State v. Peters
| Citation | 283 A.3d 668 |
| Decision Date | 30 September 2022 |
| Docket Number | ID No. 1801006136A & B |
| Parties | STATE of Delaware, v. Donmier S. PETERS, Defendant. |
| Court | Superior Court of Delaware |
Allison J. Abessinio, Esquire, Erik C. Towne, Esquire, Deputy Attorneys General, Department of Justice, Wilmington, Delaware, for the State of Delaware.
Patrick J. Collins, Esquire, Collins & Price, Wilmington, Delaware, for Mr. Peters.
Donmier Peters has filed a motion under Superior Court Criminal Rule 61 seeking postconviction relief. Mr. Peters’ chief complaint is that trial counsel allegedly rendered ineffective assistance, in numerous ways, by: (a) failing to file a motion to suppress Mr. Peters’ statements to the police; (b) failing to conduct an effective cross-examination of a witness; (c) failing to seek reinstatement of a previously rejected plea offer; and (d) failing to oppose a habitual sentencing motion.1 For the reasons below, Mr. Peters’ motion for postconviction relief is DENIED .
At about 11:00 a.m. on January 13, 2018, Corporal Robert Steele, along with other officers of the Wilmington Police Department ("WPD") were sent to the 700 block of Warner Street in response to a reported stabbing.2 When Cpl. Steele got there, he saw Derrick Edwards "sitting on the step holding his hands up near his throat and a massive amount of blood coming from his throat down his sweatshirt."3 Mr. Edwards told Cpl. Steele and other officers that he had been stabbed around the corner, and mentioned a "funeral home."4
After ensuring Mr. Edwards received immediate medical attention, the police began to search for Mr. Edwards’ assailant and for evidence of where the event took place.5 On the north side of a nearby funeral home there is an alleyway that also functions as a driveway; it parallels the walkway behind the 1200 block of Sycamore Street.6 WPD Master Corporal Joshua Wilkers saw "a couple drops of blood" at the beginning of that walkway and looked for more drops of blood in the alleyway.7 As M/Cpl. Wilkers continued down the alleyway he found more blood on the ground, specifically in the rear of 1210 Sycamore Street.8 Along the walkway, M/Cpl. Wilkers found more drops of blood and bags of heroin.9 The officer also saw a hat in the alleyway that he believed looked as if it had been recently dropped there.10
As he travelled on, M/Cpl. Wilkers saw that in the rear yard of 1210 Sycamore Street there was flipped-over furniture, a chair with a spot of wet blood, and a "pole with a knife on the end of it."11
While M/Cpl. Wilkers was searching the area, a man—later identified as Ted Chapman—who was in the 1210 Sycamore Street residence, opened his door near the alleyway and rear yard to ask the officer what was happening.12 M/Cpl. Wilkers placed Mr. Chapman in custody because M/Cpl. Wilkers saw blood in the kitchen behind Mr. Chapman, blood on the door handle, and what looked like blood on Mr. Chapman's hands.13 The officer then "entered ... and cleared the residence to see if there w[ere] any more possible victims in the house or anybody injured."14 The house was secured while the police obtained a warrant to search it.15
After receiving the warrant, the police searched 1210 Sycamore Street.16 When doing so they saw blood on the bathroom door and doorknob.17 In the kitchen, the police found a bloodied dish rag hanging from the sink.18 Moving further into the house, the police found a blue and white plaid shirt that appeared to have dried blood on it.19 The police then moved on to the bedroom and found a "folding buck knife with a 4-inch blade"—the weapon they deduced had been used to injure Mr. Edwards.20
When police interviewed Mr. Chapman, the owner of the 1210 Sycamore Street residence, he gave the police a description of the suspect as "a black male with a short beard" wearing "a blue hoodie, black pants, and [what Mr. Chapman believed were] Air Force One white Nike sneakers."21 Mr. Chapman said he knew the suspect as "Lucky."22 When the detectives showed him a photo lineup, Mr. Chapman identified Donmier Peters as Mr. Edwards’ assailant.23 Mr. Chapman told police that "Lucky" (Mr. Peters) was calling him multiple times during the course of his January 13th police interview.24
Further investigation took the police to the 800 block of Wilmington's North Harrison Street the next day.25 Upon reaching the residences there, the police identified and arrested Mr. Peters.26 During his arrest the police noticed Mr. Peters’ hand was bandaged and in need of medical attention.27 When later searching his room at the North Harrison residence,28 the police found white Nike sneakers and black sweatpants that matched Mr. Chapman's description of what Mr. Peters was wearing during the altercation with Mr. Edwards.29
