Court Opinion

ID: 9642137
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:49:39.727396+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:09:02.707884
License: Public Domain

Smith, J.,

dissenting:

The majority opinion states:
"In the instant case an examination of the relevant testimony leads to but one conclusion, that the trial court did expect the defendant to lie, once he had related that there was something incorrect in *215Trooper Homung’s notes. At that point the defendant had not contradicted himself.” (Emphasis in original.)
I see the matter somewhat differently.
The record relative to Trooper Hornung’s testimony concerning the statement is as follows:
"A. In reading them, when I take notes to this effect, I sometimes use first person and sometimes use the third person so that I know when I go back to them later what I am talking about.
In my notes on February the 12th I have got full name of Larry Randolph Marshall. His full description. And I go on that Larry, Barbara, and Delores — this is what Mr. Marshall was telling me — Larry, Barbara, and Delores were in Dickie’s after dark. Larry and Barbara went outside and Barbara went down the street to where Harry was standing. Then I went down. He said he was going to give her some money. Larry held him from behind and Barbara took his wallet from his pants. She looked in his wallet and took the money out. Then she put his wallet back. We were walking back to the place and he was saying he was going to cut me. That’s when I hit him and he slipped down. When I hit him — and in the margin I have got left side of face.
What Mr. Marshall did, when he was talking to me, was indicate that he had used his right hand in a swinging motion, like this, and struck Mr. Waters on the left side of the face (indicating).
When I hit him Barbara and Delores were there. Then Denise and Peggy came around the corner. Larry and Barbara and Delores carried him to his truck and Denise carried his hat. Put him in passenger side and put his key in pants pocket. Locked up truck and left. Sister said where vehicle was parked. Larry got $5.00.
*216"Q. That was the statement that the Defendant made to you?
"A. That is correct.”
On direct examination Marshall related the departure of the parties from the tavern, their starting down the street, and the fact that the parties stopped. He then was asked what happened next. The record reflects in relevant part:
"A. Well, like Harry Waters, he stopped and he turned around and he said to me, he said, 'Boy, what you following me for?’ Like that.
And I told him I wasn’t following him. And he said, 'Boy, what you following me for?’ Like that. He said, 'You better get somewhere before I cut you.’ And —
"Q. When he said this where was Barbara?
"A. She was standing nearby.
"Q. Where were you in relation to Harry Waters?
"A. ... I would say about here from the end of this right here (indicating).
"Q. Okay. Were you facing each other or was his back to you, or how were you positioned?
"A. No, he was kind of sideways to me.
"Q. Kind of sideways to you.
Which side was towards you?
"A. Which side of him?
"Q. Yes.
"A. It was the left side.
"Q. Left side. Okay.
Now, did anything happen when he said this to you, when he said, 'You better get somewhere. I am going to cut you.’ Is that what he said?
"A. Yes.
"Q. Did anything happen at this point?
*217"A. Like when he said that, that’s when I grabbed him.
"Q. How did you grab him?
"A. Like he was standing on his side of me. I grabbed him like that (indicating).
"Q. Okay. You put your arms around him. Is that what you are demonstrating?
"A. Uh-huh.
"Q. Is that like a bear hug?
"A. Well, —
"Q. Were your arms completely around him? Is that what you are showing?
"A. He was standing on his side operating from his side like this (indicating).
"Q. Now, what happened at that point?
"A. Well, at that point that’s when my sister, Barbara, had took his wallet out.
"Q. What did she do with that?
"A. She took out $20.00, what he had in there.
"Q. And what happened at that point?
"A. And at that point Delores, she had took $2.00 [sic] out of his pocket.
"Q. Were you holding him during this time?
"A. Was I holding him at that time?
"Q. Yes.
"A. I don’t think so. I think I let him go.
"Q. How long did you hold onto him?
"A. Oh, about seven seconds, eight seconds?
"Q. Did he say anything at this time?
"A. No, he didn’t.
"Q. Now, what did Barbara do with the wallet?
