Court Opinion

ID: 9748579
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:06:26.17159+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:37.195424
License: Public Domain

BELL, C.J.,
dissents and files opinion joined by JOHN C. ELDRIDGE, J., Retired Specially Assigned.
Dissenting Opinion by BELL, Chief Judge, which JOHN C. ELDRIDGE, J., Retired Specially Assigned, joins.
“It is critical that the moral force of the criminal law not be diluted by a standard of proof that leaves people in doubt whether innocent men are being condemned.” In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1072-73, 25 L.Ed.2d 368, 375 (1970). “It is also important in our free society that every individual going about his ordinary affairs have confidence that his government cannot adjudge him guilty of a criminal offense without convincing a proper factfinder of his guilt with the utmost certainty.” Id. at 364, 90 S.Ct. at 1073, 25 L.Ed.2d at 375. In the present case, counsel for Anthony Loyd *394Mitchell, the petitioner, did nothing more in closing argument than argue that the State failed to meet its burden of proof. That, in the process, he commented on the absence of witnesses, some of whom the prosecutor promised in opening statement would be presented at trial, does not change this basic fact or provide any basis for the argument the State was permitted to make in this case 1
I.
The prosecutor gave an opening statement at the onset of Mitchell’s trial, in which he laid out the State’s theory of the case. In that regard, he stated, in pertinent part:
“With the defendant at the time [of the shooting] was another individual you’ll hear about during the course of *395the trial, one Antonio Corprew. Mr. Corprew had a handgun, and right before the shotgun was fired by the defendant, one of the two adults saw Corprew going for his dip, which is a slang term for going for a handgun stuck down by the belt. Corprew, the witnesses indicated, began to fire shots into the air or toward the air, and it was at this time that the defendant was firing directly at the two victims.
“Once the shooting stopped and the two victims lay on the ground bleeding and in pain, the defendant, the Corprew individual, and a couple of the other individuals that were with them, we believe that it was four or five altogether, then ran off up to one of the streets over in the Harford Square development....
“You will hear testify in this case Antonio Corprew, the one that fired the handgun into the air. He is now serving a sentence in the Division of Correction, and you’ll hear all about that in relation to this case. You’ll also hear from a Lewis Cochran who was in the company of the defendant and Antonio Corprew. He also was prosecuted in the case and ended up pleading guilty to a lesser charge. So you’ll hear from them. You’ll also hear from several other individuals who were present at this incident, some of which will be able to testify that they actually saw the defendant firing the shotgun toward the victims, and others who can merely put him at the scene.”
(emphasis added).
The State made clear in its opening statement the importance of the testimony of Antonio Corprew and even Lewis Cochran to the proof of its case. According to the prosecutor, Corprew and Cochran were present at the time the crimes were committed and, indeed, Corprew himself was involved with Mitchell in the commission of the crimes. In that regard, it was significant that the prosecutor pointed out that Corprew was serving a period of incarceration as a result of the charges in this case and that Cochran had pled guilty to criminal charges, albeit lesser charges, stemming from this case. It is *396significant as well that the State also promised to present several other individuals, who either were eyewitnesses to the shooting or could place Mitchell at the scene.
Counsel for the petitioner made no such promises. Instead, in his opening statement, he summarized the allocation of the burden of proof, pointing out the responsibility that each party has. Thus, counsel advised the jury, in pertinent part:
“Now, what about Mr. Mitchell’s job? What does he have to do? Well the judge has already told you. He doesn’t have to do anything. He doesn’t have to prove he didn’t do it. He doesn’t have to prove that he is not guilty. He doesn’t have to prove that he’s innocent. Because the State has the burden of proof. The State has the burden of proving him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Again, that is the State’s burden, that is the State’s obligation, and that is the law.”
After counsel made their respective opening statements, the trial ensued. The State presented several witnesses, including Deputies Gregory Young and James Tsompanas, who were patrolling the area when they heard shots fired and responded to the scene. Neither saw the shooting and, so, did not testify that they saw the shooters. Deputy Young did indicate that he stopped a black Hummer that he had been told was involved in the incident.2 Deputy Young identified , the occupants of the Hummer as Wally Henderson and Anthony Sylvester Andoll, whom he held at gunpoint. He testified that they were subsequently determined not to be suspects and released.
Theodore Johnson also testified at trial. He identified Mitchell as the man who fired the shotgun and also testified that there was another shooter present with Mitchell.
*397Josh Banner, one of the victims in the case, testified that he did not know where the shot that injured him came from. Barmer, too, indicated that there was more than one shooter.
