State v. Mlyniec, 2009–47–C.A.
| Decision Date | 07 March 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 2009–47–C.A.,2009–47–C.A. |
| Citation | 15 A.3d 983 |
| Parties | STATEv.Brian MLYNIEC. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Lauren S. Zurier, Department of Attorney General, for State.Paula Rosin, Office of the Public Defender, for Defendant.Present: SUTTELL, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, and ROBINSON, JJ.
The defendant, Brian Mlyniec, appeals from a Superior Court judgment of conviction for first-degree murder, for which he received a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial justice erred in (1) failing to suppress the defendant's videotaped statement to the police; (2) admitting testimony about a prior act of misconduct by the defendant; (3) refusing to recuse himself; and (4) imposing a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.
On December 11, 2006, defendant was charged with the murder of Kelly Anderson, 1 in violation of G.L.1956 § 11–23–1.2 The state also filed notice that it would be seeking a sentence of life without parole under § 11–23–2(4),3 alleging the murder involved an aggravated battery or torture.
Before trial, defendant filed a motion to recuse after the trial justice made comments about a past interaction with defense counsel. A hearing was held on May 22, 2008, and the trial justice subsequently denied the motion to recuse.
Pretrial motions, including defendant's motion to suppress statements given to the West Warwick police, were heard on June 19 and 20, 2008. The defendant ultimately challenged only the admission of a statement he gave to the police on June 26, 2006, arguing that the statement was not voluntary because of his intoxication, sleeplessness, and state of depression.4 The trial justice denied the motion to suppress, explaining that although defendant may have been under the effects of prescription drugs and alcohol, he was not so impaired as to render his statements involuntary.
The defendant then was tried in Superior Court before a jury during June and July 2008. The pertinent evidence adduced at trial, surrounding Ms. Anderson's death, is set forth below.
The defendant testified that he met Ms. Anderson in March 2006 while working to remove rugs from a rug company where Ms. Anderson worked and kept her belongings. Because the company was closing and Ms. Anderson had no immediate place to live, defendant offered to store her belongings in a shed at his house. According to defendant, he also offered Ms. Anderson a spare room in exchange for her agreement to do “some cleaning” in the house. As a result, Ms. Anderson moved in with defendant for about a week and a half. The defendant also testified that during this period they engaged in sexual activities and that Ms. Anderson introduced him to asphyxiaphilia, which he described as the use of a belt or scarf “to tie the throat of another person [to] reduce their oxygen supply to the brain, which increases the person's orgasm.”
On June 22, 2006, defendant said, he engaged in a “normal routine” after work, cashing his paycheck and purchasing Gatorade, vodka, brandy, and cigarettes. 5 The defendant then received a ride to Kennedy Plaza, where he noticed Ms. Anderson getting off a bus around 6 p.m. The defendant testified that she looked thinner and appeared to stagger and that he was concerned she had relapsed.6 He further claimed that she asked to move back in with him, and he agreed.
According to defendant, after he and Ms. Anderson missed a bus, they sat and drank vodka with Gatorade and went behind a dumpster and “fooled around.” A later bus then brought them to a stop in West Warwick, from where they walked to defendant's house. The defendant testified that Ms. Anderson was “tipsy” and that she talked about sex during the whole walk. The defendant carried her bags that he said contained scarves, clothes, and a Walkman.
After the couple reached his house, around 9 p.m., defendant put his dog outside and returned inside to find Ms. Anderson sitting on the couch naked. The defendant testified that he made vodka drinks and then he and Ms. Anderson engaged in oral sexual activities.
The defendant testified that afterwards, because he could not achieve an erection, Ms. Anderson asked if he wanted to tie her up, and he agreed. The defendant testified that he could not find anything with which to tie her so he tried to use her Walkman earbuds,7 but they broke off immediately. The defendant then used a television cable. The defendant testified that Ms. Anderson actually tried to tie the cable to her ankles herself, which he completed, and that he then tied her wrists. The defendant said he also tried to “hog-tie” her. According to defendant, Ms. Anderson was tied up only “[m]omentarily” because the cable came off.
