the judgments of conviction in the Superior Court.

The first issue we consider is whether the Superior Court lacked jurisdiction to try defendant because the state allegedly failed to prove that the crimes had occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of the court. The defendant argues that the state offered no evidence other than his confession that the crimes had occurred in Providence and that the confession should not have been admitted because the corpus delicti had not been previously established by independent evidence. Contrary to defendant's argument, we concur with the findings of the trial justice that the state introduced sufficient evidence to establish the corpus delicti of both crimes prior to the admission of the confession and that defendant's confession could be used in conjunction with other evidence to show the jurisdiction of the Superior Court.

Before it may obtain a conviction for a criminal offense, the state must prove corpus delicti beyond a reasonable doubt. In re Pereira, 111 R.I. 712, 714, 306 A.2d 821, 823 (1973); State v. Maloney, 111 R.I. 133, 138 n.1, 300 A.2d 259, 262 n.1 (1973). The corpus delicti comprises two elements: a penally proscribed act or injury and the unlawfulness of some person in causing the injury. LaFave and Scott, Handbook on Criminal Law § 4 at 16-17 (1972); 1 Wharton; Criminal Law § 28 at 142 (14th ed. 1978). In a homicide prosecution, the state must thus show that a person has died and that the death was caused by the criminal agency of another. The requirement of proving corpus delicti reflects a concern that an accused not be convicted when no crime has in fact been committed. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 235 Pa.Super. 185, 188, 340 A.2d 515, 516 (1975). To this end, a state may not rely solely on a defendant's confession in proving corpus delicti. As we have previously stated, "in (the) absence of some corroborative evidence tending to prove the corpus delicti, a confession or self-incriminating statement will not be admitted into evidence because such an uncorroborated statement is insufficient to prove (the) corpus delicti." State v. Wilbur, 115 R.I. 7, 13, 339 A.2d 730, 734 (1975). Only after the state has introduced some independent evidence of corpus delicti evidence that the crime alleged has been committed by someone may it introduce the confession of an accused. The state need not, however, prove corpus delicti beyond a reasonable doubt prior to introducing an extrajudicial confession. Id. at 14, 339 A.2d at 734; State v. Boswell, 73 R.I. 358, 363, 56 A.2d 196, 198 (1947). The independent evidence need only be such that if believed, it would indicate that the crime charged had been committed by someone. See State v. Wilbur, 115 R.I. at 14, 339 A.2d at 734. Once a confession is admitted, it may be considered as corroborating evidence to prove corpus delicti beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Wheeler, 92 R.I. 389, 391, 169 A.2d 7, 9 (1961).

In the case before us, the state introduced ample evidence of corpus delicti prior to the admission of defendant's confession. The state first showed that the body of Edward Palmisciano had been found in a truck on a New Jersey highway, that five .45-caliber bullet wounds in the head and chest area of the victim caused his death, that the bullets had been fired from close range through a gun barrel that had been found in Providence, that the truck had been rented by defendant, that defendant had been in the van when the body was found, that defendant had two spent .45-caliber shell casings on his person when arrested and had gunpowder residue on his hands. In our opinion, the condition of the victim's body is consistent only with a homicide, and the discovery of the shell casings and gunpowder residue indicate that defendant discharged a firearm in his possession at some time shortly before his arrest. The state, having established corpus delicti, could properly introduce defendant's confession. The confession could then be used for any legitimate purpose as corroborating evidence showing corpus delicti beyond a reasonable doubt, to identify the accused as the perpetrator, ⁷ or to prove the jurisdiction of the court.

The defendant is incorrect in arguing that the jurisdiction of the Superior Court, like corpus delicti, must be established by independent evidence prior to the admission of his confession. As we have explained, the corpus delicti requirement is intended to prevent a state from convicting persons of nonexistent crimes on the basis of their confessions alone. The rule that a court...