State v. Bradford

484 S.E.2d 221, 199 W. Va. 338, 1997 W. Va. LEXIS 36
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 14, 1997
DocketNo. 23454
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 484 S.E.2d 221 (State v. Bradford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bradford, 484 S.E.2d 221, 199 W. Va. 338, 1997 W. Va. LEXIS 36 (W. Va. 1997).

Opinion

MAYNARD, Justice.

Defendant, William Bradford, was convicted in the Circuit Court of Raleigh County, West Virginia, of second degree sexual assault and first degree murder with the use of a firearm. He was sentenced to life in prison without a recommendation of mercy. Defendant appeals his conviction, contending the trial- court erred by admitting a statement elicited after he asserted his right to remain silent; by refusing to give an accessory after the fact instruction; by limiting cross examination; by the involvement of three different circuit judges in separate stages of the lower court proceedings; and by prosecutorial misconduct. After reviewing the record, we find the circuit court committed no reversible error. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the lower court.

Defendant, William Bradford, was released from jail on November 5, 1994, after serving a seven-month sentence for grand larceny. The incarceration resulted from a plea entered to charges brought by his father, James Bradford. James Bradford’s wife, Polly Bradford, later stated that she and James Bradford did not know the defendant had been released from jail.

On November 6, 1994, after attending to their flea market business in Princeton, Mercer County, West Virginia, Polly Bradford and James Bradford returned to their one-bedroom trailer in MacArthur, Raleigh County, West Virginia, at approximately 7:00 p.m. Due to the nature of the flea market business, James Bradford customarily carried a large amount of cash and a pistol, and Polly Bradford carried a .25 caliber pistol in her purse. She stated she had never fired the gun and did not know how to load or use it.

Polly Bradford stated the couple reached the porch of their trailer on the evening of November 6, 1994, and James Bradford began unlocking the front door. Suddenly, a shot rang out and she saw her husband fall back on the porch in a pool of blood. The trailer door was then pulled open and she heard a voice which she recognized as that of the defendant, William Bradford, telling her to get inside if she did not want the same thing. William Bradford was holding a rifle and it was pointed at Polly Bradford. The defendant ordered Polly Bradford to “sit down and not to move” and then, while “pacing back and forth,” told her, “I’m taking everything here, including you.”

William Bradford then went out to the porch to retrieve the pistol from his father’s body, and shortly thereafter removed his father’s keys and money from the body. When the defendant went outside, Polly Bradford tried to use the telephone, “but it was dead.” State Police later found the telephone line had been disconnected from the outside of the trailer.

William Bradford repeatedly raped Polly Bradford throughout the night of November 6 and early morning of November 7, 1994, subjecting her to both genital intercourse and fellatio. At trial, Polly Bradford testi[342]*342fied the defendant raped her, while the defendant testified the sex was consensual. Polly Bradford testified she submitted only because she believed if she resisted the defendant would have killed her.

During the course of the evening, the defendant requested that Polly Bradford run his bath water and find him a change of clothes, which she did. She made coffee and put a movie in the VCR. On one of the defendant’s trips outside, Polly Bradford attempted to locate her husband’s .38 pistol. When she could not find it, she reasoned the defendant must have it with him. She hid her .25 under the dresser, stating she feared the defendant would find it and get angry. The police later found a .303 rifle hidden under the sofa, which was subsequently determined to be the murder weapon.

Polly Bradford saw her husband’s .38 when the defendant “stuck” it in the back of his pants and ordered her to go to the store with him to buy cigarettes. After buying cigarettes, the defendant drove back to the trailer. James Bradford’s body was no longer on the porch. Later, on one of his many trips outside, the defendant burned several items in a trash barrel located on the property. Polly Bradford said she saw the defendant burn the jacket her husband was wearing at the time he was murdered, and State Police later recovered the burnt frame of the victim’s glasses.

The next day, November 7, 1994, Polly Bradford and the defendant drove to the rented Princeton store where James and Polly Bradford operated their flea market business. The defendant put the .38 under the seat of the truck where he left it when they arrived at the store. Polly Bradford had packed an ice chest of food to take along, as was her usual custom. While the defendant was fixing a sandwich in the back room, Polly Bradford found her extra key to the truck. She ran to the vehicle and drove to the Princeton City Police Department.

Polly Bradford reported to the Princeton City Police that her husband had been killed at their home in MacArthur in Raleigh County by her stepson, William Bradford. She told the police she believed the body was still there. At that time, she gave the police the .38 pistol and approximately $1,195.00 in cash. She directed them to the store where she had left the defendant; however, when the police arrived, the defendant was gone. The Princeton Police Chief testified at trial that Polly Bradford was excited and appeared to be frightened.

The Princeton City Police contacted the West Virginia State Police to investigate. When the State Police arrived at the Bradford property, they did not find the defendant, but they did find blood on the front porch and blood on the grass on the left side of the porch. They also found that the front door had been pierced by a small projectile. An orange curtain which was mounted on the inside of the door had gun powder residue on it, indicating a shot had been fired from inside the trailer and through the door.

A bloody axe and wheelbarrow were found approximately 150 feet from the trailer in a shed. Four bloody banana boxes were found and these contained the remains of James Bradford, dismembered into twenty-one pieces. A crime scene video was introduced at trial, but the State redacted the portion of the video showing the trooper opening the four boxes. Therefore, the jury did not view any part of the victim’s dismembered body.

At the crime scene, located next to the banana boxes, was a bag of the defendant’s belongings, including jail release forms in his name. There were letters addressed to the defendant, including a love letter from a woman in North Carolina confirming the defendant’s plans to travel there upon release from jail. Directions to the North Carolina residence were found in the same bag.

At the defendant’s trial, Sergeant Satter-field testified that during the initial investigation, they searched a recreational vehicle (RV) located on the defendant’s father’s and stepmother’s property which had no keys in the ignition. After the State Police left the property and returned to conduct a second search, Sergeant Satterfield again entered the RV and immediately noticed keys in the ignition. The Sergeant turned to find the defendant hiding under a table in the back of the RV. The defendant’s first words were “I give up, Captain.”

[343]*343Trooper C.E. Tilley promptly read the defendant Miranda warnings.1 The defendant refused to cooperate.2 He was transported to the Beekley State Police Detachment, where he was placed in the custody of Trooper S.F. VanMeter.

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Bluebook (online)
484 S.E.2d 221, 199 W. Va. 338, 1997 W. Va. LEXIS 36, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bradford-wva-1997.