COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Benton, Elder and Senior Judge Cole Argued at Richmond, Virginia
HARRY ANTWAN TRAYNHAM MEMORANDUM OPINION * BY v. Record No. 0690-96-2 JUDGE MARVIN F. COLE JULY 1, 1997 COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF HALIFAX COUNTY William L. Wellons, Judge Theodore N. Tondrowski (Bowen & Bowen, on brief), for appellant.
Richard B. Smith, Assistant Attorney General (James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Tried by a jury in Halifax County, Harry Antwan Traynham
(appellant) was convicted of the murder of Anthony Whitlock, the
attempted murders of Virgil Talley and Kenneth Brooks, using a
firearm in the commission of the murder and attempted murders,
and discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle. On appeal,
appellant contends that the trial court erred (1) in allowing the
testimony of Agent Ronald Campbell because the Commonwealth did
not provide appellant with Campbell's diagram of the crime scene,
(2) in admitting the shell casing found inside a vehicle
recovered by the police on the night of the shootings, and (3) in
refusing to permit appellant to reopen the evidence and recall
two witnesses for questioning about the notes of a police * Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication. officer. Finding no error, we affirm appellant's convictions.
BACKGROUND
"On appeal, we review the evidence in the light most
favorable to the Commonwealth, granting to it all reasonable
inferences fairly deducible therefrom." Maynard v. Commonwealth,
11 Va. App. 437, 439, 399 S.E.2d 635, 637 (1990) (en banc). So
viewed, the evidence demonstrated that between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m.
on February 13, 1995, a blue Volkswagen Jetta passed by Brooks
and Whitlock as they stood together on a street within Westside
Trailer Park. Brooks identified appellant as the driver of the
car and Kevin Newman as the front seat passenger. Through the
car window Newman fired a gun at Brooks and Whitlock. Brooks was
not hurt, but Whitlock suffered a fatal gunshot wound. The Jetta then turned around and pursued a car driven by
Talley. Shots were fired from the Jetta at Talley's vehicle as
Talley tried to escape.
Residents of the Westside Village apartments near the scene
of the shootings saw two African-American males get out of a
Jetta that evening and enter the apartment of Curly Chandler.
One witness testified that appellant and Newman arrived at the
apartment at 9:00 p.m. and that a Jetta was parked out front.
About fifteen minutes after the arrival of appellant and Newman,
the police surrounded the Jetta and looked inside it using
flashlights, but did not notice anything unusual. The police
towed the Jetta to Franklin's Garage and impounded it there.
-2- Shortly after the car was towed, appellant and Newman fled,
leaving the apartment by the patio door.
Agent John Holt testified that he interviewed appellant,
other suspects, and witnesses in connection with the case.
Initially, appellant told the police that he was visiting
relatives and friends on the evening of February 13, 1995.
During a second interview, appellant gave a different account of
his whereabouts on February 13. Later, appellant told Holt that
Newman had shot Whitlock and that he had seen Newman in the Jetta
on February 13. Appellant denied being in the car with Newman
when the shooting occurred. According to appellant, Newman had
contacted him after the shooting and asked appellant to meet him
at Chandler's apartment. After appellant arrived, Newman said he
had gotten "one of the two," and that he needed appellant to
drive the car. While they were still in Chandler's apartment,
the police arrived on the scene and found the Jetta. Appellant
and Newman left the apartment by the patio door. I.
Agent Campbell, an evidence technician, responded to
Westside Trailer Park on February 14, 1995. Campbell prepared a
diagram of the scene based upon his investigation of the
incident.
At trial, appellant objected to the Commonwealth's use of
the diagram because it had not been provided to the defense in
discovery. Appellant also objected to Campbell drawing
-3- conclusions as an expert witness concerning bullet trajectories.
The trial judge noted that, although no written discovery order
had been entered, "the Court had ordered discovery consistent
with the motions filed by counsel for the defendant."
