Wilson v. State

• Citation: 334 Md. 313,639 A.2d 125
• Decision Date: 01 September 1993
• Docket Number: No. 72,72
• Parties: Ryan WILSON v. STATE of Maryland. ,
• Court: Court of Appeals of Maryland

Page 313

334 Md. 313

639 A.2d 125

Ryan WILSON v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 72, September Term, 1993.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

March 28, 1994.

Reconsideration Denied May 6, 1994.

Victoria S. Lansburgh, Asst. Public Defender (Stephen E. Harris, Public Defender, on brief), Baltimore, for petitioner.

John J. Capowski, Asst. Atty. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen., on brief), Baltimore, for respondent.

Argued before MURPHY, C.J., RODOWSKY, McAULIFFE, ^* CHASANOW, KARWACKI, ROBERT M. BELL, and CHARLES E. ORTH, Jr., Judge of the Court of Appeals (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.

CHARLES E. ORTH, Jr., Judge (Retired) Specially Assigned.

I

On 6 January 1990 the body of Lawrence Berton Johnson was found on a parking lot in Prince George's County beside a Toyota automobile. The car's door was open and the engine was running. The manner of his death proved to be homicide and the cause of his death was a single gunshot wound to his head. Cash in the amount of $130 was on his person. Inside the car were numerous bags of cocaine, two pagers, $310 in cash and several pieces of paper bearing initials or names and phone numbers.

The police investigation of the crime led them to Anthony Brady Weston, Perry Wilson Lee and Ryan O'Neil Wilson. Five days after the murder, they were arrested. The Grand Jury for Prince George's County returned an indictment against them. All three were jointly charged with the premeditated murder of Johnson (1st count), the attempted robbery of Johnson with a deadly weapon (2nd count), conspiracy to rob Johnson with a deadly weapon (3rd count), and unlawfully using a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence (4th count). Wilson and Lee were jointly charged with the offense of accessory after the fact to the murder of Johnson (5th count).

The Circuit Court for Prince George's County denied a motion for severance, and on 2 April 1991 Wilson and Lee were tried together by a jury. Each of them was found guilty on the conspiracy charge and on the accessory charge and not guilty on the remaining charges. Wilson attempted to appeal from the judgments entered against him, but his appeal was deemed defective by the Court of Special Appeals and dismissed. He resorted to post conviction procedures, was granted the right to note a belated appeal and exercised the right. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the judgments. Wilson v. State, 95 Md.App. 680, 622 A.2d 810 (1993). We issued a writ of certiorari upon Wilson's petition. ¹

II

Detective Roger Irvin of the Prince George's County Police Department arrested Lee at Lee's home in Lanham, Maryland. Irvin transported Lee to the Department's Criminal Investigations Division and interviewed him. Lee made a statement, which was reduced to writing and signed by him.

Special Agent Douglas Reardon of the Virginia State Police took Wilson into custody at St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville, Virginia, where Wilson was a student. After advising him that he was being arrested for capital murder, Reardon interviewed Wilson in the office of the Dean of Student Affairs. Wilson made a statement which was reduced to writing and signed by him. Later Wilson was further interviewed by Reardon in the Sheriff's office. The statement made by Wilson at that time was not transcribed but Reardon made "just about verbatim" notes of what Wilson said. Wilson signed the notes and wrote "voluntary statement" thereon. Detective Daniel Smart of the Prince George's County Police Department also obtained a statement from Wilson shortly after the interview by Reardon in the Sheriff's office. The statement was reduced to writing and signed by Wilson.

There was a plenary hearing on pretrial motions filed by Wilson and Lee to suppress their respective statements. The trial court denied the motions on the ground that a preponderance of the evidence established that they were freely and voluntarily made. They were thus available for presentation to the jury for its consideration as substantive evidence in the event that the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that they were voluntary.

At trial, Lee's statement was admitted into evidence over Wilson's objection. As recited to the jury by Irvin, Lee said:

On January 6th, 1990 me, Anthony [Weston], Ryan [Wilson] went out in my father's gold Honda. Ryan had his father's D.C. police gun. We were going to rob a dope dealer. Anthony had the gun. We went around Dodge Park Apartments. There was no one out so we decided to leave. When I saw a car enter the apartment myself and Ryan were walking on the sidewalk. Anthony was about 15 feet in the street. That's when the car came back and Anthony said, "Are you looking?" I could not hear what the person said in the car. Then Anthony said, "Get on--get the fuck out or on." The car stood for 30 seconds, then pulled in and parked. A male got out the car. He then reached back in the car and hit the horn and turned to Anthony and said putting his hands in the air "I'm the biggest dealer around here." Anthony then said, "No, fuck, you're not", and shot him. Anthony then ran. Me and Ryan walked away. I could not believe he had done that. I then got in my car, pick up Anthony, Ryan and talk about it and then dropped Ryan off and dropped Anthony off.