After his arrest, the police brought Mr. Peters to the WPD's Criminal Investigation Division and interviewed him there.30 Detectives read Mr. Peters his Miranda rights and when asked whether Mr. Peters understood his rights and wished to speak with the detectives, Mr. Peters, without hesitation, told them: "I was defending myself."31 The detectives asked again whether Mr. Peters wanted to speak with them and he replied: "Yes."32 According to Mr. Peters, both he and Mr. Edwards had knives and he stabbed Mr. Edwards in self-defense.33 At one point during the interview, Mr. Peters asked to speak with a lawyer and detectives asked if they could obtain a few more answers before calling a lawyer.34 Mr. Peters agreed.35 Thereafter, Mr. Peters said that he had purchased the knife he used from Mr. Chapman.36 He again requested to speak to a lawyer, but continued to answer the detectives’ questions.37 Mr. Peters insisted that he "did not intend for it to go that way."38 Specifically, while Mr. Peters maintained that he was acting in self-defense, Mr. Peters said that he had brandished his knife to intimidate Mr. Edwards:39
Mr. Peters also told the police that he threw away his sweatshirt in a nearby dumpster; the police couldn't locate that sweatshirt.40 After the interview, detectives drove Mr. Peters to the hospital to have his hand examined.41
While on their way to the hospital, Mr. Peters said, without prompting: "[H]e didn't have a knife."42 The police believed Mr. Peters to be referring to Mr. Edwards.43 Later, at the hospital, the police recorded Mr. Peters saying: "[H]e had it, I seen it."44 The police took this, too, to be Mr. Peters speaking of Mr. Edwards.45
A grand jury returned an indictment against Mr. Peters, charging him with Attempted Murder in the First Degree, Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony ("PDWDCF"), Possession of a Deadly Weapon by a Person Prohibited ("PDWBPP"), and Tampering with Physical Evidence.46
Mr. Peters’ jury trial was originally slated for November 2018, but was rescheduled due to medical reasons concerning Mr. Peters.47 The trial then commenced on January 14, 2019.48 John F. Kirk IV, Esquire represented Mr. Peters at trial and sentencing.49
The State's witnesses included Mr. Chapman, Cpl. Steele, M/Cpl. Daniel Vignola, M/Cpl. Wilkers, and Detectives Brandon Mosley, William Ball, and Jose Santana—all of whom serve on the WPD—and Forensic Nurse Examiner Nicole Possenti with the Christiana Care Health System.50 The defense witnesses included Office of Defense Services criminal investigator Raymond Scott, and Mr. Peters.51
The State's first witness was Mr. Chapman, who testified that on January 13, 2018, Messrs. Peters and Edwards knocked on his door.52 Mr. Peters entered Mr. Chapman's house and asked him for a knife, which Mr. Chapman provided, so that Mr. Peters could "cut something."53 Mr. Chapman then heard "screams from [his] backyard," and when he looked over, he saw Messrs. Peters and Edwards fighting.54 Mr. Chapman saw that Mr. Peters had a knife in his hand and Mr. Edwards was "trying to block defensively."55 Mr. Chapman yelled at them and Mr. Edwards tried to run away but Mr. Peters "stabbed him again in the chest."56 Mr. Peters then came into Mr. Chapman's house, "dropped the knife in the sink ... and went into the bathroom because ... he cut his hand."57 Mr. Chapman rinsed off the dropped knife and put it next to his bed.58 The police later found this knife in Mr. Chapman's bedroom.59 After the altercation, Mr. Peters told Mr. Chapman that Mr. Edwards was "going to die ... [since he] got him good in the throat."60 Mr. Peters also told Mr. Chapman that Mr. Edwards was "f**king with [his] money."61
The State called Dets. Ball, Santana, and Mosley to testify. Det. Ball told the jury that when the police arrested Mr. Peters, he had an injury on his hand.62 Det. Santana described the police search of Mr. Peters’ room, where they found "a pair of white sneakers and black sweatpants with a white drawstring, and these were consistent with what the suspect in this case was supposed to be wearing."63 Det. Mosley detailed Mr. Peters’ statements during the interrogation.64 And Det. Ball recounted Mr. Peters’ statements on the drive to Wilmington Hospital, including Mr. Peters’ statement that Mr. Edwards "didn't have a knife."65
After the State rested, the Defense...
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State v. Lindsey
... ... 2015 WL 5969686, at *11 (Del. Super. Ct. Oct. 2, ... 2015) ... [ 78 ] Hamby , 2005 WL 914462, at ... *2 (citation omitted) ... [ 79 ] Ploof , 75 A.3d at ... 825 ... [ 80 ] Harden , 180 A.3d at ... 1045 ... [ 81 ] State v. Peters , 283 A.3d ... 668, 691 (Del. Super. Ct. 2022); See also United States ... v. Otero , 502 F.3d 331, 337 (3d Cir. 2007) (finding ... prejudice prong satisfied "when a deficiency by counsel ... resulted in a specific, demonstrable enhancement in ... sentencing ... ...