State v. Youngblood

• Decision Date: 24 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. 31765.,31765.
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of West Virginia, Plaintiff Below, Appellee v. Denver A. YOUNGBLOOD, Jr., Defendant Below, Appellant.

618 S.E.2d 544

STATE of West Virginia, Plaintiff Below, Appellee v. Denver A. YOUNGBLOOD, Jr., Defendant Below, Appellant.

No. 31765.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted January 18, 2005.

Decided June 24, 2005.

Dissenting Opinion of Justice Davis July 8, 2005.

Dissenting Opinion of Justice Starcher July 12, 2005.

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Robert C. Stone, Jr., Esq., Martinsburg, West Virginia, Attorney for the Appellant.

Debra M.H. McLaughlin, Esq., Morgan County Prosecuting Attorney, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, Attorney for the Appellee.

PER CURIAM:

This case is before this Court upon the appeal of Denver A. Youngblood, Jr. from his convictions in the Circuit Court of Morgan County, West Virginia, by a jury, of two counts of sexual assault, two counts of brandishing a firearm, one count of wanton endangerment involving a firearm and one count of indecent exposure. The convictions arose from the allegations of the State that Youngblood, in July 2000, abducted three young women and twice sexually assaulted one of them. Pursuant to the final order of the Circuit Court entered on October 3, 2003, Youngblood was directed to serve penitentiary and jail terms for a combined sentence of not less than 26 years and 90 days nor more than 60 years and 90 days. According to the Docketing Statement filed with this Court, Youngblood is currently incarcerated in the Eastern Regional Jail in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

This Court has before it the petition for appeal, all matters of record and the briefs and argument of counsel. Although appellant Youngblood brings into consideration a number of assignments of error in challenging his convictions, this Court concludes, for the reasons stated below, that those assignments are without merit. Accordingly, the final order of the Circuit Court entered on October 3, 2003, is affirmed.

I. Factual Background

On July 27, 2000, Katara N. and Kimberly K. went to a birthday party for their friend, Wendy S. who had just turned 18.¹ The party was held at the Motel 6 in Hagerstown, Maryland. The next day, Katara, Kimberly and Wendy walked to a store to get some food and met two strangers, appellant Youngblood, age 28, and Joseph Pitner, age 22. In need of a ride to their homes in Martinsburg, West Virginia, the three women got into Youngblood's vehicle, and the five individuals left the Hagerstown area.

Instead of going to Martinsburg, however, Youngblood drove the vehicle to his residence near Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. According to the State, while the individuals were in the residence, Youngblood ordered Katara N. into his bedroom where he placed a revolver against her head and made her perform oral sex on him. At some point during that incident, Kimberly and Wendy knocked on the bedroom door and told Youngblood that Pitner was leaving in the vehicle. Youngblood became enraged, left the bedroom with the revolver² and pointed it at Pitner who was beginning to drive away.³ Soon after, Youngblood and Pitner, without explanation, drove away together leaving Katara, Kimberly and Wendy alone at the Youngblood residence. The three women immediately went to a neighboring house, made a 911 call to the police and returned to the Youngblood residence. During the 911 call, placed by Wendy S., no mention was made of a sexual assault. Instead, the police were told that the women were at an unknown location and needed a ride home.

Appellant Youngblood and Pitner returned to the residence, and the five individuals began driving toward Hagerstown, rather than Martinsburg. They pulled over, however, upon seeing another vehicle flashing its lights toward them. The driver of the other vehicle was Youngblood's mother who told Youngblood that she had just learned over her scanner that the police were looking for three women who had called 911. Shortly thereafter, Officer Allen Thomas of the Morgan County Sheriff's Department arrived on the scene. Katara, Kimberly and Wendy indicated to Officer Thomas, however, that they were not the ones who had placed the call. Following the departure of Youngblood's mother and Officer Thomas, Youngblood, angered by the knowledge that the 911 call had been made, allegedly waved the revolver around inside the vehicle and told the three women that, if they had gotten him into trouble, he would kill them. His comments in that regard were particularly directed at Wendy S.

Youngblood then drove the individuals to Pitner's residence, also in the Berkeley Springs area. According to the State, while they were there, Youngblood ordered Karata into a bedroom where, with the revolver in sight, he made Katara resume performing oral sex on him. Later, refusing to take Katara, Kimberly and Wendy to their homes in Martinsburg, Youngblood drove them back to Hagerstown. Katara related the above events to her grandmother, and the police were contacted.

