State v. Wayne Frazier, 90-LW-0485
| Decision Date | 11 January 1990 |
| Docket Number | 90-LW-0485,54771 |
| Parties | STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Wayne FRAZIER, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Criminal appeal from Common Pleas Court Case No. CR-216710.
John T Corrigan, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney by Jack Hudson, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Cleveland, for plaintiff-appellee.
Patricia M. Walsh, David L. Doughten, Cleveland, for defendant-appellant.
JOURNAL ENTRY and OPINION
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Defendant-appellant Wayne Frazier appeals from his convictions for two aggravated murders with death penalty specifications, attempted murder, and aggravated burglary. The defendant raises fourteen assignments of error which challenge these convictions as well as the trial court's imposition of the death penalty.
On April 8, 1987, defendant was indicted for two counts of aggravated murder with felony murder, mass murder and other specifications, one count each of attempted murder and aggravated burglary and two counts of aggravated robbery. The indictment arose from allegations that the defendant and two accomplices, his brother Michael Frazier, and Derrick Evans, planned to commit an armed robbery at the home of Marcellus Williams on the night of March 26, 1987, and once inside Williams' home, the defendant killed Williams' twenty-five-year-old girl friend, Joanne Richards, while Evans killed Williams, and Michael Frazier seriously injured Williams' nineteen-year-old son, Derek Speights. It was further alleged that the three perpetrators then fled with property belonging to the victims.
The defendant maintained that while he was present during the incident, he was not criminally involved, and he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The matter proceeded to trial before a three-judge panel on August 31, 1987. For its case, the state presented two eyewitnesses, Derek Speights and Albert Richards, Joanne Richards' seven-year-old son, four police detectives, a pathologist, and a trace evidence specialist.
Derek Speights testified that he knew all three assailants and that he had spoken with them outside of Williams' apartment a short time before the killings. At this prior meeting, the defendant asked Speights if his father was home, and told Speights that he was coming back later to see him.
The three men subsequently arrived at Williams' house at approximately 10:15 p.m. Speights, Williams, Richards, and Richards' four-month-old baby were inside, and Albert Richards was asleep in an adjoining bedroom. For five minutes, the six adults engaged in conversation.
Then, according to Speights, Evans jumped up, put a gun to Williams' head, and asked for money. Evans then yanked the telephone from the wall and tied Williams' hands behind his back with the cord. Speights further observed Evans reach into Williams' pocket and remove money.
As Evans began his attack on Williams, Speights jumped up and was knocked down by Michael Frazier. Michael Frazier then tied Speights' hands behind his back with a towel and threw a second towel over his head. This was apparently meant to obscure his vision, but Speights testified that the towel did not completely cover his face, and that he clearly saw the subsequent events.
Speights further testified that the defendant ran over to Richards and hit her when the other attacks commenced. The defendant then got a bottle for the baby at Richards' request, and the three men began stabbing their victims repeatedly.
Following the stabbings, defendant carried a television set out of Richards' bedroom, and Evans hit Speights on the head several times with a gun.
After the three men had fled, Speights dragged himself to the outside of the building and found help. He had sustained a total of twenty-one stab wounds.
Richards' young son, Albert, testified that he was awakened by the noise and as he stood in the bedroom doorway, he saw the defendant, whom he knew as "Twin," stabbing his mother with a knife. Albert also testified that he saw the defendant kick Williams in the head, partially dislodging Williams' artificial eye. Finally, Albert stated that when the defendant saw him at the bedroom doorway, the defendant motioned for Albert to return to the bedroom, and Albert then hid under his mother's bed until the police found him.
The police detectives testified that they arrived on the scene shortly after midnight, and found Williams' body partially blocking the door leading inside. Richards' body was found on the living room couch.
The officers learned from Albert that "Twin" had stabbed his mother, and subsequently learned that "Twin" was Wayne Frazier, the defendant.