Aylesworth Johnson, the other victim in the case and the brother of the honoree of the party, testified that he got into a shoving match with a young guy who was trying to enter the party and that the young guy lifted his shirt to reveal a gun stuck inside his trousers. Immediately thereafter, he continued, he was hit by a gunshot. Aylesworth Johnson stated, “I have no idea where that shot came from. I was looking at the gentleman in front of me with the handgun and then I hit the ground.”
Anthony Daryl Wood, Jr. testified that he also was at the party on the evening of the shooting. He explained that, as he was leaving the party, he heard loud noises and saw a confrontation between four or five people. Wood recalled hearing gunshots and, responding to the prosecutor’s inquiry whether he saw who shot the victims, identified Antonio Corprew, someone he knew from school, and Mitchell3, whom he had known from the neighborhood, as the two shooters. Wood testified that, when he left the scene, he encountered Corprew and Mitchell, along with some others and, when they jumped in his car and told him to drive toward Route 40, he gave them a ride. Incidentally, Wood reported that Corprew got into an argument with one of the passengers 4, fired a shot inside the vehicle, and then exited the car shortly after the other occupants jumped out and ran.
*398The last witness presented by the State was Detective Eric Gonzalez of the Criminal Investigation Division, Major Crimes of the Harford County Sheriffs Department. Gonzales indicated that, of the possible three hundred attendees at the party where the shooting occurred, forty-two people were interviewed, with four of those interviewed providing substantial information as to what happened at the incident. In response to the question, “what other individuals have been charged in this case?”, Detective Gonzales answered “Lewis Cochran and Antonio Corprew.”
After the State rested its case, the defense presented one witness, Iris Nicole Scontion-Williams. Williams testified that she was a friend of Aylesworth Johnson and was waiting in her car to pick up her cousin when the shooting occurred. She did not testify that she saw the shooters, and, did not identify the shooters. She did testify that, when she spoke with him, Aylesworth Johnson did not tell her who had shot him.
The State did not call Antonio Corprew, Lewis Cochran, or Wally Lamar Henderson as witnesses, even though those individuals were mentioned throughout the State’s case and during the testimony of the State’s witnesses. Corprew was mentioned the most often.
In closing argument, the prosecutor argued that Mitchell should be convicted as charged and offered reasons therefor. Although he reiterated that Corprew and Cochran or “Man-Man” were present at the shooting and that Corprew was directly involved, he did not explain why he did not call the witnesses he promised in opening statement to call.
To be sure, the defense, in closing argument, commented on the absence of certain witnesses, the failure of the State to call certain witnesses, and invited the jury to take that into account. The manner in which counsel made those comments must be viewed in context. After lamenting the sad state of society where gun violence is prevalent, defense counsel stressed to the jury:
*399“... the only issue in this case, whether you are pro-gun, whether you’re anti-gun, that doesn’t matter, the only issue in this case is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Counsel then described the jury system as a protection for the individual, “the arm of the individual,” that stands between the individual and wrongful prosecution by the government. The jury was told, “[y]ou are his insurance against oppression. You are his insurance against an unfair trial.” Then directing the jury’s attention once again to the reasonable doubt standard that it was required to apply in reaching its verdict, defense counsel questioned the State’s case, noting and emphasizing the State’s failure to call certain witnesses. He stated, in pertinent part:
“Now, we heard — or rather we never heard from Mr. Cochran, and I’m not sure who Mr. Cochran was. We never heard from Mr. Corprew, although there was ■mention made of his name and Mr. Turner also, but we never saw them. And that’s important. We also never saw Wally Henderson. Ami I believe that he was identified as the individual who was operating the Hummer. We never saw him,.”
(emphasis added).
Defense counsel then implied to the jury that Theodore Johnson, one of the two eyewitnesses for the State, was mistaken in his identification of Mitchell as the shooter, based on a newspaper article which identified Mitchell as a suspect. Regarding this, counsel said, in pertinent part:
“[Theodore Johnson] specifically said that this was Antonio. I told him, the defense counsel told him, that his name was Anthony Mitchell. Suppose Mr. Johnson got everything mixed up? And suppose Mr. Johnson, in his desperation to make some sense of a horrific event, started to read and believe what he had seen in the newspaper? Have we ever heard of that happening before? The power of suggestion? Think about it.”