The defendant testified that later in the evening, Ms. Anderson grabbed a belt from her bag for “the asphyxiation thing that she wanted to do.” The defendant then described a series of vigorous sexual activities during which on several occasions Ms. Anderson would say “pull the belt,” which was around her neck,8 as he penetrated her vaginally and anally with his hand. The defendant testified that he complied with her requests, stating that “[s]he'd say let go or I just knew enough to not hold it longer than about twenty seconds.”
According to defendant, the sexual activities ended when Ms. Anderson lay back on the couch and was “really groggy.” The defendant said he asked her whether he should call 911, and she replied that she did not want him to. The defendant testified that Ms. Anderson then walked with him to the bathroom, where he put her in a bathtub filled with cold water and sprayed water in her mouth, in an effort to wake her up. The defendant then poured coffee grinds down her throat. While Ms. Anderson was in the bathtub, at 12:53 a.m., defendant called his friend Bill Healey and spoke with him for approximately twenty minutes. The defendant told Mr. Healey that he needed help because a girl he had picked up was not responsive and was “coming in and out” of consciousness. Mr. Healey suggested that defendant call 911. The defendant called Mr. Healey a second time at 1:19 a.m., for seven minutes, and told him that “she was okay.” Mr. Healey testified that although the conversation was “a little bizarre” he had no difficulty understanding defendant.
The defendant testified that Ms. Anderson then stood and leaned against a wall but fell, hitting her head on the bathroom tile as well as the toilet. The defendant said that, when he picked her up, she slipped out of his hands and fell under the sink. The defendant testified that after be picked her up again, she hit her head on the sink.9
The defendant testified that Ms. Anderson then walked with him from the bathroom to the living room. According to defendant, Ms. Anderson put her shirt on and pulled her pants to her ankles, and he then pulled her pants up the rest of the way. The defendant laid Ms. Anderson down on couch cushions on the floor; he said that she then went to sleep. According to defendant, while he was making another drink in the kitchen, he noticed blood on his hands, which prompted him to go wipe Ms. Anderson's vagina and anus, where he also saw blood.10 The defendant said that he “pump[ed]” Ms. Anderson while she was drowsy, and she moaned.
Around 5:30 a.m. on June 23, defendant's neighbor, Michael Rothermel, saw defendant coming out of his driveway with blood on his face and arm. The defendant told Mr. Rothermel that he had picked up a girl who “had her period” and was out of it, so he had carried her to the shower. The defendant indicated that he was not going to work because he was worried she would rob him.
Around 7:15 that morning, defendant came in contact with another neighbor, Mark Townsend. They spoke for five to eight minutes, and defendant appeared “[n]ormal, sober” to Mr. Townsend.11 The defendant told Mr. Townsend that he had brought home “that girl” last night; he said they drank and she “passed out, fell down, and he was kind of concerned about her condition.”
The defendant also went to Jerry's Market twice that morning, once between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., and a second time, around 11:30 a.m. The defendant bought cigarettes and food, including ribs, chicken, and ice cream sandwiches. Although he testified that Ms. Anderson was “sleeping” at the time, defendant put an ice cream sandwich in her mouth and continued to push it in, believing she ate it.
Around 11:15 a.m., defendant received a call from Labor Ready, offering work at Builders' Surplus. The defendant said that Ms. Anderson was asleep when he left. Jason Young, a Builders' Surplus worker, recalled that when defendant arrived around noon, it “seemed like something was bothering him”; he looked “really nervous,” and he was “pacing,” “shaky,” and “really quiet.” When Mr. Young asked whether everything was all right, defendant responded that he thought his ex-girlfriend was on methadone, and he asked Mr. Young about overdosing. Mr. Young testified that he suggested defendant call 911 and go home, but that defendant was more concerned about losing his job. The defendant eventually did leave work, around 1 p.m.
The defendant testified that when he arrived home, Ms. Anderson was discolored. The defendant said he began CPR and then left to ask a neighbor to call 911; when he returned to perform more CPR, he said he felt her grab him and he yelled that she was alive. The West Warwick police, fire, and rescue soon arrived. Eric Galloway, a firefighter/emergency medical technician for West Warwick, arrived around 1:30 p.m. Sergeant Scott Thornton of the West Warwick Police Department also responded. Upon entering, Mr. Galloway and Sgt. Thornton observed that the dwelling was “ransacked” and in “disarray,” with various items of furniture, clothing, garbage,...
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