Appellant's discovery motion had requested "written reports of
. . . ballistic tests, . . . [and] other scientific reports . . .
known by the Attorney for the Commonwealth to be within the
possession, custody or control of the Commonwealth." The trial
judge ruled that the prosecutor should have disclosed Campbell's
diagram to appellant and excluded it from evidence. However, the
judge ruled that Campbell could testify about his findings during
his investigation. Campbell testified that on February 14, 1995 he located at
the scene of the shootings a bullet hole on the outside of a
trailer and two bullets inside the trailer. Campbell said, "It
appeared that [one of] the bullet[s] had passed from the outside
of the trailer to the inside wall into . . . [a] bedroom."
Appellant contends that the trial judge should have excluded
Campbell's testimony because the Commonwealth's failure to
disclose the diagram violated the terms of discovery ordered by
the trial judge. "Rule 3A:11 provides for limited pretrial
discovery by a defendant in a felony case." Ramirez v.
Commonwealth, 20 Va. App. 292, 295, 456 S.E.2d 531, 532 (1995).
In pertinent part, Rule 3A:11(b)(1) provides that [u]pon written motion of an accused a court shall order the Commonwealth's attorney to permit the accused to inspect and copy or
-4- photograph any relevant . . . written reports of autopsies, ballistic tests, fingerprint analyses, handwriting analyses, blood, urine and breath tests, other scientific reports, and written reports of a physical or mental examination of the accused or the alleged victim made in connection with the particular case, or copies thereof, that are known by the Commonwealth's attorney to be within the possession, custody or control of the Commonwealth.
"While . . . Rule [3A:11] permits a defendant to discover written
'scientific reports,' by its very terms the Rule 'does not
authorize the discovery . . . of reports, memoranda or other
internal Commonwealth documents made by agents in connection with
the investigation or prosecution of the case . . . .'" Spencer
v. Commonwealth, 238 Va. 295, 303, 384 S.E.2d 785, 791 (1989).
Campbell's diagram was not a report or test included within
the scope of Rule 3A:11 or appellant's discovery motion. To the
contrary, the diagram was prepared by Campbell as he investigated
the scene and was intended for use as a demonstrative exhibit
only. It was not a written report of a ballistic test.
Accordingly, the Commonwealth had no duty to disclose the diagram
to appellant before trial. Because no discovery violation
occurred, the trial judge did not err in refusing to exclude
Campbell's testimony.
II.
Campbell first examined the Jetta at Franklin's Garage on
February 14, 1995. Inside the car, Campbell found a shell casing
on the passenger seat "to the far right, almost up against . . .
-5- the right-front passenger door." Campbell did not collect the
casing at that time, but secured the doors of the vehicle with
evidence tape. He returned on February 16, 1995, further
examined the vehicle, and seized the shell casing and other
evidence. The shell casing was from a .357 Magnum. The bullets
recovered from Whitlock's body and the crime scene could have
been fired from a .357 Magnum.
Appellant asserts that the trial judge should have excluded
the shell casing from evidence because the Commonwealth failed to
establish the chain of custody. "Establishing a chain of custody
of exhibits is necessary to afford reasonable assurance that the
exhibits at trial are the same and in the same condition as they
were when first obtained." Horsley v. Commonwealth, 2 Va. App.
335, 338, 343 S.E.2d 389, 390 (1986) (citing Robinson v.
Commonwealth, 212 Va. 136, 138, 183 S.E.2d 179, 180 (1971)). The
Commonwealth, however, "is not required to exclude every
conceivable possibility of substitution, alteration, or
tampering." Pope v. Commonwealth, 234 Va. 114, 121, 360 S.E.2d
352, 357 (1987). "Where there is mere speculation that
contamination or tampering could have occurred, it is not an
abuse of discretion to admit the evidence and let what doubt
there may be go to the weight to be given the evidence." Reedy
v. Commonwealth, 9 Va. App. 386, 391, 388 S.E.2d 650, 652 (1990)
(where clothing appellant wore when his home burned travelled to
the hospital either on defendant's person or near him on the
-6- stretcher and later was recovered from the floor of the emergency
room by hospital personnel, evidence sufficiently established
chain of custody of the clothing).
Police officers impounded the Jetta, thereby seizing all
evidence contained inside, on the night of the shootings. Using
flashlights at night, the officers looked inside the vehicle, but
did not spot the shell casing, which Campbell first noticed the
following night. The casing was located to the far right of the
car near the passenger side door, and might not have been easily
visible with only a flashlight from the outside of the vehicle.
