Simmonds v. People

59 V.I. 480, 2013 WL 4404592, 2013 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 42
CourtSupreme Court of The Virgin Islands
DecidedAugust 13, 2013
DocketS. Ct. Criminal No. 2012-0074
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 59 V.I. 480 (Simmonds v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Simmonds v. People, 59 V.I. 480, 2013 WL 4404592, 2013 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 42 (virginislands 2013).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

(August 13, 2013)

Hodge, Chief Justice.

Appellant Christopher Simmonds appeals from the Superior Court’s August 15, 2012 Judgment, which adjudicated him guilty of first-degree murder and various other offenses. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I. STATEMENT OF RELEVANT FACTS AND PROCEDURAL POSTURE

On June 29, 2010, the People of the Virgin Islands filed an information charging Simmonds with first-degree murder and other offenses stemming from the shooting death of Cedric Rouse on April 5,2009. Prior to trial, Simmonds filed a motion requesting that the jury visit the crime scene, which the People opposed. During an in-chambers hearing prior to the start of jury selection on June 11, 2012, the Superior Court, while [484]*484addressing several pre-trial matters, orally denied Simmonds’s jury site view motion. The Superior Court memorialized that decision in a June 13, 2012 Opinion, which explained that Simmonds failed to provide sufficient reasons for a visit and did not confirm that the crime scene was in substantially the same condition as it was on the date of the incident.

Simmonds’s trial began on June 12, 2012. The People called as its first witness John Stevens, who testified that he saw Simmonds shoot Rouse with a firearm. (J.A. 314-18.) Stevens testified that he observed the incident while driving a car while his son rode as á passenger. (J.A. 314-15.) In addition to various law enforcement witnesses, the People also called Kelvin Edmeade, who testified that he had heard shots fired that afternoon, but did not see the shooter. (J.A. 622.) When asked if he had provided a written statement to Delbert Phipps, Sr., a police corporal, that he had seen the shooter, Edmeade admitted to signing and dating a statement, but denied telling Phipps that he saw who fired the shots. The prosecutor provided a copy of that statement to Edmeade, who acknowledged his signature, but testified that he never identified the shooter and had simply signed the document without reading it so that Phipps would stop talking to him. (J.A. 627.) Over Simmonds’s objection, the Superior Court permitted the People to admit the written statement as substantive evidence pursuant to title 14, section 19 of the Virgin Islands Code. Shortly thereafter, the People called Phipps as a witness, and he explained how he questioned Edmeade, and stated that, in addition to providing the statement, Edmeade had selected Simmonds out of a photo array. (J.A. 714.)

On June 14, 2012, the jury found Simmonds guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and two counts of unauthorized use of a firearm during commission of a crime of violence, with first-degree murder and first-degree assault as the predicate offenses. The Superior Court orally sentenced Simmonds on August 7, 2012. However, prior to sentencing, the Superior Court received a pro se document from Simmonds, captioned “Emergency Petition for Injunctive Relief to Acquit or Alternatively Vacate or Set Aside Jury Verdict Under Miscarriage of Justice/Failure of Justice,” which challenged his convictions on numerous grounds. At sentencing, the Superior Court acknowledged the document, construed it as a motion for a new trial pursuant to Superior Court Rule 135, and denied it as untimely because it had not been filed within 10 days of June 14, 2012 — the day the jury announced its guilty verdict. The [485]*485Superior Court then proceeded to sentence Simmonds, including imposing a mandatory sentence of life without parole for the first-degree murder charge.

The Superior Court entered a written order denying Simmonds’s pro se motion on August 15, 2012, and memorialized its sentence in an August 15, 2012 Judgment. The Superior Court invoked section 104 of title 14 of the Virgin Islands Code to stay execution of Simmonds’s sentences for first-degree assault and its corresponding firearms charge. Simmonds timely filed his notice of appeal on August 3, 2012.1

II. DISCUSSION

A. Jurisdiction and Standard of Review

Title 4, section 32(a) of the Virgin Islands Code gives this Court “jurisdiction over all appeals arising from final judgments, final decrees or final orders of the Superior Court, or as otherwise provided by law.” The written judgment embodying the adjudication of guilt and the sentence imposed based on that adjudication constitutes a final judgment. See, e.g., Jackson-Flavius v. People, 57 V.I. 716, 721 (V.I. 2012) (citing Potter v. People, 56 V.I. 779, 787 (V.I. 2012)). Therefore, this Court possesses appellate jurisdiction over this appeal.2

“Ordinarily, the standard of review for this Court’s examination of the Superior Court’s application of law is plenary, while findings of fact are reviewed for clear error.” Rawlins v. People, 58 V.I. 261, 267-68 (V.I. 2013) (quoting St. Thomas-St. John Bd. of Elections v. Daniel, 49 V.I. 322, 329 (V.I. 2007)). However, the Superior Court’s decision to admit evidence, to allow jurors to view objects or scenes outside of the courtroom, or to impose a certain sentence is reviewed solely for abuse of discretion unless the Superior Court bases its decision on application of [486]*486legal precepts, in which case review is plenary. See, e.g., Williams v. People, 58 V.I. 341, 350 (V.I. 2013) (citing Cheatham v. People, S. Ct. Crim. No. 2008-0026, 2009 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 22, *4 (V.I. Mar. 27, 2009) (unpublished)); Potter, 56 V.I. at 791 n.15; Christopher v. People, 57 V.I. 500, 509 (V.I. 2012) (citing Ritter v. People, 51 V.I. 354, 359 (V.I. 2009)).

When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a conviction, we view all issues of credibility in the light most favorable to the People. Latalladi v. People, 51 V.I. 137, 145 (V.I. 2009). If “ ‘any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt,’ ” this Court will affirm. DeSilvia v. People, 55 V.I. 859, 865 (V.I. 2011) (quoting Mendoza v. People, 55 V.I. 660, 666-67 (V.I. 2011)). The evidence offered in support of a conviction “need not be ‘inconsistent with every conclusion save that of guilty, so long as it establishes a case from which a jury could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” Mulley v. People, 51 V.I. 404, 409 (V.I. 2009) (quoting United States v. Carr, 25 F.3d 1194, 1201 (3d Cir. 1996)). A defendant seeking to overturn his conviction on this basis bears “ ‘a very heavy burden.’ ” Latalladi, 51 V.I. at 145 (quoting United States v. Losada, 674 F.2d 167, 173 (2d Cir. 1982)).

However, when a criminal defendant fails to object to a Superior Court decision or order — as is the case with most of the issues Simmonds has raised on appeal — this Court ordinarily only reviews for plain error, provided that the challenge has been forfeited rather than waived. See V.I.S.Ct.R. 4(h); see also Francis v. People, 52 V.I. 381, 390 (V.I. 2009).

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Bluebook (online)
59 V.I. 480, 2013 WL 4404592, 2013 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 42, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simmonds-v-people-virginislands-2013.