Thompson v. State, 2021
Citation | 776 A.2d 99,139 Md. App. 501 |
Decision Date | 09 July 2001 |
Docket Number | No. 2021,2021 |
Parties | Tiara Cardell THOMPSON, v. STATE of Maryland. |
Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
Michael R. Braudes, Assistant Public Defender (Stephen E. Harris, Public Defender, on the brief), Baltimore, for appellant.
Devy Patterson Russell, Assistant Attorney General (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General, Baltimore, and Jack Johnson, State's Attorney for Prince George's County, Upper Marlboro, on the brief), for appellee.
Submitted before HOLLANDER, KRAUSER and RAYMOND G. THIEME, Jr. (Ret'd, Specially Assigned), JJ.
RAYMOND G. THIEME, Jr., Judge, Retired, Specially Assigned.
Appellant Tiara Cardell Thompson was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County of second degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. Thompson appeals from his convictions and presents the following questions for our review, which we have rephrased slightly:
1. Did the trial court err in denying appellant's motion to suppress? 2. Did the trial court err in imposing a ten-year term of probation, effective upon completion of appellant's prison sentence?
On November 11, 1999, Prince George's County police officers executed a search of Thompson's apartment located at 4869 St. Barnabas Road in Temple Hills. The police seized thirty-nine cartridges consistent with bullets recovered from the body of Clifford Bell, who previously had been murdered. The cartridges found in Thompson's bedroom also were consistent with cartridge casings that had been discovered near the location of the shooting. Thompson was subsequently charged with the murder of Bell and of use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence.
Appellant moved to suppress the physical evidence found in his apartment on the basis that the State had failed to prove that the search of his apartment was conducted pursuant to a valid warrant. An initial hearing regarding appellant's motion to suppress was held on June 21, 2000. The State was unable to produce the signed warrant upon which the search of appellant's apartment was based. Therefore, the State called to the stand Detective William Wilson, who was the police officer who claimed to have obtained the warrant from the issuing judge. Prior to the testimony by Detective Wilson, the trial judge spoke for purposes of the record regarding what would be State's Exhibit 1:
State's Exhibit 1 then was introduced. Appellant subsequently objected to any proposed testimony by Detective Wilson, arguing that the officer's testimony violated appellant's constitutional rights. Appellant contended that the State had failed to produce the warrant and therefore the authenticity of the warrant had not been established. The trial judge overruled appellant's objection, but stated: "You can have a continuing objection to his testimony in its entirety on the grounds that it's unconstitutionally received and that it's irrelevant." Subsequently, appellant was also granted "a continuing objection to all physical evidence that was taken as a result of the search in this chase [sic] on the grounds as previously stated."
The following testimony was given by Detective William Wilson:
* * * * *
* * * * *
Appellant's counsel subsequently cross-examined Detective Wilson. The Detective recalled going to Judge Woods's home one evening in order to have the search warrant signed. This dialogue followed:
* * * * *
Shortly thereafter, appellant's counsel asked Detective Wilson about the execution of the search warrant at appellant's apartment:
A: It was later in the evening. I believe it was on the 11th about 10 or 11 o'clock at night.
* * * * *
Detective Wilson's testimony established that he did not make any copies of the signed warrant, and that he also did not know of anyone else who had made copies. The testimony also provided the following:
* * * * *
Emily Marie Joiner, appellant's mother, also testified at the initial suppression hearing. The police officers who executed the warrant at appellant's apartment had presented her with the warrant and related documents. She testified that she was shown three or four pages, but none of the documents was signed. She then said that the police had retrieved all but one of the documents from her shortly thereafter.1
The trial court subsequently granted Thompson's motion to suppress because the State had failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the search of appellant's apartment had been conducted pursuant to a valid warrant. The trial judge stated, however, that he would consider a motion for reconsideration of this ruling if the State brought forth new evidence.
Trial began on June 26, 2000. After the jury had been sworn, the trial judge heard motions arguments outside of the presence of the jury. The State requested that the motion to suppress hearing be reopened, announcing that it had additional witnesses to call to the stand: Judge Robert J. Woods, who was the applicable emergency duty judge in November of 1999; Carol Ann Herbert, who was Judge Woods's secretary; and Robert McDaniel, an evidence technician.2 After the State made a proffer as to what information would be adduced by these witnesses, the trial court reopened the hearing.
Judge Woods testified by phone from his chambers. He examined a copy of the search warrant that was contained in State's Exhibit 1, which had been presented to him earlier. This colloquy followed:
* * * * *
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Dashiell v. State
...The facts included in the application for the search warrant are deemed credible, reliable, and trustworthy. See Thompson v. State, 139 Md.App. 501, 532-33, 776 A.2d 99 (2001) (citing Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 171-72, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978) (affidavits in support of wa......
-
Holland v. State
...Rosenberg v. State, 129 Md.App. 221, 244, 741 A.2d 533 (1999), cert. denied, 358 Md. 382, 749 A.2d 173 (2000). In Thompson v. State, 139 Md.App. 501, 534, 776 A.2d 99 (2001), this Court Our standard for review of an issuing judge's probable cause determination is that so long as the issuing......
-
Spengler v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.
...well established that "the admission or exclusion of evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial court." Thompson v. State, 139 Md.App. 501, 515, 776 A.2d 99 (2001) (quoting Cleveland v. State, 8 Md.App. 204, 207, 259 A.2d 73 (1969)). Md. Rule 5-401 (2005) defines probative or "rel......
-
EBC Props. v. Urge Food Corp.
... EBC PROPERTIES, LLC v. URGE FOOD CORPORATION No. 1952-2021 Court of Special Appeals of Maryland February 28, 2023 ... ... the Premises to the state it was in ... prior to the commencement of the lease, but that, by locking ... Urge out ... and like structures." L.A. Thompson Scenic Ry. Co ... v. Young , 90 Md. 278, 282 (1899) ... Maryland ... ...