Wood v. State

• Decision Date: 19 December 2013
• Docket Number: Sept. Term, 2013.,No. 28,28
• Citation: 81 A.3d 427,436 Md. 276
• Parties: Hubert Allen WOOD v. STATE of Maryland.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

436 Md. 276

81 A.3d 427

Hubert Allen WOOD

v.STATE of Maryland.

No. 28, Sept. Term, 2013.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Dec. 19, 2013.

Jeffrey M. Ross, Assistant Public Defender (Paul B. DeWolfe, Public Defender of Maryland, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Petitioner.

Jessica V. Carter, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Douglas F. Gansler, Attorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Respondent.

Argued before BARBERA, C.J., HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, GREENE, ADKINS, McDONALD, and ALAN M. WILNER (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.

GREENE, J.

In the present case, we are asked to decide whether the Court of Special Appeals erred when it affirmed the trial court's conviction of Hubert Allen Wood (“Petitioner” or “Wood”). Petitioner presents two issues on appeal. First, Petitioner asks whether the trial court complied with Md.Code (2001, 2008 Repl. Vol.), § 3–104(a) of the Criminal Procedure Article (hereinafter § 3–104(a)) when it allowed Petitioner to withdraw his request for a competency evaluation and afterwards did not make a competency determination on the record. We conclude that Petitioner's withdrawal of his request for a competency evaluation, in conjunction with the minimal evidence on the record to support a finding of incompetency, supported the Circuit Court for Cecil County's acknowledgment that the issue of competency was moot and, therefore, the presumption of Petitioner'scompetency was not rebutted. Petitioner attempts to have it both ways, first refusing a competency evaluation because he believed he was competent to stand trial and then, upon a finding of guilt, reversing his position and maintaining that the trial judge should have made a competency determination on the record. Second, Petitioner asks whether his request for a jury instruction on the defense of provocation was properly denied. We conclude that the evidence presented did not generate such a defense, and the denial was proper. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On September 22, 2010, Petitioner was indicted in the stabbing death of Daniel Curran (“Curran” or “victim”). At a pretrial hearing on January 21, 2011, Petitioner's counsel indicated that he was considering whether to file a request for a psychological evaluation following a conversation with Petitioner's mother and requested to reschedule the pretrial hearing so he could explore the option “more in depth.” The hearing was rescheduled for the following week and, at that time, Petitioner's counsel submitted a request for an evaluation of competence, which the court subsequently granted. The Court ordered the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (“DHMH”) to conduct an in-custody competency evaluation and for DHMH to submit a copy of the report to counsel and the court.

At a later motions hearing on May 10, 2011, the parties and the trial judge discussed the request for a competency evaluation. Defense counsel explained that he “had some questions about [Petitioner's] competency based on a history of prior admissions to psychiatric facilities and also after talking with his mother and her familiarity with her son.” He further explained, however, that the doctor at DHMH went to see Petitioner to complete the evaluation, and Petitioner refused to speak with him because the evaluation would “cast[ ] doubts about [his] sanity.” Defense counsel then emphasized that he “still ha[s] those concerns [about Petitioner's competency], and ... even his current course of action in not talking to the doctor exacerbates those concerns, doesn't allay them.” When the State commented that Petitioner's failure to submit to a competency evaluation might be grounds for appeal once he is convicted, the trial judge responded that “the only thing I can say is we ordered the examination, made it available to him.” The prosecutor then made clear that “if there is something presented during this motions hearing [or if there is any indication that's observable] that the defendant is not of sound mind, I'm going to be making a request for an emergency evaluation.”

On May 26, 2011 at another pretrial hearing, the following colloquy ensued:

[Petitioner's counsel]: Your Honor, we are here for an issue of competency to stand trial. And after further discussions with Mr. Wood, both substantively and about this particular issue, I have come to the conclusion that I should withdraw my request. And that is with Mr. Wood's concurrence. Is that correct, Mr. Wood?

[Wood]: Yes, sir.

[Trial Judge]: Okay. And you understand the consequences of withdrawing that motion?

[Wood]: Yes.

[Petitioner's counsel]: And the consequences are there will be no such evaluation?

[Wood]: Yes.

[Petitioner's counsel]: All right.

