Williamson v. State, s. 477

• Decision Date: 19 November 1997
• Docket Number: 481,1996,Nos. 477,s. 477
• Citation: 707 A.2d 350
• Parties: David WILLIAMSON, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee. Alexis D. NICHOLS, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee. . Submitted:
• Court: Supreme Court of Delaware

Page 350

707 A.2d 350

David WILLIAMSON, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee.

Alexis D. NICHOLS, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee.

Nos. 477, 481, 1996.

Supreme Court of Delaware.

Submitted: Nov. 19, 1997.

Decided: Jan. 16, 1998.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 27, 1998.

Upon appeal from the Superior Court. AFFIRMED.

Court below: Superior Court of the State of Delaware in and for New Castle County, Cr.A. Nos. IN96-07-1220,-1221 and 95-12-1129 and -1132.

Court below: Superior Court of the State of Delaware in and for New Castle County, Cr.A. Nos. IN96-07-1211 through -1217.

Leo John Ramunno, Wilmington, for Appellant Williamson.

Anthony A. Figliola, Jr., of Figliola & Facciolo, Wilmington, for Appellant Nichols.

John Williams (argued), Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice, Dover, for Appellees.

Timothy J. Donovan, Jr., Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice, Wilmington, for Appellee in No. 477, 1996.

Before VEASEY, C.J., WALSH, HOLLAND and HARTNETT, JJ., and STEELE, Vice Chancellor, ¹ constituting the Court en Banc.

STEELE, Vice Chancellor:

This is a consolidated appeal from numerous criminal convictions in the Superior Court in and for New Castle County. A jury found the co-defendants below/appellants, David Williamson and Alexis D. Nichols, guilty of first degree assault, attempted extortion and second degree conspiracy in connection with the stabbing of Alexander Osborne. In addition, the jury found Williamson guilty of two counts of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, and it found Nichols guilty of maintaining a dwelling, two counts of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana and possession of cocaine.

The appellants raise several arguments on appeal. First, they both contend that the trial court violated their rights under the Confrontation Clause of the United States Constitution by admitting into evidence two of Osborne's statements to third parties when he was not present to undergo cross-examination. Nichols also argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress several pieces of physical evidence and a confession on the grounds that they were illegally seized. Williamson also argues that the trial court erred by: (1) refusing to allow him effective cross-examination of a witness, (2) reducing the number of peremptory challenges granted to the defendants, and (3) imposing consecutive sentences for each of his convictions, rather than finding that several offenses merged. We conclude that each of the arguments lacks merit and affirm the convictions.

Facts

The evidence adduced at trial tended to indicate that on November 28, 1995, Nichols hired Williamson to collect from Osborne a $370 debt on Nichols' behalf. Nichols agreed to pay Williamson $500 for his efforts. Raymond Zecca, the appellants' mutual acquaintance, overheard them develop their plan, and he inferred from their conversation that the attempt to collect the money might lead to violence.

Early the next morning, Zecca drove Williamson, in a blue pickup truck, to the Delaware Auto Court, a motel where Osborne lived. Zecca dropped Williamson off in front of the motel and waited outside in the truck. Zecca later testified that, when Williamson returned to the truck, approximately ten to fifteen minutes later, he was out of breath, his shirt was bloodstained, and he possessed a knife. No evidence indicated whether or not Williamson had the knife when he entered the motel room. Zecca and Williamson fled the scene.

Janet Gerber, the manager of Delaware Auto Court, testified that, at approximately 6:55 a.m. on November 29, Osborne appeared at Gerber's office and asked her to call 911. Gerber testified that the shirtless Osborne was bleeding from what appeared to be four or five stab wounds. Gerber described Osborne as alert, angry and in excruciating pain. Blood dripped out of Osborne's mouth as he spoke, and he continually asked for water. Gerber made the call to 911, and she remained on the telephone, asking Osborne questions and relaying his answers to the dispatch operator. Osborne told Gerber that Williamson had stabbed him, and Gerber, in turn, told that to the 911 operator. Gerber later testified that she feared Osborne might die in her office and that the events of November 29--not surprisingly--"were not ordinary."

Dr. Amir Mansoory, a general surgeon, treated Osborne at Christiana Hospital. Dr. Mansoory testified that Osborne would have died had he not been treated within thirty to sixty minutes of the stabbing.

