State v. Haselden

• Decision Date: 18 February 2003
• Docket Number: No. 25595.,25595.
• Citation: 353 S.C. 190,577 S.E.2d 445
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: The STATE, Respondent, v. Jeffrey Thomas HASELDEN, Appellant.

353 S.C. 190

577 S.E.2d 445

The STATE, Respondent, v. Jeffrey Thomas HASELDEN, Appellant.

No. 25595.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Heard December 5, 2002.

Decided February 18, 2003.

Assistant Appellate Defender Robert M. Dudek, of S.C. Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Charles M. Condon, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Assistant Attorney General S. Creighton Waters, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Donald V. Myers, of Lexington, for Respondent.

Justice WALLER:

Appellant, Jeffrey Haselden, was convicted of the murder of his two-year old son, Joshua.¹ The jury found the aggravating circumstances that the murder was committed while in the commission of physical torture, and that the murder was of a child under eleven years of age; it recommended a sentence of death. We affirm the murder conviction, but reverse and remand for a new sentencing proceeding.

FACTS

Shortly after midnight on Thursday, May 13, 1999, Haselden's girlfriend, Rebecca Tindall, called 9-1-1 in Lexington County to report that she had found two-year old Joshua Haselden on the floor of his bedroom not breathing. When paramedics arrived, they found Tindall administering CPR on Joshua. Haselden advised paramedics they had checked on Joshua twenty minutes prior to calling 9-1-1 and he had been fine. Joshua had noticeable swelling and bruising throughout his abdomen, from the waistline to the ribcage. Joshua was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:40 AM.

At trial, Tindall testified she had just finished giving Joshua his bath and putting him to bed when Haselden arrived home from running an errand for her. She heard Haselden yell at Joshua to "get his ass back to bed." She and Haselden then went to Joshua's room to check on him as he had a habit of sticking things up his nose. They retrieved a foreign object from his nose, after which Haselden hit Joshua in the head four or five times. "Haselden had a golf ball on his key chain and he hit him in the top of the head with it. Then [Haselden] pulled [Joshua] up and was shaking him and then he pushed him at me and told me to put him to bed and not to kiss him good night either." Sometime around 11:00 PM, she went to put some laundry in the dryer. She heard Haselden yell "Goddammit Josh," and heard a noise like a thud. She went into Josh's room and saw Haselden swinging his arm hitting Josh hard in the stomach area three or four times and hollering, "Do you hear me boy, do you hear me?" She grabbed Haselden's shirt and told him that was enough. Haselden told her he'd punish his son the way he wanted to, and pushed her, causing her to stumble and fall, knocking both her and Joshua to the ground. Haselden told her to get out and she complied. A few minutes later, she went back down the hallway and saw Joshua still lying on the floor. She started to go in and pick him up, but Haselden told her Josh was fine and to leave him alone. They went back to Haselden's bedroom and had sex, after which she snuck back into Joshua's room and found him limp and began screaming for Haselden. Haselden told her to call 9-1-1.

An autopsy was performed on May 14, 1999. There was a bruise on the right side of Joshua's forehead which was consistent with being hit with a golf ball key chain. An internal examination of Joshua's scalp revealed a total of eight areas of bruising, only one of which was visible from the outside. There were a number of bruises on the lower legs, and significant bruises on the abdomen. The pathologist, Dr. Sexton, found "extensive injuries inside the abdomen." He opined the abdominal bruises were consistent with a blow from the knuckles and, in his opinion, the bruising could not have resulted from doing CPR. He concluded that there were at least six blows to the abdomen. Further examination revealed internal bruising under the skin near the belly button, and a lot of blood in the abdominal cavity which had been caused by several areas of the intestine being separated from the mesentery (the structure that holds the intestines together). Dr. Sexton concluded there were two causes of death either of which could have been fatal; internal bleeding in the abdomen and swelling in the brain caused by the blows to the head.

The jury convicted Haselden of murder and found the aggravating circumstances that the murder was committed while in the commission of physical torture, and that the murder was of a child under eleven years of age; it recommended a sentence of death.