Following his discovery, Campbell secured the vehicle with
evidence tape. When Campbell returned on February 16, he removed
the shell casing for analysis. These circumstances provided reasonable assurance that the
shell casing was contained in the vehicle when the police
impounded the vehicle and that it remained there until Campbell
removed it. With the exception of Campbell's contacts with the
vehicle, the record contains no evidence that the Jetta was
disturbed in any manner after the police impounded it. The
theory that the shell casing was placed inside the vehicle after
the impoundment amounted to nothing more than mere speculation of
tampering with the evidence. Such speculation did not require
the exclusion of the shell casing, but affected the weight the
jury could assign to it. See id. In fact, in closing argument
to the jury, appellant asserted the theory that the shell casing
-7- had been planted in the car.
The Commonwealth laid a sufficient foundation for the
introduction of the shell casing. Therefore, the trial judge did
not abuse his discretion by admitting the casing into evidence
and letting what doubt there may have been about its origin go to
its weight.
III.
Testifying as a witness for the Commonwealth, Brooks
admitted that a felony charge was pending against him. He also
said he had talked to Holt about appellant's case. Brooks stated
that Holt always would find out when Brooks was arrested on other
charges. In his own behalf, appellant called Odesster Byrd, Brooks'
former girlfriend, as a witness. Byrd testified that Brooks
originally denied seeing appellant at the scene of the shootings.
She also said that she had told Holt she knew Brooks had been in
contact with him. Appellant asked the trial judge to permit him
to question Byrd further about her knowledge of Brooks' bias in
favor of the prosecution and about whether the Commonwealth was
protecting Brooks from prosecution upon unrelated charges. The
trial judge ruled that to explore this line of questioning,
appellant must first call Holt and question him about any deals
he may have made with Brooks. Then, the judge stated, appellant
could recall Byrd to respond to Holt's testimony.
Appellant called Holt as a witness. Holt said he had not
-8- made any representations to Brooks about obtaining favorable
treatment in an unrelated criminal matter in exchange for
information against appellant. However, Holt indicated that,
because he told Brooks that any information Brooks provided would
be brought to the attention of the Commonwealth's Attorney and
perhaps the trial judge in an unrelated case, Brooks may have
believed that he would receive consideration for his cooperation
with the prosecution. Brooks had served as a paid police
informant in relation to other criminal investigations. In fact,
Holt had once discussed Brooks and his unrelated criminal charges
with the Commonwealth's Attorney. Holt had advised a magistrate
that it would not be a good idea for Brooks to be jailed in
Halifax County with appellant. Karen Harris, another former girlfriend of Brooks, testified
that Brooks had said Holt would pay his telephone bill and give
him assistance on charges in Charlotte County.
The Commonwealth later called Holt as a rebuttal witness.
During direct examination the prosecutor asked Holt no questions
concerning Byrd or Brooks. On cross-examination, appellant
attempted to question Holt about what Byrd had told him about
Brooks. The trial judge sustained the prosecutor's objection
that the question was beyond the scope of direct examination.
Appellant then asked to reopen the evidence to question
Holt, using notes Holt had located since testifying as a defense
witness, about Holt's conversation with Byrd. Holt's notes
-9- indicated Byrd had told Holt that Brooks had said he had made a
deal with the prosecutor concerning a criminal charge Byrd had
brought against Brooks. After asserting that the notes were
exculpatory, defense counsel stated, I'm asking the Court just to give me a chance to reopen it for that one question to Officer Holt, given the fact that if [the prosecutor] had gone through Mr. Holt's file yesterday or the day before, he would have seen this, he would have realized what it is, and he would have given to me, and we could have done it through the evidence generally.
The trial judge refused, stating that appellant was limited to
questioning Holt about matters brought up on direct examination.
Appellant questioned Holt no further.
