Stevenson v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 13 December 2019 |
| Docket Number | NO. 2017-CA-001360-MR,2017-CA-001360-MR |
| Parties | WADE ALVIN STEVENSON, JR. APPELLANT v. COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL FROM FAYETTE CIRCUIT COURT
On October 16, 2015, Stevenson was arrested on State Street in Lexington. Stevenson was charged with entering the residence of Steven Stickrod, Jacob Hornback, Zach Cruso, Michael Cho, and Ben Molax, and stealing keys, a wallet, and shoes that belonged to Stickrod.
On November 23, 2015, a Fayette County grand jury indicted Stevenson. He was charged with second-degree burglary, tampering with physical evidence, and being a first-degree persistent felony offender.
On October 25, 2016, Stevenson filed four pro se motions. The first was a motion for bond reduction, which the trial court dismissed on October 26, 2016. The second was a motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel based on a conflict of interest between himself and his court-appointed attorney. The third was a joint motion challenging jurisdiction. The fourth and final motion was to dismiss claiming he was denied his right to a speedy trial.
On November 22, 2016, Stevenson filed two additional pro se motions moving the trial court to suppress the physical evidence obtained by the Lexington Police Department and to dismiss his counsel. The trial court promptlyresponded to Stevenson's motion for bond reduction but did not respond to any of his other pro se motions.
On May 25, 2017, a jury trial was conducted. Stickrod testified first for the Commonwealth. He stated that on the night in question he resided at 136 State Street in Lexington with four other roommates. He was a junior attending the University of Kentucky.
Stickrod testified that the night in question was a Thursday, which is typically a party night for UK students. He stated he did not party that night but stayed home and went to bed at a reasonable hour. He was asleep, he said, in his bed in his room. He also said his roommates were not partying and were also all asleep. The practice at this residence was to leave the interior doors of the house unlocked at night, and this included the door to Stickrod's bedroom.
At 3:30 AM, he was awakened by keys being shuffled around on the nightstand next to his bed. He testified he initially thought it was his roommates moving his car for him, parking at that residence being an issue. Stickrod stated he first looked up, still half asleep, and thought his roommate Zach Cruso was in his room.
Stickrod said, "What are you doing, Zach?" The individual walked toward the end of Stickrod's bed and he again said, "What are you doing?" He said he had not yet mentally processed that "there was somebody burglarizing me."
The individual responded and said, "My bad, bro." Stickrod then stated he could tell by the height and voice of the individual that it was not any of his roommates.
Stickrod stated the individual bolted out of his room and then the backdoor, both of which he left open. Stickrod then got out of bed and found his keys and wallet were missing. He then went to his roommate, Michael Cho and said, "Let's get your keys, let's go get him, let's find this guy."
Stickrod and Cho went out the back door and planned to use Cho's car to search for the individual but there were vehicles blocking Cho's car. Stickrod said he looked toward the street and saw a man standing there. Stickrod identified Stevenson in the courtroom as the man he saw standing across the street. Stickrod testified Stevenson was then wearing a jacket and jeans, but he could not tell the specific color clothing worn by the person in his room due to lack of lighting.
Stickrod and Cho approached Stevenson and questioned him regarding Stickrod's possessions. At first, Stevenson denied everything and said he knew nothing about Stickrod's possessions. Stickrod then stated he began to recognize Stevenson after conversing with him as the individual he saw in his bedroom. Stickrod testified that Stevenson was wearing the same type clothing and sounded the same as the individual in his room so he said: "I will give you 5 minutes to give my stuff back and I will not call the cops."
Stevenson continued to say he did not have Stickrod's possessions, so Stickrod called the 9-1-1 dispatch. Stickrod stated Cho was speaking to Stevenson while he was on the phone with dispatch.
After making the phone call, but while still on the phone, Stickrod said Stevenson offered to help him locate his personal possessions. Stevenson said he would show them where he thought he put Stickrod's wallet. Stickrod and Cho proceeded to follow Stevenson between houses along State Street looking behind trashcans. Stickrod testified they looked behind several trashcans, but did not locate his wallet.