[Trial Judge]: Because it's my understanding [DHMH] attempted to perform an evaluation and they wrote back that at that time you refused to participate, so that's why we were going to send you for further evaluation at Clifton T. Perkins. But you are withdrawing the motion?

[Wood]: Yes, Your Honor.

[Trial Judge]: And that's all moot.

Petitioner's trial lasted from June 13 to June 16, 2011. The following evidence, relevant to this appeal, was presented at the trial. The victim's body was discovered by Mr. Michael Martin, a friend who occasionally “check[ed] in on” the victim, on February 17, 2010. Mr. Martin testified that the home was “trashed,” and the dresser drawer where Curran stored his medication was overturned. Martin drove to the local grocery store and notified police. The owner of the local grocery store, Mrs. Wright, who had frequent contact with the victim, testified that when Curran “was sober, he was awesome. If he wasn't sober, we didn't let him into the store.” Mrs. Wright further testified that on February 12, 2010, Petitioner came to the grocery store with a note signed by Curran authorizing the purchase of beer, which was a regular practice between Wright and Curran.

Another witness for the State, Matthew Morris, testified that at one time prior to Curran's death, Petitioner talked to Morris about “robbing the guy up the street” to “steal his pills,” and that the “guy up the street” could only mean Curran. A friend of Petitioner's, Michael McDonald, testified that during a visit to the area in March 2010, he visited Petitioner, and that Petitioner told him that he and the victim had been drinking when they got into an argument over pills, during which Petitioner “snapped” and stabbed Curran “in the temple and in the neck[.]” Petitioner's mother also testified for the State. She admitted that on February 12, 2010, a “drunk” and “lethargic” Petitioner came home and told her he “hurt” Curran. When the prosecutor refreshed her recollection, Petitioner's mother acknowledged that during her interview with police on September 9, 2010, she twice told the detectives that Petitioner told her that he thought he killed Curran. She insisted at trial, however, that Petitioner only said he “hurt” Curran, and that he did so because Curran “had said something inappropriate about [her].”

It was determined that at the time of his death, the victim was in poor physical health; he was dying of cancer and had been “beaten very badly” by someone a few days prior to his murder. While he was being treated for this earlier beating, the victim told medical personnel that he had a “history of aggressive behavior” and had threatened others “physically or verbally” when “drunk or high.” He also stated that he would “like to kill the person who beat [him] up[.]” A toxicology report showed that the victim tested positive for ethanol and other substances at the time of his death.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty as to the first-degree murder charge and Petitioner was sentenced to life imprisonment with all but 80 years suspended. Petitioner noted a timely appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, which affirmed the judgment of the Circuit Court in a reported opinion. Wood v. State, 209 Md.App. 246, 58 A.3d 556 (2012). We granted certiorari on April 22, 2013, Wood v. State, 431 Md. 219, 64 A.3d 496 (2013), to answer the following questions: ¹

(1) Did the Court of Special Appeals err when it held that the trial court complied with Md.Code (2001, 2008 Repl. Vol.), § 3–104(a) of the Criminal Procedure Article when the trial judge allowed Petitioner to withdraw his request for a competency evaluation, and afterwards did not make a competency determination on the record?

(2) Did the Court of Special Appeals err when it determined that the Circuit Court properly denied Wood's request for an instruction on legally adequate provocation because that defense was not generated by the evidence?

I.

The present case does not involve a substantive challenge to Petitioner's competency to stand trial. Rather, Petitioner claims that the trial court committed a procedural error by failing to make a competency determination following defense counsel's request for, and subsequent withdrawal of, a competency evaluation. With that in mind, we turn to the requirements of Maryland law.

Preliminarily, we note that a person accused of committing a crime is presumed competent to stand trial. Peaks v. State, 419 Md. 239, 251, 18 A.3d 917, 924 (2011); Ware v. State, 360 Md. 650, 703, 759 A.2d 764, 792 (2000). “It has long been accepted[, however,] that a person whose mental condition is such that he lacks the capacity to understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him, to consult with counsel, and to assist in preparing his defense may not be subjected to a trial.” Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 171, 95 S.Ct. 896, 903, 43 L.Ed.2d 103 (1975). The relevant standard was codified in § 3–104(a), which states:

If, before or during a trial, the defendant in a criminal case or a violation of probation proceeding appears to the court to be incompetent to stand trial or the defendant alleges incompetence to stand trial, the court shall determine, on evidence presented on...