Barnes v. Com.

688 S.E.2d 210, 279 Va. 22
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedJanuary 15, 2010
Docket090339
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 688 S.E.2d 210 (Barnes v. Com.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barnes v. Com., 688 S.E.2d 210, 279 Va. 22 (Va. 2010).

Opinion

688 S.E.2d 210 (2010)

Terrick D. BARNES
v.
COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

Record No. 090339.

Supreme Court of Virginia.

January 15, 2010.

*211 Kevin T. Gaynor, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Gregory W. Franklin, Assistant Attorney General (William C. Mims, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Present: All the Justices.

OPINION BY Chief Justice LEROY ROUNTREE HASSELL, SR.

I.

In this appeal from the Court of Appeals, the primary issue we consider is whether a search warrant affidavit satisfied the probable cause requirement established by the United States Supreme Court in Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978).

II.

Terrick D. Barnes was indicted by a grand jury in the Circuit Court of the City of Alexandria for the unlawful, felonious and malicious shooting of Henry Carmon in violation of Code § 18.2-51.2 and for the unlawful and felonious use and display of a firearm while committing an aggravated malicious wounding in violation of Code § 18.2-53.1.

During a pretrial hearing, Barnes filed a motion to suppress certain evidence that had been seized from his home pursuant to a search warrant. Barnes asserted that the evidence should be suppressed because purportedly the affidavit in support of the search *212 warrant was insufficient to establish probable cause and allegedly the affidavit contained incomplete and "recklessly omitted" information that negated probable cause.

Upon the conclusion of a pretrial evidentiary hearing on this issue, the circuit court, among other things, denied Barnes' motion to suppress. At a bench trial, the circuit court convicted Barnes of the charged offenses. The circuit court fixed Barnes' punishment at twenty years imprisonment, with eight years suspended for the aggravated malicious wounding conviction, and three years imprisonment for the use of a firearm conviction.

Barnes appealed his convictions to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the convictions in an unpublished opinion. Barnes v. Commonwealth, No. 2314-07-4, 2008 WL 5130198 (Dec. 9, 2008). Barnes filed a petition for rehearing en banc, which was denied. Barnes v. Commonwealth, No. 2314-07-4 (Jan. 15, 2009). Barnes appeals.

III.

Facts Adduced During the Evidentiary Hearing on the Motion to Suppress Evidence Seized Pursuant to the Execution of the Search Warrant

On June 12, 2006, Henry Carmon encountered the defendant sometime during the day at a food facility operated by the Salvation Army. Carmon spoke with the defendant and said: "[H]ow [are] you doing, young man?" The defendant replied: "[Y]ou know what you did."

Approximately 10:00 p.m. on the night of June 12, 2006, Carmon left his home en route to a convenience store to "bum a cigarette." Carmon testified that as he was walking to the store, "[the defendant] was there waiting on me."

The defendant, using a 9 millimeter pistol, fired five bullets at Carmon and one bullet struck Carmon in his hip. Carmon was able to clearly see the defendant's face when the defendant shot Carmon. Carmon gave the following testimony during the pretrial hearing:

"Question: ... Were you able to see [the defendant's] face when he shot you?
"Answer: Yes, I did.
"Question: How close to you was he, when he shot you?
"Answer: We were close up, ... his face was in my face.
"Question: Were you walking when you passed each other?
"Answer: Yes.
"Question: Were you on the street or the sidewalk?
"Answer: We was on the sidewalk.
"Question: The same sidewalk?
"Answer: Yes.
"Question: Do you remember what he was wearing?
"Answer: Only thing I know was he had a white sweater on. He was trying to cover his face up.
"Question: What did he look like?
"Answer: He's dark and ... his mustache comes down this way and his hair is kind of short.
"Question: When you say[, `]the mustache coming down this way[,'] are you talking about a go-tee or like a fu-man-chu style mustache?
"Answer: Yes."

Detective Robert Hickman, of the Alexandria Police Department, was working on the night of June 12, 2006, and was assigned to investigate these crimes. He interviewed Carmon the night he was admitted to a hospital for treatment. Carmon told Detective Hickman that the assailant was a dark black male in his twenties or thirties, five feet four inches to five feet six inches tall, and very skinny with a mustache that "drooped down to his chin." Carmon also informed Hickman that the assailant was wearing a "white hooded shirt."

Detective Hickman created a "photograph-spread" and showed it to Carmon at the hospital. The photograph-spread contained a picture of Barnes that was taken in 2002. Detective Hickman did not use a photograph that was taken of Barnes on the night of the crimes because Hickman was concerned that the photograph may be suggestive since *213 Barnes was wearing a white shirt. Carmon failed to identify Barnes as the assailant when Carmon reviewed the photograph-spread that contained the 2002 photograph of Barnes.[*] Several months later, however, Carmon identified Barnes as his assailant during a line-up at a jail.

Barnes, who had fled the scene of the crimes, later returned to the crime scene that same night. Detective Hickman saw Barnes at the scene of the shooting upon Barnes' return. Barnes spoke with another police officer, Richard Sandoval, and voluntarily accompanied Officer Sandoval to a police station. The police officers were concerned on the night of the crimes that they may not have probable cause to obtain a search warrant of the defendant's home so they requested his permission to conduct a search of his house. Barnes refused.

The detectives continued their investigation. Detective Hickman learned that Lisbeth Lyons, who was in the area when the shooting occurred, saw a man leave the scene of the shooting. She described an individual who fit the defendant's description. Eventually, Detective Hickman prepared an affidavit to obtain a search warrant for the defendant's house. The affidavit in support of a search warrant is attached to this opinion as Exhibit A.

Detective Hickman also learned, during his investigation, that several patrons at a restaurant saw the defendant after the shooting "conceal himself from gentlemen nearby who were living in a truck." Detective Hickman stated in the search warrant affidavit that the defendant sought to conceal himself after the shootings.

After Barnes shot the victim, several individuals who were "standing nearby" spoke with Detective Hickman and another police officer. These individuals stated that they saw a person, with a physical appearance different from Barnes' physical appearance in the vicinity after the victim was shot. Detective Hickman did not include this information in the search warrant affidavit.

Detective Hickman testified that according to a police report, another police officer stopped an individual near the scene of the shooting who was wearing a white shirt.

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Bluebook (online)
688 S.E.2d 210, 279 Va. 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnes-v-com-va-2010.