State v. Kirkland
| Decision Date | 13 May 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 2010–0854.,2010–0854. |
| Citation | 15 N.E.3d 818,140 Ohio St.3d 73,2014 Ohio 1966 |
| Parties | The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. KIRKLAND, Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
Joseph T. Deters, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and William E. Breyer, Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.
Herbert E. Freeman and Bruce K. Hust, for appellant.
{¶ 1} This is a death-penalty appeal of right. Defendant-appellant, Anthony Kirkland, was convicted of the aggravated murder of two girls in Hamilton County between 2006 and 2009. He was also convicted of the murder of two other women.
{¶ 2} On the first morning of trial, Kirkland voluntarily pled guilty to the murders of Mary Jo Newton and Kimya Rolison, as well as to two counts of abuse of a corpse. The jury convicted Kirkland on all remaining charges, including aggravated murder with death specifications for the deaths of Esme K. and Casonya C., and recommended a sentence of death. The trial court accepted the recommendation and sentenced Kirkland accordingly.
{¶ 3} For the reasons explained below, we affirm Kirkland's convictions and sentence.
{¶ 4} On the night of May 3, 2006, around 11:00 p.m., 14–year–old Casonya C. left the home of her grandmother, Patricia C. She took her book bag, gym shoes, and cell phone with her. Her grandmother assumed Casonya meant to spend the night at her mother's house.
{¶ 5} Around midnight, Casonya called her friend Tania H. from the front porch of her friend's house. Tania told Casonya she was already in bed and did not want to go out, so Casonya said she was going back home.
{¶ 6} After leaving Tania's house, as she headed for her grandmother's house, Casonya spoke on the phone with her boyfriend, Ra'Shaud B. The two were having an argument when suddenly the phone cut off. Ra'Shaud tried for three days to reach Casonya by telephone, but he never spoke to her again.
{¶ 7} The next morning, Casonya did not show up at school. Casonya's mother indicated that she had not seen her daughter, and calls to Casonya's cell phone went to voicemail.
{¶ 8} At approximately 1:30 p.m. on May 4, 2006, Patricia C. called the police to report that her granddaughter was missing.
{¶ 9} On May 9, 2006, city workers doing landscaping discovered a body underneath a pile of old tires. The body was located in a secluded wooded area, approximately ten feet down the hillside from the end of a dead-end road.
{¶ 10} The body was heavily charred and decomposed, so much so that the responding officer could not determine the race or gender of the body. The front teeth had been recently knocked out. The only clothing on the body was a sock on one foot.
{¶ 11} Just beyond the end of the road, police found a burn pit, a charred site where they believed that the body was burned before it was dragged down the hillside and buried under the tires. And near the pit they found a long piece of timber, charred at one end, that appeared to have been used as a poker to stir the fire.
{¶ 12} The forensic pathologist was unable to do a rape examination because the pelvic area was almost completely charred. Investigators were also unable to look for DNA evidence under the victim's fingernails because the hands and forearms were completely charred.
{¶ 13} The body was positively identified as that of Casonya C. by comparison of dental x-rays.
{¶ 14} One month later, on June 15, 2006, the still hot and smoking remains of a second human body were found approximately 35 feet from the end of a dead-end street. The right foot was found 37 feet from the body. Tests indicated that the fire was started using either lighter fluid or paint thinner.
{¶ 15} The autopsy was unable to determine a cause of death but did demonstrate that the victim was already dead when the body was set on fire. The body was eventually identified as that of Mary Jo Newton by comparison of dental records.
{¶ 16} In the spring of 2008, skeletal remains of a third victim were discovered in a heavily wooded area at the end of another dead-end street. The bones were scattered, and the hands and feet were never found.
{¶ 17} The cause of death was a sharp-force injury to the neck caused by a cutting instrument. The bones showed traces of burning on the face, the front of the hip bones, and the thigh bones. A forensic anthropologist determined that the victim was most likely an African–American woman, probably between 30 and 55 years of age. However, the victim's identity remained unknown for nearly one year.
{¶ 18} On the afternoon of Saturday, March 7, 2009, 13–year–old Esme K. left her home to go jogging, wearing her iPod and a purple watch. Esme K.'s mother called 9–1–1 at 4:21 p.m. to report Esme missing.
{¶ 19} Police searched abandoned houses and nearby woods. Eventually, two canine-unit officers spotted a man, later identified as Anthony Kirkland, sitting underneath some fir trees in the nearby woods.