ISSUES

1. Did the trial court err in allowing the testimony of Haselden's ex-wife concerning his golfing and fishing habits?

2. Was Haselden entitled to a parole ineligibility charge?

3. Were autopsy photographs of Joshua improperly admitted?

1. EX-WIFE'S TESTIMONY

During the guilt or innocence phase of trial, the state called Haselden's ex-wife, Robin Lucas. The two had married shortly after the birth of their daughter, Felicia, when Lucas was eighteen years old, and Haselden was twenty-four. Lucas testified that they did not have a stable marriage. Joshua was born in December 1996. The solicitor asked Lucas whether Haselden was working when Joshua was born, and Lucas replied that he "worked all the time." The solicitor continued, "If he wasn't working, what was he doing?" to which she replied, over defense counsel's objection of irrelevancy, that "he was fishing or golfing with his friends or at his mothers." She further testified that Haselden did not spend much time with her or Joshua. Haselden argues his ex-wife's testimony concerning his golfing and fishing habits constituted an improper attack on his character. We disagree.

Initially, Haselden did not object to this testimony on the grounds that it was improper character evidence below. He objected only on the basis of relevancy. Accordingly, this issue is not preserved for review. State v. Byrum, 326 S.C. 107, 485 S.E.2d 360 (1997) (defendant may not argue one ground below and another on appeal). In any event, Haselden has not demonstrated reversible error.

Character evidence is not admissible to prove the accused possesses a criminal character or has a propensity to commit the crime with which he is charged. Rule 404(a), SCRE, states the general rule that "[e]vidence of a person's character or a trait of character is not admissible for the purpose of proving action in conformity therewith on a particular occasion." State v. Brown, 344 S.C. 70, 543 S.E.2d 552 (2001). Evidence Haselden had a tendency to golf, fish, or go to his mother's house is simply not evidence which would tend to prove he had a tendency toward abusing and murdering his two-year old son. Brown, supra (whatever negative connotation appellant's gambling may have had, it did not imply any propensity on his part to commit the violent crime with which he was charged, such that any error in its admission was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt).

In any event, even assuming this evidence was objectionable, this Court has held that where there is other properly admitted evidence of conduct demonstrating the particular character trait in question, there is no reversible error. State v. Cheeseboro, 346 S.C. 526, 552 S.E.2d 300 (2001). Whether an error in the admission of evidence is harmless generally depends upon its materiality in relation to the case as a whole. State v. Reeves, 301 S.C. 191, 391 S.E.2d 241 (1990). The erroneous admission of character evidence is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt if its impact is minimal in the context of the entire record. State v. Forney, 321 S.C. 353, 468 S.E.2d 641 (1996).

Here, Haselden's girlfriend Tindall was questioned as to how she began dating Haselden. She explained that she began as a babysitter for the children. The solicitor asked where Haselden would be when she was babysitting, to which she responded, "he would either be playing golf or working." Further, Haselden admitted on cross-examination that he played a lot of golf. State v. Schumpert, 312 S.C. 502, 435 S.E.2d 859 (1993) (any error in admission of evidence cumulative to other unobjected-to evidence is harmless); State v. Johnson, 298 S.C. 496, 499, 381 S.E.2d 732, 733 (1989) (admission of improper evidence is harmless where it is merely cumulative to other evidence). We find any error in admission of this evidence was clearly harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

2. PAROLE INELIGIBILITY CHARGE

Haselden next asserts the trial court erred, at sentencing, in refusing to instruct the jury that if sentenced to life imprisonment, he would be ineligible for parole. We agree.

At trial, Haselden requested a parole ineligibility charge pursuant to Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154, 114 S.Ct. 2187, 129 L.Ed.2d 133 (1994). In Simmons, the United States Supreme Court held that where the evidence raises an issue of future dangerousness, due process requires the jury be instructed of a defendant's parole ineligibility. The trial court refused the request. Haselden's sentencing phase took place approximately one month prior to the United States Supreme Court's opinion in Shafer v. South Carolina, 532 U.S. 36, 121 S.Ct. 1263, 149 L.Ed.2d 178 (2001)(remanding to this Court for a determination whether the evidence and argument raised the issue of future dangerousness). Haselden moved for a new sentencing hearing under Shafer, contending the state had placed his future dangerousness at issue. The trial court denied the motion. Thereafter, the United States Supreme Court decided Kelly v. South Carolina, 534 U.S. 246, 122 S.Ct. 726, 151 L.Ed.2d 670 (2002), which, as we recently recognized in State v. Shafer, 352 S.C. 191, 573 S.E.2d 796 (2002), expanded the law of what evidence or argument raises future dangerousness. Haselden contends he was entitled to a parole ineligibility instruction under Kelly, Shafer, and Simmons. We agree.

In Kelly, the United States Supreme Court state...