Opinion ID: 2817272
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Inadmissible evidence against Ms. Sharp

Text: In light of our conclusion that Ms. Sharp’s statements were involuntary after Detective Wheeles promised she would not go to jail, the following evidence should not have been admitted at trial. - 35 - 1. “Don’t kill him here.” The State presented the video recording of Ms. Sharp guiding Detective Wheeles around the camp site, re-enacting the incident, and providing detail about her observations. At one point, Ms. Sharp showed Detective Wheeles where she saw Mr. Hollingsworth threatening Mr. Owen with an ax. At the police station, she had told Detective Wheeles that she thought Mr. Hollingsworth was going to kill Mr. Owen with the ax, and claimed she said, “[N]o, don’t do that, don’t do that. I can’t be an accessory to this shit, you know. I can’t do that.” App. at 42. But during the reenactment, Detective Wheeles asked her, “Did you say, ‘No, don’t kill him,’ or did you say, ‘No, don’t kill him here?’” Sharp, 210 P.3d at 596. She responded, “Don’t kill him here.” Id. (emphasis in original). The State relied heavily on this statement at trial. During opening arguments, the State told the jury, “As [Mr. Hollingsworth] left the camp, Kim Sharp followed him. When she got there, David Owen was on the ground. Charles Hollingsworth had this hatchet above David Owen’s head. Kim said, ‘Don’t kill him here.’” State App. Vol. IX at 10. Shortly thereafter, the State again highlighted her statement, explaining that she initially told Detective Wheeles she only said, “Don’t kill him,” before admitting during the re-enactment that she had said, “I told him not to kill him here.” Id. at 11-12. Ms. Sharp’s trial testimony indicates both she and the State believed this statement would influence the jury’s verdict. On direct examination, she claimed, in contradiction to her videotaped statement, she had not said “Don’t kill him here.” State App. Vol. XI at 69. The State focused on the statement during Ms. Sharp’s cross-examination: - 36 - [The State]: [Mr. Owen is] beggin’ for his life. You told [Mr. Hollingsworth]-- this is what you told [defense counsel], “No, don’t kill him.” Is that what you said? [Ms. Sharp]: Yes, I did. .... [The State]: In fact, what you told Detective Wheeles was, “Don’t kill him here”; is that correct? [Ms. Sharp]: That is correct. But may I speak on that? [The State]: No, your counsel can ask you further questions. That’s what you told Detective Wheeles on the video reenactment, wasn’t it? [Ms. Sharp]: Yes. [The State]: You didn’t add anything else? He asked you. Did you say, “Don’t kill him,” or, “Don’t kill him here?” That’s a choice; right? [Ms. Sharp]: Yes. [The State]: And if you did say any one of those things, there was nothing to prevent you to say I didn’t say that? [Ms. Sharp]: Right. Id. at 92-94. On redirect, Ms. Sharp again attempted to rebut the statement she made during the re-enactment: [Defense counsel]: When Detective Wheeles asked you did you say don’t kill him or don’t kill him here, what can you-- did you respond to him? [Ms. Sharp]: I said, “Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him.” [Defense counsel]: Okay. Now, that’s what you said that day or is that what you said to Detective Wheeles? [Ms. Sharp]: I said to Detective Wheeles, I said, “Don’t kill him here.” [Defense counsel]: You had never said that before; correct? [Ms. Sharp]: No. [Defense counsel]: You had already given Detective Wheeles your statement at the Law Enforcement Center before you went into the reenactment? [Ms. Sharp]: Yes. .... [Defense counsel]: Did you understand the impact of what Detective Wheeles was asking you when he said, don’t kill him or don’t kill him here? [Ms. Sharp]: No. Id. at 104-05. And on recross examination, the State again discussed the statement: - 37 - [The State]: You didn’t want David Owen to be killed? [Ms. Sharp]: No, I did not. [The State]: And you told [Mr. Hollingsworth], don’t kill him here? [Ms. Sharp]: I said, “Don’t kill him.” [The State]: Right? [Ms. Sharp]: Yes. .... [The State]: Did you-- but you told [Mr. Hollingsworth], don’t kill him here, and he didn’t, did he? [Ms. Sharp]: No. [The State]: Nothing prevented you from writing out as much information as you wanted to in your own handwritten statement, did it? [Ms. Sharp]: I was nervous, plus I had my kids with me. Id. at 105-06. The State repeatedly