"A. Like, she give it back to him because he said, told Barbara that for her give his wallet back to him. All he wanted was his wallet with his license in it.”
*218The transcript reflects that Marshall said Waters told Barbara to give him his wallet and that she could keep the $20.00, and that the wallet then was returned. Then the record shows:
"Q. What happened next then?
"A. Well, we started walking back up towards Dickie’s Bar.
"Q. Okay.
And when you say, 'we,’ who is we?
"A. Me, Barbara, and Delores and Harry.
"Q. What were the positioning again as you were walking back to Dickie’s?
"A. Like me and Harry, we was walking in front of Barbara and Delores, and they were in back of us.
"Q. You were side-by-side?
"A. Well, —
"Q. With Harry?
"A. Yeah, you could say that we were side-by-side.
"Q. Was he saying anything to you?
"A. Yes, before we had got up to the bar he told me again, he said, 'Boy, what you following me for.’ Like that. He said, 'You better get somewhere before I cut you.’ Like that. And he reached in his pocket. That is when I hit him on the left side of his face under his chin.
"Q. Okay. What hand did you hit him with?
"A. With my right hand.
"Q. Did you hit him on the left side of the face?
"A. Yes, I did.
"Q. And what happened at that point?
"A. Well, at that point he had slipped down and fell and he hit his head.
And, like, after that, Peggy and ... no, after that Peggy had come up on the corner and we went over there where she was.
*219"Q. And what happened at that point?
"A. And like she asked Barbara what was wrong.
"Q. And did Barbara say anything?
"A. Barbara told her that Harry Waters say he was going to cut me and I hit him.
"Q. Okay. Now, at this point you were up on the corner of what street?
"A. Clarke Avenue.
"Q. Clarke Avenue. And what was the other street?
"A. Maple.
"Q. Maple. Where was Harry Waters?
"A. He was laying down on the ground.
"Q. And how far from him were you?
"A. Oh, about ten yards or ten feet, something like that.”
The transcript then refers to the fact that Delores got a glass of water which she poured on Waters’ face, that he appeared to have been "unconscious for a few minutes,” and after this he moved. The record then states:
"Q. And what happened at that point?
"A. And at that point Peggy said, 'Why don’t you all take Mr. Harry Waters to his truck.’
"Q. Did you do anything at that time?
"A. Yes, I helped him up. Me and my sister, my sister, Barbara and Delores, and we were taking him to his truck, and before, as we were going through that little alleyway he said, he asked us where were we taking him, and we told him we were taking him to his truck.
"Q. Did you take him to the truck?
"A. Yes, we did.
"Q. What did you do when you got there?
"A. Like, I went to the passenger side and tried to open the door but I guess it was locked. So I went around to the passenger side and that door was *220locked. So, then, I come back, I come back around where him and my sister was, around to the passenger side, and I took his keys out of his pocket and I went to the driver’s side and got in that door, because I tried to open the passenger side but that door wouldn’t open. So I got in and went around to the driver’s side. I slid across his seat and opened the passenger side of the door from the inside.
"Q. Okay. And what did you do at that point?
"A. And at that point me and my sister, Barbara and Delores, we put Harry Waters in his truck.
"Q. How did you put him in there?
"A. Well, Delores and Barbara put his legs in and I held him by his shoulders.
"Q. Okay. Now, did you put him on the seat?
"A. Yes, we did.
"Q. How was he positioned on the seat?
"A. He was sitting up just like I am now.
"Q. Was he moving?
"A. Yes, he was.
"Q. Did he say anything to you?
"A. He asked us where was he and I told him we had put him in his truck.
"Q. Did he say anything after that?
"A. No, he didn’t.
"Q. What did he do at that point?
"A. At that point I locked the passenger side door and then we left, after Denise put his hat in the truck.
"Q. All right. You locked the passenger side of the door.
"A. Right.
"Q. Did you lock the driver’s side of the door?
