State v. Slocumb

• Decision Date: 16 August 1999
• Docket Number: No. 3034.,3034.
• Citation: 336 S.C. 619,521 S.E.2d 507
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: The STATE, Respondent, v. Conrad L. SLOCUMB, Appellant.

336 S.C. 619

521 S.E.2d 507

The STATE, Respondent, v. Conrad L. SLOCUMB, Appellant.

No. 3034.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard April 15, 1999.

Decided August 16, 1999.

Rehearing Denied November 6, 1999.

Assistant Appellate Defender Robert M. Dudek, of SC Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for appellant.

Attorney General Charles M. Condon, Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Assistant Attorney General Caroline Callison Tiffin, all of The Office of the Attorney General, of Columbia; and Solicitor Warren B. Giese, of Columbia, for respondent.

CONNOR, Judge:

Conrad L. Slocumb appeals his convictions for first degree burglary, first degree criminal sexual conduct, robbery, kidnapping, and escape. We affirm.

FACTS

On March 6, 1996, Officer Elvin Livingston transported Slocumb, a Department of Juvenile Justice ("DJJ") inmate, from a DJJ facility to a doctor's office for medical treatment. As the officer was driving Slocumb back to DJJ, he escaped.

Slocumb ran to the Briargate Apartments. At the apartment complex, Slocumb approached a female resident (the victim) from the hallway and asked for help in locating someone in the building. The victim tried to assist him. When it appeared that he was going to walk away, she turned and finished unlocking her door. She entered her apartment and turned to close the door but found Slocumb standing in her doorway. He shoved her into the apartment, and she fell back on her couch. When she began screaming, Slocumb told her he had a gun and would shoot her if she was not quiet.

The victim testified Slocumb asked for money and the keys to the car he saw her driving. She gave him a two dollar bill and the car keys. He then unplugged one of her three phones and told her he needed a change of clothes. The victim noticed the word Santee printed on the back of his blue prison uniform. She got some of her fiance's clothes for him to wear. He told her he wanted the shirt she was wearing and she resisted. When he insisted and reminded her that he had a gun, she took off her shirt. He then announced he was going to have sex with her. The victim testified Slocumb raped her. Slocumb then got dressed in the clothes that the victim had given him.

The victim gave Slocumb all the jewelry she was wearing except her engagement ring, which she managed to hide. Slocumb began looking through drawers in the bedroom, saying he needed another weapon. He found no gun but did find two more watches, which he took. He went into another bedroom, unplugged the victim's cordless phone base, and emptied her jewelry box. After spending approximately forty minutes in the apartment, Slocumb left and the victim called 911. The victim never saw a gun.

Shortly thereafter, Slocumb was apprehended in the parking lot of the Briargate Apartments. When they searched Slocumb, officers found a set of keys, two or three watches, a two dollar bill, and some jewelry. He told officers he had a gun, but a gun was never recovered. From a window in her apartment building, the victim identified Slocumb. Slocumb gave a statement to the police, admitting the alleged events with some variations.

The Richland County Grand Jury indicted Slocumb for first degree burglary, first degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, armed robbery, and escape. At trial, Slocumb asserted the defense of insanity as to all charges.¹ Ultimately, the judge charged the jury on the law of insanity and guilty but mentally ill.

The jury found Slocumb guilty of all charges except armed robbery. Instead of armed robbery, the jury convicted Slocumb of common law robbery. This appeal follows.

DISCUSSION

I.

Slocumb argues the trial judge erred in admitting evidence of bad acts he committed while at DJJ. Slocumb reasons that because he did not testify, or put his character at issue, the admission of these acts, particularly because of their sexual nature, was more prejudicial than probative. He asserts the evidence should have been excluded under Rule 403, SCRE.

During the defense's case-in-chief, Slocumb made a motion in limine to determine what prior bad acts the State might try to admit through cross-examination of Dr. Donna Schwartz-Watts, a psychiatrist that defense counsel intended to call as a witness. The assistant solicitor indicated he intended to admit evidence of Slocumb's bad acts while at DJJ to refute Slocumb's claim of insanity, but did not intend to admit evidence of the crimes for which he was incarcerated in DJJ. The solicitor sought to admit the testimony through Rule 703, SCRE, because it was his understanding Dr. Schwartz-Watts and Dr. Morgan, another defense psychiatrist, used Slocumb's entire DJJ file in reaching their opinions regarding his mental status. As such, the defense experts could not "pick and choose" which documents the jury would consider. He contended all of the educational, psychological, and behavioral records were relevant to the bases of the experts' opinions. The judge then heard Dr. Schwartz-Watts's testimony.

