State v. Jerrome
| Decision Date | 08 May 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 13–0713.,13–0713. |
| Citation | 758 S.E.2d 576,233 W.Va. 372 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of West Virginia, Plaintiff Below, Petitioner v. Gina Marie JERROME, Defendant Below, Respondent. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Syllabus by the Court
1. “Where the issue on an appeal from the circuit court is clearly a question of law or involving an interpretation of a statute, we apply a de novo standard of review.” Syllabus point 1, Chrystal R.M. v. Charlie A.L., 194 W.Va. 138, 459 S.E.2d 415 (1995).
2. The theft of property from different owners at the same time and place may constitute one larceny. When considering whether the theft of several items of property from multiple victims constitutes one larceny under the single larceny doctrine, the controlling factor is whether the separate takings were part of a single scheme or continuing course of conduct. If so, the values of the property may be aggregated to determine the grade of the offense.
3. “Whether a witness is qualified to state an opinion is a matter which rests within the discretion of the trial court and its ruling on that point will not ordinarily be disturbed unless it clearly appears that its discretion has been abused.” Syllabus point 5, Overton v. Fields, 145 W.Va. 797, 117 S.E.2d 598 (1960).
4. The owner of stolen property may offer evidence of its value, at the time and place of the crime, based upon the property's fair market value. In addition to fair market value, other ways of showing the value of stolen property include the purchase price, replacement cost, or the owner's reasonable belief as to its value. The weight to be given the owner's testimony as to the value of the property is for the trier of fact to decide.
Mark D. Panepinto, Wheeling, WV, for Petitioner.
Patrick Morrisey, Attorney General, Julie A. Warren, Assistant Attorney General, Charleston, WV, for Respondent.
This appeal was brought by Gina Marie Jerrome (“Ms. Jerrome”) from an order of the Circuit Court of Ohio County convicting her of grand larceny and sentencing her to prison for 1 to 10 years.1 In this appeal, Ms Jerrome assigns two issues as error: (1) allowing the theft of property taken from three purses to be treated as a single occurrence and (2) using non-fair market value evidence to establish the value of stolen items. After a careful review of the briefs, appendix record submitted on appeal, and listening to the arguments of the parties, we affirm.
The relevant facts of this case involve four crime victims. During the late evening hours of December 8, 2012, all of the victims were at a nightclub called “Generations.” The night club was located in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Two of the crime victims, Karen Jewell and Christopher Violet, were dating and went to the nightclub together. Prior to their arrival at the nightclub, Ms. Jewell and Mr. Violet attended a Christmas party that was hosted by her employer, the law firm of Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe.2 Several of Ms. Jewell's coworkers also came to the nightclub after the office Christmas party ended. Ms. Jewell and Mr. Violet joined her office coworkers at three tables in the nightclub. Ms. Jewell and several of her female co-workers placed their purses together on a table. It appears that shortly after their arrival, Ms. Jewell and Mr. Violet went on the dance floor and danced for two or three songs. Ms. Jewell went to the restroom after they stopped dancing. While in the restroom, Ms. Jewell discovered her purse in a trash can that was located in one of the restroom stalls. Everything of value was missing from her purse, including her wallet, credit cards, and two cell phones. 3
One of Ms. Jewell's co-workers, an attorney named Lisa Bauer, was in the restroom when Ms. Jewell saw her purse in the trash can. Ms. Bauer helped Ms. Jewell search other trash cans to see if her wallet was in them. While the women searched trash cans, another woman entered the restroom and mentioned that someone else's purse was missing. At that point, Ms. Bauer left the restroom to retrieve her own purse. When Ms. Bauer got to the area where she had left her purse, she discovered that also was missing. Items of value in Ms. Bauer's purse included two cell phones and a medical inhaler.4
Around the time Ms. Jewell discovered her purse in a trash can, another woman in the nightclub, a college student named Sadie Atkinson, discovered that her purse was missing. Items of value in Ms. Atkinson's purse included an iPod and a debit card. Ms. Atkinson was the first person to inform the club's manager, Monica Thompson, that a theft had occurred. Ms. Thompson called the police to report that Ms. Atkinson's purse had been stolen. Ms. Thompson also informed the police that Ms. Jerrome had been in the nightclub earlier and that she believed Ms. Jerrome was responsible for the theft of the purse. In particular, Ms. Thompson indicated that she was suspicious of Ms. Jerrome because Ms. Jerrome acted strangely while she was at the nightclub. Ms. Thompson had observed Ms. Jerrome walking throughout the nightclub, but she did not appear to interact with anyone. Ms. Thompson stated that Ms. Jerrome appeared to be hiding something under one of her arms when she left the nightclub. Finally, Ms. Thompson informed the police that Ms. Jerrome had left the club with her boyfriend, Jacob Christopher. After Ms. Thompson called the police, Ms. Jewell and Ms. Bauer informed Ms. Thompson that their purses had been stolen.