That narrative part of the statement was in Lee's handwriting. The statement continued in question and answer form, and was reduced to writing by Irvin.

Question number one: "What is Anthony's name?"

Answer: "Anthony Brady Weston."

Question number two: "What is Ryan's name?"

Answer: "Ryan O'Neil Wilson."

Question number three: "Where does Anthony live?"

Answer: "It's on Walkerton in Lanham, Maryland."

Question number four: "Where does Ryan live?"

Answer: "It's off of Hill Road somewhere. It's the first left after from the townhouses."

Question number five: "What day did this occur?"

Answer: "Friday night--Saturday morning."

Question number six: "At approximately at what time did this occur?"

Answer: "About 5:30 to 6:00 in the morning a.m."

Question number seven: "What car were the three of you in?"

Answer: "It's my father's '89 gold Honda, Maryland tag. I don't know the number."

Question number eight: "Who had the gun?"

Answer: "It was Ryan's father's gun, but Anthony had the gun."

Question number nine: "Describe the gun."

Answer: "It's a black gun with a brown handle, .38 Special with D.C. Cop written all over it."

Question number ten: "How was Anthony carrying the gun?"

Answer: "It was under his jacket."

Question number eleven: "Where did the three of you go on Saturday, January the 6th, 1990?"

Answer: "Dodge Park Road in Landover, Maryland."

Question number twelve: "Why did the three of you go there?"

Answer: "To rob someone with cocaine."

Question number thirteen: "How did the shooting occur?"

Answer: "Me and Ryan were walking down the sidewalk and we walked a couple of apartments down and came back. There were a couple people out there. They said that they did not have anything. We were leaving. Me and Ryan were on the sidewalk. Anthony was ten to fifteen feet behind us and he was in the street. That's when a car came in. The car went down about three buildings and it looked like he was dropping somebody off. Meanwhile, we were calling Anthony and saying, 'Come on, Anthony, let's go.' The car came back and Anthony said, 'Are you looking for something?' He said that the--he said that to the guy in the car. I couldn't hear what the guy said. The car pulled in front of the building where he was shot at. The guy got out of the car. He was rolling down his window. When he was doing this he reached back in the car and blew the horn three times. He was facing the building. Anthony was behind him. The guy turned around and threw his hands in the air and said, 'I'm the biggest hustler around here.' And Anthony said, 'No, you're not. I am.' The whole time the gun was at his head. At first the guy hit the gun away and then Anthony shot the gun and then Anthony run down the street to the 25 Hour store. I walked to the car. Ryan left. He walked towards the store. I drove and picked up Ryan first and then Anthony. We talked driving home and I asked Anthony why he did that. He didn't say why he did it. I dropped Ryan off, then Anthony at their homes."

Question number fourteen: "What happened to the gun?"

Answer: "Anthony gave it to Ryan. I don't know what Ryan did with the gun."

Question number fifteen: "How many times did Anthony shoot the black male on Dodge Park Road."

Answer: "Once."

Question number sixteen: "Did you tell anybody about this incident?"

Answer: "My girlfriend. I don't want to tell you her name."

Question number seventeen: "Do you remember what Anthony was wearing that night?"

Answer: "He was wearing a blue Dallas coat and a pair of jeans."

Question number eighteen: "What did you have on that night?"

Answer: "A gray coat, blue jeans and some boots."

Question number nineteen: "How about Ryan?"

Answer: "I'm not sure."

Question number twenty: "Did the guy Anthony [shot] have any type of weapon?"

Answer: "From the distance that I was at, no."

Question number twenty-one: "How far from Anthony were you when he shot the black male?"

Answer: "Approximately ten to fifteen feet."

Question number twenty-two: "Did Anthony take anything from the black male that he shot?"

Answer: "No."

Question number twenty-three: "Did you waive your rights freely and knowingly?"

Answer: "Yes. It was something that had to be done."

Question number twenty-four: "Is the statement accurate as to what you told me?"

Answer: "It can't get not better than it is."

Question number twenty-five: "Is this the truth?"

Answer: "To be honest the honest to God truth."

Question number twenty-six: "Are you under the influence of any drug or narcotic?"

Answer: "No, I'm not."

The autopsy report, a diagram of the crime scene and testimony as to what was found there, the gun and testimony as to the recovery of the gun and bullets in Wilson's home, and testimony and documents...