{¶ 20} The officers saw knives protruding from his left pants pocket, so they disarmed him and searched him. They found a purple watch and an iPod in his pockets. Etched on the back of the iPod were the words "Property of Esme [K]."
{¶ 21} The officers placed Kirkland in handcuffs. Kirkland initially gave his name as Anthony Palmore. He claimed that he had found the watch and iPod in the woods. The police read Kirkland his Miranda rights.
{¶ 22} Efforts to confirm his identity through police databases were unsuccessful, but after about 20 minutes, Kirkland gave his real name. As the search for Esme continued, police transported Kirkland to the police station.
{¶ 23} At around 3:00 in the morning, searchers found the body of Esme K. in the woods. She was naked except for her shoes and socks. Her body was propped up against a tree branch, with her arms crossed and her legs spread. Her groin, inner thighs, and left hand had all been severely burned.
{¶ 24} The official cause of death was asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation, confirmed by a fracture of the hyoid bone, ligature marks on the neck, and petechiae on her face consistent with a long struggle. There was also evidence of premortem trauma to Esme's vagina consistent with rape.
{¶ 25} Police found Esme's top a few days later in the parking lot of a nearby vacant building. The shirt had burn holes and had been cut open in the front. A trail of burnt clothing led police to a white plastic bag containing Esme's grey sweatpants and underpants. The zipper pocket of the sweatpants was burned, but the underwear was not.
{¶ 26} Investigators took DNA samples from Kirkland's hands, his penis, and a stain on his boxer shorts, and in all three cases, DNA consistent with Esme's was found. Partial shoe prints in the woods were consistent with the type of sneaker Kirkland wore at the time.
{¶ 27} On the morning of March 8, 2009, Detective Keith Witherell interviewed Kirkland. Witherell had previously interviewed Kirkland on March 15, 2007, in connection with the homicides of Casonya and Mary Jo. During the 2007 interrogation, Kirkland viewed a photograph of Casonya and said that he did not recognize her. He admitted that he knew Mary Jo and that the nature of their relationship was sexual, but denied having anything to do with her death.
{¶ 28} In 2007, police had no forensic evidence tying Kirkland to the murders, no eyewitnesses, and no admissions from Kirkland. Consequently, they were unable to arrest or charge him.
{¶ 29} The first March 2009 interview lasted over four hours. A video recording of that interview was introduced into evidence and played for the jury.
{¶ 30} During that interview, Kirkland offered multiple, inconsistent versions of events. At the outset, he professed confusion as to the reason for his arrest, telling officers that he thought they brought him in because of outstanding warrants relating to an altercation with his ex-girlfriend's current boyfriend and that he had no idea he was there because of the missing girl.
{¶ 31} He repeatedly denied seeing a young girl jogging (or anyone else) in the vicinity of the reservoir near where he was found. He acted as if he did not even know the race of the missing girl. And he professed surprise to learn that the watch and radio,1 which he continued to insist he stumbled upon while walking in the woods, belonged to the missing girl.
{¶ 32} After further questioning, Kirkland admitted meeting Esme at the reservoir and told detectives that he could take them to her. He said that the two literally ran into one another and that the collision caused Kirkland to drop his beer and lose his temper. He punched Esme multiple times and kicked her. But he claimed to have left her alive.
{¶ 33} After detectives told Kirkland that her body had been found, he changed his story. First claiming to have no memory of events, Kirkland then admitted chasing Esme into the woods. But he continued to claim that he left her injured but alive, and he repeatedly insisted that she was wearing clothes when he left her.
{¶ 34} As the questioning continued, Kirkland claimed to have left Esme alive with a man he knew only as Pedro. But when challenged, Kirkland confessed knowing all along that she was dead. He admitted that he had returned to the reservoir some hours after the murder to move the body.
{¶ 35} Kirkland said Esme died "because of my hatred." But when asked directly if he had killed her, he still said no, and as the interview concluded, Kirkland was still insisting that he had learned the location of the body from Pedro.
{¶ 36} A second interview of Kirkland began approximately two hours later. This time, Detective William Hilbert questioned Kirkland about Mary Jo and Casonya. The interview occurred in two sessions, the first lasting about two and one-half hours, and the second less than 90 minutes. Video recordings of those interviews were introduced into evidence, and a redacted version was played for the jury.
{¶ 37} Kirkland gave the following account of Mary Jo's murder:
{¶ 38} He first...
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