focused the jury’s attention on the statement during closing argument. For example, the prosecutor reiterated the statement and urged the jury “to reflect back to the reenactment tape in this case, her voice, the way she said that, and the way that she pointed, ‘Don’t kill him here.’” State App. Vol. XII at 36-37. The prosecutor continued, “[Ms. Sharp] told you she told [Detective Wheeles], ‘Don’t kill him here, I can’t be an accessory to this.’” Id. at 37. In her closing arguments, Ms. Sharp’s attorney described, at length, how Ms. Sharp had rebutted the statement. For example, You heard when [Ms. Sharp] said that she said, “I told him, don’t kill him. Don’t hurt him. Don’t use the axe.” She made a written statement. . . . She wrote, “Don’t kill him. Don’t hurt him. Don’t use the axe.” It wasn’t until they were out in the field, they were doing this reenactment, when Detective Wheeles said, “Tell me what happened.” . . . . She’s standing here, and she said, “I said, don’t kill him. No baby. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.” He says, “Did you say, ‘don’t kill him or don’t kill him here?’” “Here,” from his mouth, not her mouth, what she did. She said, “Don’t kill him here.” And he says-- he tells you-- this was my clarifying question. He just repeated it, “Did you say ‘don’t kill him here’?” One word. Did he ask the question that would have cleared everything up? Oh my God. - 38 - You’ve been saying-- you said, “don’t kill him,” all morning, all afternoon-- your oral, at the same time, your written statement. When you just told me what happened, did you mean, don’t kill him here? Kill him where else? If that one question would have been asked, we wouldn’t be sitting here today. She would have had the chance to say, no, God no. What I meant is, “Don’t hurt him. Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him here.” “Here.” There’s so many reasons that word could have been said. She actually said it when she was repeating it back to him. She was paraphrasing herself. She couldn’t remember what she actually said. When I asked her, did you understand what his question was? Well, no, she certainly didn’t understand the impact of what he was asking her. And if he was trying to lead that question, he certainly did a good job. Id. at 52-54. She also explained the re-enactment tape was the only piece of evidence indicating Ms. Sharp said, “Don’t kill him here.” Other than that tape, the evidence uniformly indicates she said, “Don’t kill him.” Id. at 54. The prosecutor’s rebuttal closing arguments again focused on the statement. Id. at 61-63. 2. Burning the belongings. During the re-enactment, Ms. Sharp showed Detective Wheeles where she burned Mr. Owen’s belongings and explained it was her idea to burn them: “I said we have to burn it ‘cause I don’t need the evidence. I don’t want to be tied to this.” Sharp, 210 P.3d at 596. Unlike her uncoerced prior confession that she merely “helped” burn Mr. Owen’s belongings, this later confession indicates she devised the plan and took the lead to burn Mr. Owen’s belongings to destroy evidence of the crime. During opening arguments, the State said, “[Ms. Sharp will] tell you it was her idea to burn David Owen’s property because they had to destroy any of the evidence that would link them to this crime.” State App. Vol. II at 12. During her testimony, she attempted to rebut the assertion that she burned Mr. Owen’s belongings to destroy evidence of his murder. She explained she instead burned his belongings because she - 39 - believed Mr. Owen would have destroyed her property if he had the opportunity. And during the State’s closing argument, the prosecutor reminded the jury that Ms. Sharp “decided they had to burn everything else up so the crime couldn’t be connected back to them.” State App. Vol. XII at 63. 3. The interview videotape. The State presented the video recording of Ms. Sharp’s police-station interview. After Detective Wheeles promised she would not go to jail, Ms. Sharp provided more detail about burning Mr. Owen’s belongings. Ms. Sharp confessed she and Mr. Cornell destroyed Mr. Owen’s belongings in two separate fires, and she personally burned Mr. Owen’s two cell phones and notebooks. 4. Written statement. The State also admitted into evidence Ms. Sharp’s written statement about the crime, which she prepared after her children were retrieved from the camp site, and which she had moved to suppress.