As for the State’s second and final eyewitness, Anthony Wood, the defense counsel questioned whether Wood’s version *400of events should be believed by the jury. Counsel forcefully argued to the jury that Wood’s story that he was an innocent attendee at the party and was not involved in any way in the shooting, but only gave a ride to the shooters, was not credible and should not believed. Moreover, in an effort to discredit Wood’s testimony, he questioned why Wood did not take Interstate 95 to 695, the most direct route to his home in Parkville from Edgewood, but instead drove down Pulaski Highway or Route 40. Counsel posited, on that point, “[i]t’s like somebody going down the back road trying to hide something.” The defense also emphasized the point that Wood discarded the bullet that was in the back of his car, instead of reporting the incident to the police immediately. The defense counsel then went on to question why certain evidence, including a baseball bat that was at the scene and a hat that was in the back of Anthony Wood’s car, was not presented or analyzed for DNA by the State.
With regard to his earlier discussion concerning the missing witnesses, the defense counsel argued:
“Now, I already mentioned that we have a whole bunch of people who were not present during these proceedings; Corprew, Mr. Turner, Mr. Cochran, and, you know, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Chase, Mr. Carter. See, the whole idea, I would submit, the whole idea is for you, the jury to evaluate the evidence. For you, the jury, to determine what happened. For you, the jury, to make sense of it all. So I think the idea is to bring, I submit, all the evidence into court. They saw 350 people that night, and they saw them all together, and it was nighttime, and then something really traumatic happened, and the mind is trying to compute what happened. Fine. But you have had the opportunity to step back from the excitement. Let’s bring Wally Henderson here so we can see if he’s a heavyset, dark-skinned man. Let’s bring Antonio Corprew here so we can gauge his stature. Let’s look at Man-Man, what does he look like? Get that hat out of the car. Does that hat fit his head?”
*401The defense finished his closing argument with a final thought for the jury to consider. He said, “[tjhis case is not about what the defense’s position is. The issue is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. You each must be convinced.”
In rebuttal argument, the prosecutor stated, in pertinent part:
“The defense made mention a couple times about what the State didn’t present to you all. We never saw Cochran, never saw, Corprew, never saw Turner, never saw Wally Henderson. He also made mention of some items of evidence that perhaps weren’t shown or brought out in the case.... As far as dealing with certain people that weren’t here, the defense made a specific point. He said that you all should have had a chance to look at them and see what they looked like. I don’t quite understand what that was meant to indicate.”
Over the defense’s objection, the State continued:
“If [defense counsel] thought that [the absent witnesses] being here would have shown that something we presented was so contradictory to something about them, he could have brought them in as well. The defense has subpoena power just like the State does. You can’t say why didn’t the State present a witness, when they had an equal opportunity to present it to you, and then try to say, well, it wasn’t presented. They had an equal right to present it if they thought it would contradict something we presented.”
II.
Mitchell’s position is that the State failed to meet its burden of proof. “In view of the fact that the accused bears no burden of proof, but needs only to raise a reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury,” Foster v. State, 297 Md. 191, 211, 464 A.2d 986, 996 (1983); e.g., In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1073, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970); State v. Evans, 278 Md. 197, 206, 362 A.2d 629, 634 (1976); State v. Grady, 276 Md. 178, 181-82, 345 A.2d 436, 438 (1975), the comments of Mitchell’s counsel are the equivalent of counsel arguing that *402the State failed to prove its case, that the State did not produce sufficient evidence to prove Mitchell’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Certainly, no one would argue that an argument that the State failed to meet its burden of proof, using those precise terms, or their equivalent, would have been improper. That the identical argument was made in the way that it was in this case, albeit in different terms, substantively and logically, is, and should be, of no consequence.
How the' State meets its burden of proof is critical. Here, the State charged Mitchell with attempted murder and other related offenses as a result of a shooting that occurred on the night of June 4, 2004. The prosecutor, in opening statement, said that he would call Corprew, Cochran, and others, whom he did not name, to prove that Mitchell was guilty. See State v. Snowden, 385 Md. 64, 96, 867 A.2d 314, 332 (2005)(“The burden ... is on the State ... to prove its case through production of witnesses and evidence that conform to the U.S. Constitution and the Maryland Declaration of Rights.”) (citation omitted). Specifically, the prosecutor said “[y]ou will hear testify in this case Antonio Corprew---- You’ll also hear from a Lewis Cochran who was in the company of the defendant and Antonio Corprew.” Regarding the eyewitnesses, the prosecutor said “[y]ou’ll also hear from several other individuals who were present at this incident, some of which will be able to testify that they actually saw the defendant firing the shotgun toward the victims, and others who can merely put him at the scene.” The State called some witnesses, but not those it mentioned by name or others whose testimony might have supported its theory of the defendant’s guilt. See Dorsey v. State, 349 Md. 688, 707, 709 A.2d 1244, 1253 (1998)(“ ‘The burden of proving evidence on an issue means the liability to an adverse ruling (generally a finding or directed verdict) if evidence on the issue has not been produced. It is usually cast first upon the party who has pleaded the existence of the fact.’ ’’Xquoting McCormick on Evidence, § 336 at 568 (4th Ed. 1992)). The State presented only two eyewitnesses and neither of those eyewitnesses included the witnesses the State promised to call in this case. It logically *403would have followed that the State should have presented those individuals that were central to it proving its case. The failure of the State to call Corprew or Cochran after promising in opening statement to do so, or to offer an explanation as to why they were not called, provided the defense with the opportunity to comment on the State’s failure to present those witnesses. Taking that opportunity was not only the appropriate thing for Mitchell’s counsel to do, it was critical to ensuring that Mitchell received effective and competent representation, which is so necessary to a fair trial.