Stickrod stated they were making their way toward the end of State Street toward South Limestone. As they were approaching the end of State Street, Stickrod testified that Stevenson swiftly threw keys into a bush, perpendicular to the direction in which they were walking. Stickrod testified that he did not immediately walk toward the keys because he did not want to risk having Stevenson escape his sight. While this was happening, Stickrod was still on the phone with dispatch. After Stevenson threw the keys, Officers Michael Hagen and Michelle Patton of the Lexington Police Department arrived.
The Commonwealth then played a portion of Stickrod's 9-1-1 call as evidence. The Commonwealth also introduced a map of the State Street area andasked Stickrod to point out on the map where events occurred that he just described in his testimony.
Stickrod next stated that one of the officers located his keys in the bush where he earlier saw Stevenson throw them. Stickrod confirmed the keys recovered belonged to him. He also stated one of the officers located his wallet behind a trashcan at a house on State Street. He stated both his debit and credit card were missing from his wallet and were not recovered.
Finally, Stickrod testified that once the police arrived both he and Stevenson were questioned by the officers simultaneously. Stickrod further stated that he neither made threats to Stevenson nor did he touch him during the time they were speaking.
Officer Hagen testified next. He stated he was a patrol officer in the west sector, which runs from Nicholasville Road to North Broadway. He testified he was on patrol on October 15, 2015, from 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM.
He was called by dispatch to 136 State Street for a burglary and theft report. Dispatch described the alleged offender as an African-American male wearing a gray University of Kentucky jacket or sweatshirt and jeans. Dispatch informed him that an individual matching that description was walking toward South Limestone Street from State Street. Hagen also used the map of State Street to explain events that occurred at that location.
Hagen testified that on the day in question he was with his beat partner, Officer Patton, who was in a separate vehicle behind Hagen. Hagen stated both he and Patton pulled into the parking lot off State Street where they located the individual described by dispatch.
Hagen testified that Stickrod and two other housemates were present. He further said that, as he pulled up to the parking lot, Stevenson appeared to drop something out of his right hand into the bushes that were along the parking lot. Hagen testified that Stickrod's keys were recovered from that same area.
Hagen asked Stevenson for identification and questioned him regarding the incident. Hagen testified he was wearing recording equipment and the Commonwealth played a portion of the recording in which Hagen and Stevenson discussed why Stevenson was in the area and where he lived.
The Commonwealth used the recording to refresh Hagen's memory because he did not immediately recall the versions Stevenson gave of events that night. Hagen said Stevenson did not have Stickrod's shoes on his person when he and Patton arrived on the scene. Hagen also testified that Stevenson said Stickrod threatened him and Stevenson wanted to file charges against Stickrod for assault.
Hagen recounted that Stevenson claimed a "little Asian guy" ran across the street, grabbed him, attacked him, and tried to take his shoes. Hagentestified he saw no injuries on Stevenson and, therefore, had no factual basis for charging Stickrod or Cho with assault.
Hagen next stated Stickrod's keys were located in bushes in back of the parking lot. He said they also found Stickrod's wallet without the debit card or credit card somewhere between the parking lot and Stickrod's residence.
On cross examination, Hagen stated neither he nor his partner found Stickrod's wallet or keys on Stevenson's person. Hagen also testified that the credit and debit cards were never found and that no pictures were taken of the place where keys or wallet were found. Hagen further stated there was no DNA evidence taken from 136 State Street from any of the door knobs that Stevenson allegedly used to enter and exit the residence.
Officer Patton testified next. Patton used the map of the State Street area to explain her entry onto State Street and the subsequent events that took place.
Patton stated she turned left into a parking lot once on State Street where she saw Stevenson and Stickrod. Patton testified that Stevenson tossed some items away as she pulled up. She stated Hagen made first contact with Stevenson and then she went to investigate the items tossed by Stevenson. When pressed for details, Patton said she saw and heard...
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