State v. Hines

• Decision Date: 10 November 2016
• Docket Number: No. 4, Sept. Term, 2016,4, Sept. Term, 2016
• Citation: 450 Md. 352,148 A.3d 1247
• Parties: State of Maryland v. Tevin Hines
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

450 Md. 352

148 A.3d 1247

State of Maryland

v.Tevin Hines

No. 4, Sept. Term, 2016

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Argued: September 8, 2016

Filed: November 10, 2016

Argued by Robert Taylor Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen. (Brian E. Frosh, Atty. Gen. of Maryland, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Petitioner.

Argued by Celia Anderson Davis, Asst. Public Defender (Paul B. DeWolfe, Public Defender of Maryland, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Respondent.

Barbera, C.J. Greene, Adkins, McDonald, Watts, Hotten, Getty, JJ.

Greene, J.

This case involves a joint criminal trial of two codefendants. The Circuit Court for Baltimore City denied Respondent Tevin Hines' motion for a severance in the trial of State v. Dorrien Allen (“Allen”) and Tevin Hines (“Hines”). Hines argues that this was error because he was prejudiced by the admission into evidence of a statement made by Allen, which was inadmissible against Hines. At issue in this case is a question that this Court has never squarely addressed: the application of the offense joinder analysis set forth in McKnight v. State , 280 Md. 604, 612, 375 A.2d 551, 556 (1977) in the context of defendant joinder. We agree with Petitioner, the State of Maryland, that generally, where most of the evidence admissible at trial is mutually admissible, a joinder of defendants will be proper. However, where joinder will result in prejudice to one or more defendants, a trial judge has discretion under Maryland Rule 4–253 to grant a severance or order other relief as justice requires. Here, where non-mutually admissible evidence was actually admitted during a joint jury trial of codefendants and from the admission of that evidence, the objecting defendant was prejudiced, the trial judge abused his discretion in denying a severance. Because the statement that is inadmissible against Hines implicated him and therefore caused him to suffer unfair prejudice from the joinder, the trial court committed reversible error in denying the motion for severance and a new trial is warranted.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On January 15, 2013, Brandon Gadsby and Michelle Adrian drove from Frederick County to Baltimore City to purchase heroin. Gadsby drove down Edmondson Avenue and the surrounding residential streets of West Baltimore until two young men, one in an orange jacket and another in a black beanie, waived Gadsby down. Gadsby later identified the men as Dorrien Allen and Tevin Hines. Gadsby testified that he pulled his truck over to the side of the street and Hines and Allen approached the vehicle and asked Gadsby, “Boy or Girl” meaning heroin or cocaine. Gadsby indicated that he wished to purchase heroin. According to Gadsby, Hines told Allen that he would meet him “over” there. Allen then got into Gadsby's vehicle and directed Gadsby to the 3900 block of Mulberry Street. When Gadsby parked his vehicle in a lot adjacent to a cemetery, Allen exited the vehicle and disappeared from view into a nearby alley. Allen then returned with Hines, but Hines remained in the alley while Allen walked over to Gadsby's vehicle. Gadsby testified to hearing Hines tell Allen, “not yet, not yet”, apparently referring to the fact that a garbage worker was nearby. After the garbage worker was out of sight, Allen pulled out a handgun and said, “don't fuckin' move.” Gadsby testified that he reached for his keys to start his truck and that Allen said, “are you trying to die?”, and then fired a gunshot that shattered the driver's side window. Gadsby said he then held out the $120 he intended to use to purchase heroin and told Allen to take whatever he wanted. Allen grabbed the money, exited the vehicle, and fired his gun multiple times, wounding Gadsby and killing Adrian. Gadsby testified that Allen fled through a hole in the cemetery fence.

On the same day as the shooting, Officer Kevin McLean of the Baltimore City Police Department was patrolling the area and saw Allen and Hines at the Normandy Food Market at approximately 9:30 a.m. Allen was wearing a bright orange jacket and Hines was dressed in black. Officer McLean was familiar with Allen and Hines based on his experience patrolling that area. About twenty minutes later, Officer McLean drove to a nearby convenience store and saw Allen and Hines. At 10:47 a.m., Officer McLean received a radio call reporting a shooting one block from Normandy Market and two blocks from the convenience store. Officer McLean responded to the scene whereupon Gadsby told Officer McLean he was shot by a black male wearing an orange jacket and blue jeans. Based on this information and on the fact that Officer McLean had seen Allen in the area earlier, he radioed that Dorrien Allen was a possible suspect.