Immediately after the stabbing, Zecca and Williamson drove to the New Castle Motel for a "breath of air" and then rented a room at Shoney's Inn. Later, while at Shoney's Inn, Williamson told Zecca that "things got out of hand" at the Delaware Auto Court and that "[Williamson and Osborne] got to fighting and cussing and beating each other up." Later that day or early the next day, Zecca repeated Williamson's account to Nichols.

The next day, November 30, 1995, Detective Paul Smentkowski visited Osborne at the hospital. Osborne told Detective Smentkowski that Williamson had stabbed him and identified Williamson in a photographic line-up. Osborne was reluctant to give his name when asked. He gave a home address in Suffolk, Virginia. Detective Smentkowski later testified that he never verified Alexander Osborne to be the man at Christiana Hospital or the accuracy of the Suffolk, Virginia address.

Also on November 30, Detective Thomas Ford learned of an outstanding warrant for Zecca's arrest for various probation violations and received information that Zecca might be found at the New Castle Motel in room 26, 27, 38, 42 or 23. Detective Ford later testified that he was aware at the time that Zecca was a suspect in an attempted murder but was almost certain that he was not yet in custody. Detective Ford did not obtain a search warrant for any of the rooms because he intended only to knock and ask questions.

Detective Ford and his colleague, Detective Bramble, arrived at room 38 and found the door ajar. Ford announced his presence and knocked on the door, causing it to open further. Through the open door, Ford could see an African-American man, later determined to be Nichols, sleeping on the bed. Detective Bramble testified that he and Detective Ford could also see, on the bedside table, a gun, several small bags of what appeared to be marijuana and several pills. Ford and Bramble entered the room and arrested Nichols. As they were doing so, they discovered another gun and a bulletproof vest in the room. The police seized two loaded revolvers, twelve plastic bags of marijuana, two capsules of cocaine, an electronic scale, a hand scale, plastic baggies, a bulletproof vest and cash.

At the police station, Detective Ford read Nichols his Miranda rights and questioned him. Nichols confessed that he rented and sold drugs out of room 38. He also admitted that he owned the two guns found there and that he knew they were loaded. He further admitted that he, Zecca and Williamson had a private meeting at the New Castle Motel, during which Nichols offered Williamson $500 to beat up Osborne and collect $370 from him. Nichols repeated to the police what Zecca had learned from Williamson about the events in the motel room: that "[Williamson and Osborne] got to fighting" and that "[Osborne] got the upper hand on [Williamson] and [Williamson] wound up pulling out the knife, stabbing [Osborne]."

Williamson and Zecca were arrested on November 30. Zecca was charged with conspiracy in connection with the stabbing. Zecca gave a statement to the police in which he repeated Williamson's account of what happened in the motel room. Zecca pleaded no contest and was the State's primary witness against the appellants at their joint trial.

Jennifer Ellis, who lived at the Delaware Auto Court on the day in question, testified that one morning in November of 1995, at approximately 7:00 a.m., she noticed a blue truck sitting on the side of the road with a white male in the driver's seat. She also testified that she saw a white male stabbing a black male whom she knew to live in Room 26. Immediately after the stabbing, the white male fled the scene in the truck. At trial, Ellis identified in a photograph Williamson's blue pickup truck as the truck she had seen at the Delaware Auto Court.

The State attempted to locate Osborne before trial. The State sent two certified letters, which were returned. Detective Smentkowski twice called the Suffolk, Virginia police and asked them to look for Osborne at the address he had given. Osborne was not at the address on either occasion. On the second visit, the residents of the house told the Suffolk police that Osborne had not lived at that address for approximately one year, although they continued to receive his mail from time to time.

Additional facts relevant to the disposition of the issues will be discussed below.

I.

The appellants first contend that the trial court violated their right to confront the witnesses against them, as guaranteed by Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. ² This Court reviews de novo claims alleging the infringement of a constitutionally protected right, ³ and we review for an abuse of discretion questions concerning the admissibility of evidence. ⁴

We note at the outset of our analysis that, if we were to find that the trial court violated the appellants' rights under the Sixth Amendment, the error would be harmless as to Nichols. Nichols confessed to the police that he hired Williamson to beat up Osborne. Thus, we can say beyond a reasonable doubt that there was no possibility that the disputed evidence may have contributed to Nichols' conviction. ⁵ The legality of Nichols' confession is discussed in section II, infra.

Osborne was not...