II. Procedural Background

In April 2001, a Morgan County grand jury returned a seven count indictment against appellant Youngblood charging him with a number of offenses with regard to Katara N., Kimberly K. and Wendy S. Trial began on February 25, 2003. Although Youngblood elected not to testify and did not call any witnesses, he argued, through counsel, that the three women made up the allegations against him because they would otherwise have been in trouble with their families for not returning on time from the birthday party.

Nevertheless, at the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned the following verdict: Count 1, guilty of sexual assault in the first degree, a felony, relating to the assault upon Katara N. at Youngblood's residence; Count 2, guilty of sexual assault in the second degree, a felony, relating to the assault upon Katara N. at the Pitner residence; Counts 3 and 4, guilty of brandishing a firearm, misdemeanors, relating to the waving of the revolver at Katara N. and Kimberly K. in Youngblood's vehicle; Count 5, guilty of wanton endangerment involving a firearm, a felony, relating to waiving the revolver at Wendy S. in Youngblood's vehicle; and Count 6, guilty of indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, relating to the sexual assaults upon Katara N.

Thereafter, the Circuit Court denied appellant Youngblood's post-trial motions and pursuant to the order of October 3, 2003, sentenced Youngblood to: (1) 15 to 35 years for sexual assault in the first degree, (2) 10 to 25 years for sexual assault in the second degree, (3) 1 year each for the brandishing and wanton endangerment convictions and (4) 90 days for the indecent exposure conviction. The sentences were ordered to be served consecutively, except for the brandishing and wanton endangerment convictions. Those counts were ordered to be served concurrently with each other but consecutively with the other convictions.

The appeal to this Court was granted in June 2004.

III. Other Act Evidence

During the trial, the jury was allowed to hear testimony from the three women that, while at the Youngblood residence, Youngblood pointed the revolver at Joseph Pitner, thereby stopping him from driving away. Youngblood objected to that testimony upon the ground that it brought evidence of an uncharged, collateral act into the trial in violation of Rule 404(b) of the West Virginia Rules of Evidence. The Circuit Court overruled the objection, finding the testimony to be: (1) descriptive of a portion of a single, extended criminal transaction concerning the three women and (2) intrinsic to the State's theory that the three women felt intimidated by Youngblood throughout all of the events in question.⁴

Rule 404(b) states in part:

Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he or she acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident [.]

Appellant Youngblood asserts that the Circuit Court committed error in permitting the testimony concerning the pointing of the revolver at Pitner because, in determining whether the testimony was admissible, the Circuit Court failed to conduct the proper analysis required under Rule 404(b) concerning the relevancy of the evidence and its prejudicial effect.⁵

This Court is of the opinion, however, that, in the circumstances of this case, Rule 404(b) does not apply. In State v. Dennis, 216 W.Va. 331, 607 S.E.2d 437 (2004), the defendant challenged his convictions of various offenses, including two counts of sexual assault in the second degree, kidnapping and robbery. The alleged victim was the defendant's former girlfriend. One of the assignments of error raised by the defendant related to the admission of evidence of his abusive, harassing and controlling conduct toward the victim in the months prior to the charged offenses. Citing Rule 404(b), the defendant, in Dennis, asserted that the evidence was not relevant to the charges and was overly prejudicial to his defense at trial. The trial court ruled, however, that, inasmuch as the evidence was part of the fabric of the underlying charges, it was outside the customary Rule 404(b) analysis.

In Dennis, this Court affirmed the ruling of the trial court and stated:

After carefully reviewing the record, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that the prior acts constituted intrinsic evidence, not subject to Rule 404(b) analysis. While the acts were not part of a "single criminal episode" or "necessary preliminaries" to the charged offenses, it is difficult to conclude that the evidence was not necessary "to complete the story of the crimes on trial" or otherwise provide context to the crimes charged.

216 W.Va. at 352, 607 S.E.2d at 458.

In so holding, this Court, in Dennis, relied, in part, upon syllabus point 1 of State v. Spicer, 162 W.Va. 127, 245 S.E.2d 922 (1...