"A. Well, when I went to the driver’s side of the door, I opened it. And as soon as I opened it I got in *221his truck and I just slid across his seat. No, I am quite sure that I didn’t lock the door.”
It thus will be seen that out of the lips of Marshall on his own direct examination came virtually the same words which were contained in Trooper Hornung’s notes. On cross-examination, much the same information was developed. The prosecutor on cross-examination brought out the fact that although Marshall said he grabbed the victim because of his fear of being cut, he let him go after about seven seconds without leaving the scene. This prompted a question as to whether Marshall "expect[ed] anybody to believe what [he] ha[d] just said.” The prosecutor then developed that although everything was removed from Waters’ pockets and Marshall himself went into the pockets after keys to the pickup, Marshall at no time saw any knife. Then that which provoked the admonition of the trial judge appears as follows on cross-examination:
"Q. ... Now, you remember Trooper Hornung, don’t you?
"A. Yes, I remember him.
"Q. All right.
Now, you gave him a statement, didn’t you?
"A. Yes, I told him a few words.
"Q. Beg your pardon?
"A. Yes, I told him some words.
"Q. You told him what he said to the jury you told him, isn’t that right? "A. I told him part of it. I didn’t tell him all of it. [(Emphasis added.)]
"Q. All right.
Now, so Trooper Hornung was not being truthful to the jury when he was testifying, is that correct? Is that correct?
"A. Yes.
"Q. That is correct, Trooper Hornung was lying to the jury?
*222"A. Well, he could have been and he couldn’t have.
"Q. Larry, don’t — look, son, —
"A. He had told me when he got up there, he said he was going to tell me what Barbara and Delores told him.
"Q. Okay. And then you told him what he wrote down on that page, didn’t you?
"A. Not some of it.
"Q. What didn’t you tell him?
"A. I can’t remember, but it’s something in there that I didn’t tell him, I know that.
"Q. What did you tell him then? Do you remember what you did tell him as opposed to what you didn’t tell him?
Let me ask you specifically. Did you say to Trooper Hornung that you and Barbara went outside and Barbara went down the street to where Mr. Waters was standing? Did you tell him that?
"A. No, I didn’t.
"Q. Did you tell him that you followed her down the street?
"A. Told him what?
"Q. Yes.
"A. No, I did not.”
I think the trial judge did not "expect the defendant to lie, once he had related that there was something incorrect in Trooper Hornung’s notes”; he knew the defendant had lied. (Emphasis added.) Under that circumstance, I think the admonition was entirely proper. When the witness returned to the stand after the admonition and testified, "Well, when I realized, and think about it, I think what is on that piece of paper is what I told him,” he was merely confirming that which he himself had already said on direct and cross-examination. It is apparent that he realized the difficulty he was in because he said he had grabbed Waters *223because of a threat by Waters to cut him but he had been obliged to admit that he saw no signs of a knife. It was then that he attempted to challenge the statement as taken down by Trooper Hornung.
I think Judge Thompson was absolutely right when he said for the Court of Special Appeals in Marshall v. State, 46 Md. App. 695, 420 A.2d 1266 (1980):
"We find the instant case and Webb [v. Texas, 409 U.S. 95, 93 S. Ct. 351, 34 L. Ed. 2d 330 (1972),] to be in no way analogous. In Webb, the trial court delivered its admonition before the witness had begun to testify; as the Supreme Court stated: '[T]he judge implied that he expected [the witness] to lie....’ Id. 409 U.S. at 97. In the case at bar, the court cautioned the appellant only after he had begun to give testimony on cross examination which was inconsistent with that which he had given on direct. Unlike the trial court in Webb, the court below did not expect the witness to lie. The court acted only after it appeared that the witness had in fact lied: unlike the Webb court, whose apparent purpose was to intimidate and to prevent the witness from testifying, the court below acted only to insure that the witness testified truthfully.” [Id. at 701.]
Hence, I would affirm.
Chief Judge Murphy and Judge Rodowsky authorize me to say that they concur in the views here expressed.