Tetso v. State

• Decision Date: 04 June 2012
• Docket Number: Sept. Term, 2010.,No. 2219,2219
• Citation: 45 A.3d 788,205 Md.App. 334
• Parties: Dennis J. TETSO v. STATE of Maryland.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

205 Md.App. 334

45 A.3d 788

Dennis J. TETSO

v.STATE of Maryland.

No. 2219, Sept. Term, 2010.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

June 4, 2012.

Nancy S. Forster, Towson, MD, for Appellant.

Cathleen C. Brockmeyer (Douglas F. Gansler, Atty. Gen., on the brief), Baltimore, MD, for Appellee.

Panel: MEREDITH, WATTS, and BERGER, JJ.

WATTS, J.

Following a trial held on August 17 and October 1, 6 through 8, 12 through 15, and 18 through 22, 2010, a jury sitting in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County convicted Dennis J. Tetso, appellant, of second-degree murder. See Md.Code Ann., Criminal Law Art. (“C.L.”) § 2–204. On November 23, 2010, appellant was sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment with all but eighteen years suspended followed by five years of supervised probation. Appellantnoted an appeal raising five issues, which we slightly rephrased as follows:

I. Was appellant denied the constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury and to the effective assistance of counsel when a venire member, who served on the jury, responded that she believed appellant should be required to prove his innocence?

II. Was the evidence insufficient to support appellant's conviction for second-degree murder?

III. Did the circuit court err in limiting appellant's questions of several witnesses that would have allegedly established that the victim had run away from home in the past and that the victim was seen by witnesses after the date on which the State claimed that she was murdered?

IV. Did the circuit court's instruction on circumstantial evidence constitute plain error?

V. Did the circuit court err in allowing the prosecutor to argue law in closing?

We answer all five questions in the negative, and therefore, affirm the judgment of conviction.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Appellant and Tracey Leigh Tetso (“Tracey”) ¹ were married in September of 2004, after a “six or seven year[ ]” relationship. The couple lived at 7800–A Bluegrass Road, Rosedale, Maryland 21237. On March 6, 2005, Tracey was to attend a Motley Crue concert with Christian Sinnott (“Christian”), that was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. Tracey never arrived at the concert and has not been seen since March 6, 2005, and her body has not been discovered. On March 17, 2005, Tracey's vehicle, a Trans Am, was found in Anne Arundel County near a Days Inn hotel and a bowling alley. Appellant was arrested in June of 2009 and charged with first-degree murder.

Because our resolution of the instant appeal involves the sufficiency of evidence, we must set forth the lengthy and detailed facts of the case. The facts are set forth below in the order the witnesses testified at trial.

At trial, Rose Smith, Tracey's grandmother, testified as the State's first witness, that she raised Tracey as her mother had been “gone since ... Tracey was two years old.” Smith testified that she and Tracey enjoyed a close relationship and that she talked to Tracey “at least three times a week” and saw her “[t]hree or four times a week.” Smith testified that Tracey had three dogs and Tracey loved and cared for the dogs, talking about them all of the time. Smith testified that she had not seen or heard from Tracey since the week prior to March 6, 2005. Smith testified that, two to three months before Tracey disappeared, Tracey gave Smith a “document that [appellant] had written her.” ² After hearing about Tracey's disappearance,Smith testified that she went to appellant'sand Tracey's home on March 7, 2005, and she noticed that a comforter from Tracey's bed was missing. Smith testified that she went to appellant's and Tracey's home again about two weeks after Tracey's disappearance and when she arrived appellant was there, and “ there was stuff piled up in the living room.” Smith testified: “I asked [appellant] if he was moving out. And he said, No, I'm moving in, because I don't want to pay for that thing anymore.” According to Smith, appellant was referring to a storage facility in which he had placed belongings prior to Tracey's disappearance.

Dawn Spadaro, Tracey's good friend and maid of honor, testified, as a witness for the State, that she saw Tracey “[m]aybe three times a week” and spoke to her “every other day or every two days.” Spadaro testified that Tracey loved and took care of her Trans Am. Spadaro testified that Tracey “loved her pets. They were her babies.” According to Spadaro, Tracey “was not happy in the marriage.” Spadaro testified that in March 2005, she made plans to move into Tracey's home at the end of May 2005. Spadaro testified that Tracey told her that, on March 6, 2005, she was attending a Motley Crue concert with a friend from work, Christian. Spadaro testified that appellant called her the night after the concert to let her know that Tracey was missing. Spadaro subsequently conducted a search for Tracey's car, “[a]ll over Anne Arundel County,” with no success.

