Opinion ID: 1217372
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: the penalty proceeding

Text: During the penalty proceeding, Quesinberry objected to the admission of (i) evidence that a loaded .22-caliber rifle was found in the back seat of a car in which he was a passenger when he was arrested on a charge of robbery in August 1979; (ii) evidence that the pistol that Quesinberry used to kill the victim was stolen; (iii) evidence that Quesinberry used marijuana and cocaine; and (iv) admission of a photograph of the victim taken during an autopsy. The trial court properly admitted the evidence. Code § 19.2-264.4(B) states, in part: [E]vidence may be presented as to any matter which the court deems relevant to sentence.... Evidence which may be admissible, subject to the rules of evidence governing admissibility, may include the circumstances surrounding the offense, the history and background of the defendant, and any other facts in mitigation of the offense. We have repeatedly and consistently adhered to the principle that a trier of fact called upon to decide whether ... to impose the death sentence is entitled to know as much relevant information about the defendant as possible. See Beaver v. Commonwealth, 232 Va. 521, 529, 352 S.E.2d 342, 347, cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1033, 107 S.Ct. 3277, 97 L.Ed.2d 781 (1987); see also Peterson v. Commonwealth, 225 Va. 289, 302 S.E.2d 520, cert. denied, 464 U.S. 865, 104 S.Ct. 202, 78 L.Ed.2d 176 (1983); Quintana v. Commonwealth, 224 Va. 127, 295 S.E.2d 643 (1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1029, 103 S.Ct. 1280, 75 L.Ed.2d 501 (1983). Evidence that a loaded .22-caliber rifle which was in plain view in the car in which Quesinberry was arrested and evidence that he purchased and possessed the stolen.45-caliber pistol which was used to kill the victim was admissible to show his propensity to arm himself with a weapon. His use of illegal drugs is relevant to the issue of future dangerousness. The photograph of the victim's head taken during the autopsy is relevant because it demonstrated to the jury the force and impact of the blows caused by Quesinberry when he hit the decedent in the head with the pistol. The Commonwealth's witness explained to the jury that the skin shown on the picture had been removed by the medical examiner and not by Quesinberry's blows.
After the jury had retired to deliberate and fix punishment, the jury returned and requested that the court define the following words which appeared in some of the jury instructions: culpable, moral turpitude, quantitatively, and qualitatively. The court, without objection from counsel, read the definitions to the jury. After the jury had returned to the jury room to continue its deliberations, Quesinberry then objected to the definitions given by the court. Quesinberry failed to preserve his objection because he did not object timely and his argument is procedurally barred. Rule 5:25. See Cheng, 240 Va. at 38-39, 393 S.E.2d at 605-06.