When Ms. Jerrome and her boyfriend, Mr. Christopher, left the nightclub, they were accompanied by a third person. The three individuals drove to an apartment complex that apparently was not far from the nightclub. A police officer patrolling the area of the apartment complex saw a car parked improperly. The officer also saw Ms. Jerrome kneeling beside the car and digging into a bag. The police officer parked his car and approached Ms. Jerrome and her companions to investigate what appeared to be suspicious conduct. The police officer saw Mr. Christopher toss something in the doorway of a building. Eventually, other police officers arrived. It was quickly learned that the police were looking for Ms. Jerrome and Mr. Christopher in connection with the purse thefts at the nightclub. The police retrieved the object that Mr. Christopher threw away and identified it as a credit card belonging to Ms. Jewell. The police also discovered other items that were stolen from the nightclub. Ms. Jerrome initially told the police that she found the purses at the club and that she was taking them to the police station.
On January 14, 2013, a grand jury returned a two count indictment against Ms. Jerrome and Mr. Christopher. The indictment charged them with two felony offenses, grand larceny and conspiracy, involving the theft of property belonging to Ms. Jewell, Mr. Violet, Ms. Bauer, and Ms. Atkinson. Ms. Jerrome's trial was severed from that of Mr. Christopher.5 Ms. Jerrome was tried before a jury on March 19, 2013. During the opening statements, Ms. Jerrome's counsel informed the jury that she had stolen the items alleged in the indictment, but that she contested their value. Ms. Jerrome wanted the jury to convict her of the misdemeanor crime of petit larceny, a lesser included offense of grand larceny. During the trial, the State called nine witnesses, including the victims. The victims presented testimony that indicated the total value of the property stolen was in excess of $1000, which would satisfy the requirements for a grand larceny conviction. At the close of the State's case-in-chief, the circuit court dismissed the conspiracy charge because of insufficient evidence. Ms. Jerrome did not testify, but she did put on a case-in-chief wherein she called one witness. Ms. Jerrome's witness was qualified as an expert on the price of used cell phones. The expert placed a value on all the cell phones and the iPod that, collectively, did not equal $1,000, which would allow for only a petit larceny conviction. The jury returned a verdict finding Ms. Jerrome guilty of grand larceny. This appeal followed.
On appeal to this Court, Ms. Jerrome asserts two assignments of error. Each issue will be discussed individually.
The first issue raised by Ms. Jerrome is that the circuit court erred in making a pretrial ruling that the State could aggregate the value of the stolen property to support the grand larceny indictment. This issue presents a question of law and requires an examination of our grand larceny statute. Our cases have held that “[w]here the issue on an appeal from the circuit court is clearly a question of law or involving an interpretation of a statute, we apply a de novo standard of review.” Syl. pt. 1, Chrystal R.M. v. Charlie A.L., 194 W.Va. 138, 459 S.E.2d 415 (1995). Accord Syl pt. 1, State v. Chic–Colbert, 231 W.Va. 749, 749 S.E.2d 642 (2013) (per curiam).
We begin by noting that Ms. Jerrome was indicted on a charge of grand larceny under W. Va.Code § 61–3–13(a) (1994) (Repl.Vol.2010). The statute sets out the offense of grand larceny as follows:
(a) If a person commits simple larceny of goods or chattels of the value of one thousand dollars or more, such person is guilty of a felony, designated grand larceny, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than ten years, or, in the discretion of the court, be confined in jail not more than one year and shall be fined not more than two thousand five hundred dollars.
Under this statute, the theft of “goods or chattels” valued at one thousand dollars or more constitutes grand larceny.7 We note that W. Va.Code § 61–3–13(a) is silent as to how it is to be applied when larceny involves property belonging to and taken from multiple victims. As a result of this silence, Ms. Jerrome contends that “there is no...
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...is measured by evidence of multiple separately-formed or singular intent(s), as determined by a jury. In State v. Jerrome, 233 W.Va. 372, 758 S.E.2d 576 (2014) (Loughry, J., concurring), we joined in the majority's affirmance of the defendant's grand larceny conviction. As I explained,[c]on......
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