Robin Payne, one of Tracey's co-workers at Aggregate Industries,³ testified as a witness for the State, that she spoke with Tracey outside of work “maybe once a weekend.” As to Tracey's work habits, Payne testified that she “always was at work, always on time, always dependable. If she had to stay, if she had to finish work she would not leave early that day. She would stay until her job was done.” Payne testified that she knew Tracey had pets because “that's all she talked about. They were like her kids, they were her babies.” On cross-examination, Payne testified that appellant would call Tracey's work “asking what time did Tracey clock out last night. Because he was, like, watching her. And I [Payne] did payroll. So he would call and ask me a few times what time she clocked out the night before.”

Monika Barilla, Tracey's supervisor at Aggregate Industries, testified as a witness for the State, that she spoke with Tracey everyday, except for the weekends. Barilla testified that Tracey was “[f]un loving, she loved, just loved life and loved her friends and her grandmother, her dogs. Her dogs were her children.” Regarding Tracey's work ethic, Barilla testified that “Tracey was very reliable. She was one of the—one of our best coworkers. She always showed up. If for some reason she couldn't make it on time, Tracey would call. She would always call before she was late.”

Barilla testified that she knew Tracey planned to attend the Motley Crue concert on March 6, 2005, and that this was marked on Tracey's calendar at work, with a note that she would be coming into work at nine the next day because of the concert. Barilla testified that on March 7, 2005, when Tracey did not show up to work or call, she called appellant and local hospitals looking for Tracey. Barilla testified that she conducted and assisted in at least thirteen searches for Tracey, as well as bringing media attention to her disappearance. Barilla testified that appellant, although invited, did not participate in any of these searches. Barilla testified that many news segments were shown regarding Tracey's disappearance—“probably two hundred times it's been out there over the years.” Barilla testified that “Tracey couldn't go anywhere without [appellant] constantly calling her, asking where is she, who is she with, where is she going to be, how long is she going to be there. I know one time we went out to dinner and he was constantly calling. She would get really upset, which I don't blame her, you know. It wasn't just after things were breaking up, it was from the beginning.”

As to Tracey's reliability in terms of communication, Alisha Baptiste, another of Tracey's co-workers at Aggregate Industries, testified as a witness for the State, that: “Tracey was very reliable. Any time we had plans to do something, if Tracey was going to be late she would call me to let [me] know that she was running behind.” Baptiste testified that Tracey was going to the Motley Crue concert on March 6, 2005, with Christian, whom, according to Baptiste, Tracey was “[d]ating[.]” Baptiste testified that Tracey was planning to attend a party at her house a week after March 6, 2005.

Robin Cataldi, one of Tracey's good friends from high school, testified as a witness for the State, that she saw Tracey on March 3, 2005, and Tracey appeared as if she “was having a hard time.” Cataldi testified that Tracey informed her that “she had gone to see a divorce attorney and that [she] and [appellant] were separating and she was moving on.” Cataldi testified that Tracey told her that she “had already put things on layaway so that when [appellant] took things out of the house that she could just replace whatever he took.” Cataldi testified that after Tracey's disappearance, she asked appellant about any plans Tracey had for after March 6, 2005. According to Cataldi, appellant responded that Tracey “had picked up Easter baskets for his children and they were having a birthday party for his daughter” on March 13, 2005.

Kathleen Sinnott, Christian's mother, testified as a witness for the State, that Christian died on March 12, 2010, from a drug overdose. Sinnott testified that in 2005, Christian lived with her and that Tracey was his girlfriend. ⁴ Sinnott testified that she learned Tracey was married because appellant “came to the house one time and I answered the door. Christian wasn't home. And he asked for Christian and I said that he wasn't home. And I didn't know [appellant], so I said to him, Can I have your name and tell him who stopped by? And he just turned and said, It's Tracey's husband. He didn't give the name; he just said ‘Tracey's husband’.” Sinnott testified that she knew Christian and Tracey were to go to a concert on March 6, 2005, but Tracey never showed up at her house.

Officer Angela Blankenship of the Baltimore County Police Department, testified as a witness for the State, that she has known appellant for eight years, as her husband and appellant “were friends.” Officer Blankenship testified that in January...