Dr. Schwartz-Watts, a forensic psychiatrist employed with the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute, opined Slocumb suffered from a conduct disorder and cyclothymia, a mood disorder which she described as "a major mental illness, but it's more mild, in terms of a mood disorder compared to a major depression or manic disorder." She believed, however, Slocumb was criminally responsible for his acts. Although she requested Slocumb's behavioral records when making her evaluation, she did not receive them and thus, had not considered them in forming her opinion. Even though she did not think the records would have changed her opinion in any way, she stated the records "would have been useful to document any decisions or diagnosis we would have made." She further testified a defendant's adjustment to incarceration would be a "major factor that we would need ... when evaluating someone."

On cross-examination, the solicitor showed Dr. Schwartz-Watts several DJJ incident reports which detailed numerous incidents of Slocumb's inappropriate sexual behavior. The incidents included sexually graphic comments and letters and sexual conduct directed at other juvenile inmates and DJJ staff members. Dr. Schwartz-Watts testified the incident reports corroborated her opinion.

At the conclusion of the testimony, the solicitor told the judge he agreed evidence of these bad acts would not be admissible if experts were not testifying in Slocumb's defense. Defense counsel argued the evidence was inadmissible under State v. Lyle,² and that even if any of the incidents were within a Lyle exception, the evidence would still be inadmissible under Rule 403, SCRE, as unduly prejudicial. The assistant solicitor argued Rule 403 "deals with Lyle issues of substantive evidence when the State intends on introducing it in its case-in-chief. We never had any intent, and I agree it would have been a violation of the law to allow this in our case-inchief." However, he contended that once the defense put up an affirmative defense of insanity, the burden shifted back to the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Slocumb was sane at the time of the incident. He further asserted Slocumb's conduct in DJJ supported the State's experts' opinions and diagnoses.

The trial judge ruled the evidence admissible under Rule 703, SCRE. He concluded the DJJ reports were the type of information that an expert would reasonably rely upon in formulating an opinion. Furthermore, the judge found under Rule 403, SCRE, the probative value was not substantially outweighed by the danger of any unfair prejudice to Slocumb. Based on this analysis, the judge permitted cross-examination using these records.

Because defense counsel did not call Dr. Schwartz-Watts as a witness, the State did not cross-examine her with the DJJ incident reports. The State, however, did cross-examine Dr. James Merikangas, who was called by defense counsel as an expert witness in neurology and psychiatry. In evaluating Slocumb, Dr. Merikangas ordered an MRI, a SPECT scan, and several blood tests on Slocumb. In addition to these test results, Dr. Merikangas reviewed numerous reports and records which included interviews with Slocumb's family members, DJJ psychiatric records, DJJ service notes and behavior reports, DJJ medication and medical records, State hospital evaluations, a report from Dr. James Evans, an expert in neuropsychology, and Dr. Morgan's and Dr. Schwartz-Watts's notes and reports. He also interviewed Slocumb and conducted a neurological examination.

Dr. Merikangas opined Slocumb had organic brain abnormalities as the result of a head injury that he suffered as a child. He diagnosed Slocumb with a "chronic, long-standing" mental illness. As a result of this mental disease or defect, Dr. Merikangas believed Slocumb was legally insane at the time he committed the offenses for which he was on trial. He also stated Slocumb lacked sufficient mental capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. He attributed Slocumb's conduct in part to a withdrawal from certain medication Slocumb had been receiving for the treatment of his mental illness.

Dr. Merikangas disagreed with the opinions of Dr. Morgan, Dr. Schwartz-Watts, and Dr. Tiller, a doctor also on the team that evaluated Slocumb. Specifically, he disagreed with their opinion that Slocumb was sane at the time of the crime and that Slocumb was cyclothymic.

Over defense counsel's objection, the State cross-examined Dr. Merikangas concerning Slocumb's DJJ incident reports. Dr. Merikangas stated he had seen the documents prior to trial. After the assistant solicitor read excerpts from the reports, Dr. Merikangas testified this conduct was not aggressive sexual behavior. However, he also admitted some of these incidents were inappropriate and some were not normal.

Slocumb argues the trial judge erred in allowing the DJJ...