Roberts v. State

469 A.2d 442, 298 Md. 261, 1983 Md. LEXIS 337
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedDecember 28, 1983
Docket14, September Term, 1983
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 469 A.2d 442 (Roberts v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roberts v. State, 469 A.2d 442, 298 Md. 261, 1983 Md. LEXIS 337 (Md. 1983).

Opinion

RODOWSKY, Judge.

The principal issue on this appeal from a rape conviction involves alleged error in the admission of evidence. A law enforcement officer was allowed to express the opinion that Shellcross Sniffer (Sniffer) had indicated that a cap known to have been worn by the rapist had been worn by the accused. Sniffer is a dog.

Gregory Bernard Roberts (Roberts or Petitioner) was convicted at a jury trial in the Circuit Court for Kent County of first degree rape, unlawfully wearing and carrying a dangerous weapon, daytime housebreaking and attempting to steal goods valued at less than $300. He was sentenced to confinement for 50 years on the rape conviction, with lesser and concurrent sentences on the other charges. His convic *265 tion was affirmed by the Court of Special Appeals. Roberts v. State, 53 Md.App. 257, 452 A.2d 1271 (1982). We granted Roberts’ petition for certiorari which asserts that the trial court erred in three respects:

1. “[I]n allowing the prejudicial use of a dog line-up into evidence at trial”;
2. In refusing a continuance for the purpose of possibly obtaining a scientific analysis suggested by information furnished to the Petitioner on the eve of trial in response to discovery requests; and
3. In failing to order the State to comply with the full scope of Petitioner’s requested discovery concerning the report of an expert who had analyzed paint samples.

For the reasons hereinafter stated, we shall affirm.

The offenses occurred at the victim’s home, a large, hilltop house in Kent County. A private driveway from the house to the nearest public road is one-quarter to one-half mile in length. That public road can also be reached on foot from the house via a path through woods on the hillside. The crimes were committed shortly after 1:00 p.m. on March 11, 1981. The victim’s husband was in town, her children were at school, and she believed she was alone in the house. Upon hearing a noise, the victim investigated. In the living room she encountered a man brandishing a machete-like knife. This weapon was a corn knife which was owned by the family. It had been used for weeding and left on the north side of the house under the kitchen windows. The intruder was dressed in a knit ski cap, army jacket, dungarees, combat boots and gloves. Both the ski cap and the jacket belonged to members of the household and had been hanging in a small vestibule or mudroom adjacent to a rear door of the house. The intruder wore the ski cap pulled down to just above his eyes and had covered the lower portion of his face with a bandana, so that only a band across his eyes was uncovered. The victim was blindfolded and kept blindfolded throughout the occurrence. She was never able to make an identification, but did describe the *266 man as black, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, and of stocky build.

After the rape, and after the man had searched the house for valuables and departed, the victim went to the home of a neighbor who telephoned the sheriff’s office. That call was received at approximately 1:53 p.m. Among the officers responding was Deputy William J. Dempsey (Dempsey), together with his bloodhound, Sniffer. The ski cap worn by the rapist had been discarded on the floor of the mudroom at the victim’s home. In order not to contaminate any scent on the cap, an investigator used a broom handle held at arm’s length to pick up the cap and place it on the ground outside of the mudroom door. This occurred about 2:20 p.m. Dempsey clipped the 15-foot trailing lead, or leash, to Sniffer’s tracking harness, Sniffer took the scent from the cap and Dempsey gave the command, “Go find.” The cap was retained in an evidence bag. 1

Sniffer trailed to a point in the garden at which the corn knife was lying. This evidence was bagged. Continuing to follow the trail, Sniffer led Dempsey, who in turn was followed by other officers, down the footpath to the public road and then along the public road for approximately 200 yards to a place where the unpaved shoulder of the road widened. At that place Sniffer lost the scent, but there were automobile tire tracks in the sandy soil. Investigation in the area produced two fishermen who had observed an automobile parked, during the time when the offenses were occurring, at a place off the road below where the tire tracks were discovered. They described the car as a Chrysler Corporation product with a maroon vinyl top over gray and *267 with damage to the left side. This description was broadcast over police radio.

Kent County Sheriff Allan Blizzard (Blizzard) heard the automobile description. At approximately 3:15 p.m., while driving to the crime scene, he observed a car answering the description parked outside of the house of Petitioner’s mother. There Blizzard, after having cautioned Roberts, questioned him. Roberts is a black male, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall and of stocky build. He was wearing a T-shirt, dungarees and tennis shoes. Roberts acknowledged having parked the car for about five minutes off the road near the victim’s house while Roberts said he was relieving himself in the woods. Petitioner consented to a search of the car which revealed a pair of combat boots and a pair of gloves in the trunk. These were taken by Blizzard with Roberts’ consent. Petitioner also agreed to accompany Blizzard to the victim’s house for a showup.

What Petitioner calls a “dog line-up” was held on the lawn outside of the victim’s home at approximately 5:15 p.m. that same day. Roberts stood in the middle of a line of four officers. The group was arrayed side by side, approximately three to five feet apart. At least one of the officers was in civilian clothes. The ski cap was dumped from the evidence bag onto the ground at a point 25 to 30 yards from the five person group. Sniffer was taken from the motor vehicle used to transport him, and from which the group was not visible to him. His trailing lead was attached, and he was given the scent and the trailing command. The bloodhound went to Roberts, circled about him and then sat at Roberts’ feet. Sniffer was put back into the vehicle and the relative positions of the five individuals were altered, with Roberts being placed at one end. The same process was repeated with the same result. Dempsey testified that “[t]his indicated to me that the dog had matched a human scent from the scent article to a human being in that particular line.”

The corn knife used by the rapist to force the victim into submission and the gloves recovered from Roberts’ car were *268 among objects sent to the F.B.I. laboratory for analysis. The blade of the corn knife had a blue paint finish. Particles of blue paint were found in debris brushed from the fibers of Roberts’ gloves as part of the laboratory examination. Comparison of the results of various tests performed on the paint on the blade and the paint particles revealed that the colors, the color reactions, the type of paint arid the chemistry of the paint all matched. In the opinion of the F.B.I.

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Bluebook (online)
469 A.2d 442, 298 Md. 261, 1983 Md. LEXIS 337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-state-md-1983.