Appellant argues on appeal that the Commonwealth's failure
to disclose Holt's notes entitled him to reopen his case and
further question Holt and Byrd. Appellant, however, did not ask
the trial judge to permit him to recall Byrd after Holt located
his notes. The Court of Appeals will not consider an argument on
appeal which was not presented to the trial court. See Jacques v. Commonwealth, 12 Va. App. 591, 593, 405 S.E.2d 630, 631 (1991)
(citing Rule 5A:18). Accordingly, Rule 5A:18 bars our
consideration of this question. The record does not reflect any
reason to invoke the good cause or ends of justice exceptions to
Rule 5A:18.
"Whether to reopen a case lies within the sound discretion
of the trial judge." Minor v. Commonwealth, 16 Va. App. 803,
805, 433 S.E.2d 39, 40 (1993). The refusal to permit a party,
-10- after resting his case, to introduce further evidence will not be
reversed on appeal absent an abuse of that discretion. See
Chrisman v. Commonwealth, 3 Va. App. 371, 375-76, 349 S.E.2d 899,
902 (1986).
In Williams v. Commonwealth, 4 Va. App. 53, 354 S.E.2d 79
(1987), the trial judge refused to permit the defendant to reopen
the evidence and recall Mary Breeden, who allegedly overheard a
conversation during the trial between Stephen Frazier, who was
one of the Commonwealth's witnesses, and a police officer.
Breeden supposedly heard Frazier and the officer discussing an
agreement regarding Frazier's testimony against the defendant.
Frazier earlier had testified that charges were pending against
him, but there had been no evidence of a plea agreement. The
prosecutor denied that any deal existed. According to defense
counsel, Frazier had made statements indicating his belief that
he would receive no incarceration upon the pending charges.
Furthermore, Frazier's trial date had been postponed until after
the defendant's trial. See id. at 76, 354 S.E.2d at 92. In
upholding the trial judge's refusal of the defendant's request to
recall Breeden, we stated: We cannot say as a matter of law that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to allow further testimony from Breeden . . . . Aside from the speculations of counsel regarding an undisclosed plea agreement, the only proffer of evidence was the assertion that Breeden could testify as to her belief that such an agreement existed. . . . [T]he prosecutor specifically represented to the court that no plea agreement existed with Frazier. Further, the
-11- jury was aware that Frazier was facing charges and that these charges were still pending. Breeden's belief in the existence of a plea agreement would not have added anything relevant to the jury's knowledge.
Id. at 77, 354 S.E.2d at 92-93.
Similarly here, even assuming that the Commonwealth should
have revealed Holt's notes to the defense, nothing relevant to
the jury's knowledge would have been added by permitting
appellant to recall Holt. Byrd's statement to Holt had the
tendency to prove that Brooks harbored a belief he had an
agreement with the prosecutor. However, the jury already knew
that a felony charge was pending against Brooks and that he had
received preferential treatment, favors, and money from the
police. Holt admitted that Brooks may have believed he had a
deal with the Commonwealth regarding the pending charge. Just as
in Williams, there was no evidence that an agreement actually existed between Brooks and the prosecution.
Furthermore, Byrd testified as appellant's own witness, and
the trial judge had granted appellant permission to recall her
after Holt during appellant's own case. Although appellant did
not have Holt's notes at that time, Holt had indicated that
Brooks had received assistance from the Commonwealth and might
believe he had an agreement with the Commonwealth. Appellant
never availed himself of the opportunity to recall Byrd during
his own case to question her further about Brooks' purported
contacts or a possible agreement with the prosecutor or the
-12- police.
In addition, as the prosecutor argued at trial, the evidence
appellant sought to elicit from Holt -- Byrd's statements to Holt
about what Brooks had told her -- was clearly hearsay. See Hamm
v. Commonwealth, 16 Va. App. 150, 155, 428 S.E.2d 517, 521
(1993). Neither at trial nor in this Court did appellant assert
any exception to the hearsay rule which would permit the
introduction of Holt's testimony. "The party seeking to rely
upon an exception to the hearsay rule has the burden of
establishing admissibility." Neal v. Commonwealth, 15 Va. App.
416, 421, 425 S.E.2d 521, 524 (1992). Appellant failed to
sustain this burden.
We find no abuse of discretion in the trial judge's refusal
to allow appellant to reopen the evidence and recall Holt.
Therefore, for the foregoing reasons, we affirm appellant's
convictions.
Affirmed.
-13- Benton, J., concurring and dissenting.