The presentation of witnesses is one way for the State to prove its case, although not the only way. In this instance, however, by promising to present their testimony in opening statement, the State made that testimony and thus the presence of Corprew and even Cochran important to its case. That importance was reinforced by its repeated references to them during the presentation of the State’s case. The fact that they were not presented was significant, as counsel for the defense noted. There was no way for Mitchell to make his case that the State failed to meet its burden of proof, other than to point out evidence that the State did not present. See Jonathan Wayne Eley v. State, 288 Md. 548, 554, 419 A.2d 384, 387 (1980) (“While it is not incumbent upon the State to produce fingerprint evidence to prove guilt, nevertheless, where a better method of identification may be available and the State offers no explanation whatsoever for its failure to come forward with such evidence, it is not unreasonable to allow the defendant to call attention to its failure to do so.”) Mitchell simply called attention to the State’s failure to produce the witnesses it promised to present. Just because Mitchell presented one witness at trial does not give the State license to comment on other witnesses that the defense could, or the State believes it should, have presented.
I dissent. Judge ELDRIDGE joins in the views expressed herein.

. While I agree with the majority's holding that the "invited response" doctrine is inapplicable in the case süb judice, Mitchell v. State, 408 Md. 368, 373, 969 A.2d 989, 992 (2009), I disagree with its conclusion that the defense counsel’s closing argument "opened the door,” id., to the prosecutor's remarks concerning Mitchell's subpoena power.
The Court of Special Appeals has held that, "Maryland prosecutors, in closing argument, may not routinely draw the jury’s attention to the failure of the defendant to call witnesses, because the argument shifts the burden of proof.” Wise v. State, 132 Md.App. 127, 148, 751 A.2d 24, 34 (2000). The intermediate court went on to discuss an instance where it is proper for the prosecution to make such a comment, saying:
"On the other hand, a defense attorney's promising in opening statement that the defendant will produce evidence and thereafter failing to do so does open the door to the fair comment upon that failure, even to the extent of incidentally drawing attention to the defendant’s exercising a constitutional right not to testify.”
Id. at 148, 751 A.2d at 34-35 (emphasis added). In the present case, the defense did not indicate in its opening statement that witnesses would be produced and then fail to call them. The State did.
This case is not about whether the defense opened the door to the prosecution's comments regarding Mitchell's subpoena power, in any event. It concerns, rather, whether or not the State has met the burden of proof that it has in this and every criminal case. I submit that it did not. Mitchell did nothing more in closing argument than point out evidence that the State failed to present. Such an argument does not open the door to an argument that at best, is tangential, and, at worst, impermissibly shifts the burden of proof to the defendant. The defense is allowed to comment on the State's failure to produce promised witnesses, just as the State is allowed to comment on the defendant’s failure to produce witnesses promised in opening statement.

. Theodore Johnson, an uncle of the honoree of the party and a chaperone, testified that he believed the shooters fled in the Hummer, and that he yelled for the Hummer to be stopped.

. Wood testified that, although Mitchell's back was to him and he did not see Mitchell's hands, he concluded from Mitchell's stance when he saw him that he was shooting.

. Wood testified on direct examination that he did not know the name of the passenger with whom Corprew argued but that he was nicknamed “Man-Man." On cross-examination by the defense, the suggestion was made that “Man-Man” was Lewis Cochran:
“[Defense Counsel]: ... you don’t know Man-Man's real name, right?
“lAnthony Wood]: No.
“[Defense Counsel]: Could that be Lewis Lee Cochran?
“[Anthony Wood]: Could be."