Later on the same day, police saw Allen on the street and detained him for questioning. Allen was questioned by Detectives Fuller and Carew. This interview was recorded and offered as evidence by the State at trial. In the statement, Allen told police that on the day of the shooting, he remained home until around midday when he went to record a music video at his friend “Mike's” house. According to Allen's statement to the police, he did not know “Mike's” real name. Allen told police that “Mike” lives on the 300 block of Lyndhurst Avenue. The detectives then showed Allen a surveillance video of Allen at the convenience store during the time at which he claimed to have been home. The video, which was also shown to the jury at trial, shows Allen with a man who is clearly Hines. Allen admitted to detectives that he was in the video but claimed to not know who Hines was. Throughout the recorded interview, the detectives made statements of disbelief as to Allen's version of the events that took place on that day.¹ Evidence was also admitted at trial that established Hines' address was 301 Lyndhurst Avenue.

Motion to Sever

Hines made a pretrial motion for severance, arguing that introduction of Allen's recorded statement would prejudice Hines. At the pretrial motions hearing, counsel for Hines articulated to the trial judge the exact prejudice that would—and did—ensue from the admission of Allen's statement at a joint trial:

MR. SMITH [Defense Counsel]: Your Honor, I think that Mr. Hines' case should be severed partially because of the statement ... the main part of the statement is, all of the commentary by the detectives about what they know, accusing Mr. Allen of you're lying, we know you're lying, we know about this other person that you're with, you're lying about the name of the other person that you're with, Mr. Allen saying his name is Mike. All of the commentary that we go through in this lengthy statement, and Mr. Allen's responses, however you want to characterize them, I don't think are at all admissible against Mr. Hines.

* * *

The other issue is I don't anticipate any ability to cross-examine Mr. Allen about any of his answers much less the ones regarding the accusations made by the detectives, we know you're lying Mr. Allen, we know that you're not telling us about the other person, we know who that other person is, that implication there, and we know you're lying about it, and it's not Mike and we know who it is. Well, the only inference that can be drawn at that point is that it's Mr. Hines and that Mr. Allen is lying about it—

* * *

THE COURT: Do they, at that point when they interview Mr.—

MR. NASH [Prosecutor]: They know it's Tevin Hines, Your Honor.

THE COURT: —Allen, they know who Hines is?

MR. SMITH: Yes.

MR. NASH: Yes.

MR. SMITH: They're trying to get him to say it's Tevin Hines, isn't it, and he's saying no, it's Mike, I don't know, I don't wear an orange jacket.

THE COURT: I am amazed they didn't say but we know that [sic] Tevin Hines. I'm surprised, I was really interpreting it the other way.

MR. SMITH: No, they knew who they—they had seen the video from whatever, the first store, you heard them talk about the 9:25 or whatever time it was where they were asking Mr. Allen, we know you couldn't have gotten up at noon because we saw you at the store at 9:25 and we saw you with the other guy and we know who that other guy is, and they know who it was, and they were trying to get him to say it's Tevin Hines, and they're trying to get him to say all that and that's why in this situation, Your Honor, I understand it's not—they didn't use the word Tevin Hines, but the testimony of Mr. Gadsby in this case that will come out, is that there were only two people involved at the drug deal. This wasn't something you can sanitize and say well, maybe they won't, maybe they will just think that there was nobody else, okay, maybe you can sanitize this statement, I don't think you really can with it making any sense whatsoever for the remaining parties, or the whole implication in this commentary by the detectives which is the problem with not just asking questions, making all of this commentary of we know you're lying we know more than this, we know these answers to these questions. All of that when I don't get to ask Mr. Allen any questions, I don't get to really cross-examine, you know, fully this statement and then have to say well, ladies and gentlemen, that has—the Court has to then say well, ladies and gentlemen, only use those accusations of lying against Mr. Allen and only use these little bits of answers against Mr. Allen, and don't consider that as to Mr. Hines. I think Your Honor is [sic] very dangerous and doesn't give Mr. Hines the ability to have full and fair cross examination, confrontation, and a full and fair trial.

And I think the way to cure that, obviously, is to sever his case because then we wouldn't play Mr. Allen's statement at all, it wouldn't be relevant, and it certainly wouldn't be admissible against Mr. Hines in a separate trial[.]

* * *

THE COURT: Nothing in the statements the police made to Mr. Allen suggests that there's a second person involved in the crime, do they?

MR. SMITH: Yes, they do. They don't come out and say we know that there was a lookout, but the point is, Judge, the jury is

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