I.
One of the Commonwealth's witnesses was a state police
officer who was "an evidence technician." He testified that he
examined the "[crime] scene to see if [there was] any evidence
that may be of value that need[ed] to be collected." The officer
collected bullets from inside the trailer and shell casings from
an automobile. After the officer collected those items, he
prepared a diagram of "measurements, . . . making from his own
experience[] estimates as to trajectory or . . . how these things
really line up." He prepared the document to use as "evidence of
a trajectory." On motion of the defendant to exclude the document and
testimony concerning it, the trial judge stated that "it was
understood by both attorneys that the Court had ordered discovery
consistent with the motions filed by counsel for the defendant."
Finding that the diagram was not disclosed to the defendant in
discovery, the trial judge ruled that the exhibit could not be
entered in evidence.
I disagree with the majority that the diagram indicating
bullet trajectories was not a scientific report as contemplated
by Rule 3A:11(b)(1). The document as described in the record
supports the trial judge's ruling that it was. Nonetheless, I
agree that the trial judge did not err in excluding the document
and allowing the officer to testify concerning the evidence he
-14- discovered.
Code § 19.2-265.4(B) states in pertinent part that if "the
attorney for the Commonwealth has failed to comply with . . .
[discovery], the court may order the Commonwealth to permit the
discovery or inspection, grant a continuance, or prohibit the
Commonwealth from introducing evidence not disclosed, or the
court may enter such other order as it deems just under the
circumstances." This Court has ruled that "[t]he relief to be
granted following the late disclosure of evidence is within the
trial [judge's] discretion." Knight v. Commonwealth, 18 Va. App.
207, 212, 443 S.E.2d 165, 168 (1994).
Although the trial judge did not bar the officer from
testifying concerning his investigation, none of the officer's
testimony concerned trajectories or the measurements as detailed
on the diagram. Accordingly, I would hold that the record
established that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in
applying the sanction of Code § 19.2-265.4.
On February 13, 1995 the police "towed and impounded" for
evidence the vehicle that was suspected of being used in the
shooting. No evidence proved that the police secured the vehicle
when it was impounded or that the unlocked vehicle was not
entered before it was secured the following night.
"[T]o establish a chain of custody of exhibits . . . the
evidence [must] afford reasonable assurance that the exhibits at
-15- trial are the same and in the same condition as they were when
first obtained." Smith v. Commonwealth, 219 Va. 554, 559, 248
S.E.2d 805, 808 (1978). Because the police impounded the vehicle
on February 13, 1995, the chain of custody for the vehicle and
its contents began on that date.
The Commonwealth's evidence failed to properly account for
the evidence for the first twenty-four hours the vehicle was in
the custody of the police. The evidence proved that several
police officers looked in the vehicle on February 13 before it
was impounded. They saw no shell casings and failed to secure
the unlocked vehicle. The Commonwealth's evidence establishing
the chain of custody of the bullet casing found in the vehicle
begins, however, on the night after the police obtained custody
of the vehicle. Officer Campbell testified that almost twenty-four hours
after the vehicle and its contents were impounded, he went to the
private garage where the police sent the vehicle. He went to the
garage "because [he] had information that [the] vehicle needed to
be examined." He testified that he "looked into the vehicle
. . . [and] saw . . . a shell casing." The shell casing was
"sitting in the passenger seat to the far right, almost up
against what would be referred to as the right-front passenger
door." The officer further testified that because he was "not
going to examine [the] item at that time, [he placed evidence
tape] . . . on the doors of the vehicle with [his] initials on it
-16- to . . . protect the integrity of that vehicle." Although the
officer went to the vehicle because the vehicle "needed to be
examined," he gave no explanation for deferring his examination.
The evidence proved that for twenty-four hours after the
police impounded the vehicle, the vehicle was unsecured.
Consequently, a "'vital link in the chain of possession is not
accounted for,'" i.e., from the impoundment until Officer
Campbell's discovery twenty-four hours later. Robinson v. Commonwealth, 212 Va. 136, 138, 183 S.E.2d 179, 180 (1971)
(citation omitted). For these reasons, I would reverse the
convictions and remand for a new trial.
-17-