At about 1:30 a.m., several police officers were dispatched to the defendant's home. One unit spotted the defendant in his car and maneuvered to cut him off. The defendant drove over the curb past this unit and continued on for several blocks before abandoning his car and fleeing on foot. The police then apprehended the defendant a short distance from where he had abandoned his vehicle.
Defendant had cuts on his right hand when he was apprehended, and was taken to a hospital before being taken to jail. The defendant initially told the officers that he had injured his hand while working on his car. After later admitting to being present at the murder scene, he told the officers that he was injured while attempting to prevent Evans from stabbing Richards.
The following morning, the police took a photograph of the defendant for a photo array to be presented to Derek Speights, and the defendant made a statement to the police. He then directed them to a site where the three men had dumped the victim's property. Among the items recovered at this site were Marcellus Williams' social security card, welfare identification card, and medical assistance card, as well as a folding Buck knife.
Defendant told the officers that this knife looked like a knife which belonged to him, but was not his knife because it had rust stains on it.
Later in the day, the defendant directed the officers to a second site where he, his brother, and Evans had burned their clothing after leaving Williams' apartment. Partially burned clothing, and a second knife, a large, bloodstained K-bar knife, were recovered from this site.
John A. Daniels, a pathologist with the coroner's officer, testified that both Richards and Williams had died from multiple stab wounds. Richards had thirty-two stab wounds to her head, neck, torso and right arm. At least two of Richards' wound were sufficiently serious to have caused death. Williams had nine stab wounds to his head, chest, back and side. One of Williams' chest wounds perforated the main artery of his heart. In addition, Williams' artificial eye had been partially dislodged.
Trace evidence specialist Linda Luke testified as to the results of blood typing tests performed in connection with the investigation. With respect to the blood in the apartment, Luke stated that the blood stains on the wall near the door, on the door, and on the landings for the first and second floors were consistent with Speights' blood type. Luke further testified that the defendant's white Puma tennis shoes had blood of a type consistent with Williams' blood, the K-bar knife had blood consistent with Speights' blood, and a tape recorder recovered by the police at one of the dumping sites had blood consistent with Williams' blood.
Defendant's version of events was that he was present at the scene but did not plan or participate in the crimes. Defendant testified that earlier in the day, he had been home ill when he received a call to pick up Michael Frazier from the company where they were both employed because Michael was causing trouble. The defendant then drove his brother and Derrick Evans back to his house and then to two bars, where they had beers, brandy and whiskey. The defendant said that he and Derrick Evans had a conversation during which Evans said he needed money.
The defendant further stated that the three men met Speights whom he knew well, at about 10:00 p.m. that evening, and that Speights invited him to come upstairs and visit. According to defendant, they smoked marijuana laced with some cocaine until Evans suddenly jumped up, produced a gun, and ordered both Williams and Speights to lie down on the floor next to each other. Michael Frazier then tied up the two men and Evans stabbed them while the defendant got a bottle for the baby at Richard's request. Evans then started toward Richards with the knife, and as defendant tried to get it away from Evans, he was stabbed in his right hand. Defendant testified that he saw Evans stab Richards once. He did not know whether the victims were dead or alive when the three left, and he denied seeing Albert Richards in the apartment that evening.
The defendant did recall seeing Michael Frazier and Evans remove property from the apartment but denied doing so himself. He further stated that he was not armed, but Evans had a gun and his brother had a long knife.
After having considered the evidence presented, the three-judge panel found the defendant guilty of the aggravated murders of Joanne Richards and Marcellus Williams, guilty of the attempted murder of Derek Speights, and guilty of aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary and all specifications, as charged in the indictment. Following a mitigation hearing, the panel sentenced the defendant to death for the two murders, and imposed terms of incarceration for the remaining convictions. This appeal was then commenced.
In his first assignment of error, defendant contends that there is constitutionally insufficient evidence to sustain his convictions for the...
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