State v. Dedrick

607 A.2d 127, 135 N.H. 502, 1992 N.H. LEXIS 65
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedMay 1, 1992
DocketNo. 91-041
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 607 A.2d 127 (State v. Dedrick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dedrick, 607 A.2d 127, 135 N.H. 502, 1992 N.H. LEXIS 65 (N.H. 1992).

Opinion

JOHNSON, J.

The defendant, Robert David Dedrick, was convicted of second degree murder by the Superior Court (Murphy, J.) and sentenced to 15-30 years in prison. The defendant appeals, asking that his conviction be reversed on the grounds that the trial court improperly failed to instruct the jury on the significance of his post-homicide actions. Alternatively, the defendant requests that we remand the case to the trial court for an in camera review of notes the prosecution made during an interview of a defense witness. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

On May 31, 1987, the Manchester Police Department discovered the body of Luis Ramirez in his apartment. Ramirez had died from multiple stab wounds. The police were informed that the defendant [504]*504had been seen with Ramirez the afternoon before Ramirez’ body was discovered, and brought the defendant in for questioning. While in police custody, the defendant confessed to the murder and claimed that he was acting in self-defense. This case has been before us previously, State v. Dedrick, 132 N.H. 218, 564 A.2d 423 (1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1007, 1008 (1990), in which we set out the facts of the murder in more detail.

At trial, the defendant admitted that he owed Ramirez $640 for a cocaine debt. He admitted that he killed Ramirez by stabbing him to death, but testified that he acted in self-defense after Ramirez had attacked him with a knife. He also testified that after Ramirez was slumped against the wall, incapacitated, he took money and cocaine from Ramirez’ person and apartment, washed blood from his own body, and disposed of the weapon he had used to fatally wound Ramirez.

I. Jury Instructions

After closing arguments, the trial court instructed the jury on the crimes of first and second degree murder and the defense of self-defense involving deadly force. Neither party objected to those instructions. On the fourth day of deliberations, the jury asked the court whether a person has the responsibility to leave the scene of the attack the moment the other person is disabled. The court expressed its confusion at the jury’s question, and the jury rephrased its question as follows:

“Can the claim of self defense be negated if the defendant does not leave/retreat the apartment, even if the threat is over when the assailant is incapacitated.”

Because the question, as written, was ambiguous, the parties disagreed about the answer to be given. The defense argued that the jury was concerned with the significance to be attached to Dedrick’s actions of theft and concealment after the alleged struggle was over but before Dedrick left the apartment, and argued that the answer to the jury’s question should be “no,” because there was no duty to leave once the alleged struggle had concluded. The prosecution maintained that the question went to the issue of excessive force and the duty to retreat before using deadly force.

The court answered the question in the following manner:

“You must rely on the instructions given previously relative to self-defense, reasonable force and duty to retreat.”

On appeal, the defendant argues that the court erred by failing to specifically inform the jury that “the duty to retreat terminated once [505]*505the struggle had been concluded and the subsequent acts could not, as a matter of law, automatically nullify the defense of self-defense.” We disagree.

A claim that the trial court erroneously instructed or refused to instruct the jury, or refused to answer a jury question in language requested by the defendant, must be evaluated in the context of the entire charge and all of the evidence. State v. Prisby, 131 N.H. 57, 59, 550 A.2d 89, 90 (1988). We consider the instructions in their entirety to determine whether the trial court adequately stated the relevant law. State v. St. John, 129 N.H. 1, 3, 523 A.2d 26, 28 (1986). A court is under no obligation to use specific language requested by a defendant. Id. The trial court has discretion to determine whether or not a particular instruction is necessary to assist the jury in reaching a verdict. Id. We will not reverse the conviction unless the instructions did not fairly cover the issues of law in the case. State v. Saucier, 128 N.H. 291, 299, 512 A.2d 1120, 1126 (1986).

When a jury’s question is susceptible of several interpretations, the court may engage in further dialogue to ascertain its specific meaning, as did the court in Prisby. It is equally proper, however, to refer the jury to the complete and adequate instructions previously given. The defendant argues that “if the jury was not expressly told the post-event facts did not negate self-defense as a matter of law, then the jury was free to speculate regarding the significance of the defendant’s actions.” The jury could properly draw inferences from the defendant’s conduct throughout the affair. See State v. Sadvari, 123 N.H. 410, 413, 462 A.2d 102, 104 (1983) (subsequent acts and statements may be considered by jury). The significance to be accorded the defendant’s post-offense actions was properly within the province of the jury. The court had instructed broadly on the issue of self-defense, and, in particular, on the duty to retreat and the use of excessive force. The court charged the jury that “a person does not have the right to use deadly force on another person to defend himself if; number one, the defendant knew that he could retreat from the encounter; and number two, that the defendant knew that he could do so in complete safety.” This is a correct and adequate statement of the law regarding the duty to retreat. At no point did the court imply that the defendant had a duty to retreat after the victim was incapacitated. Therefore, there was no need to specifically address that issue, and the court properly referred the jury back to the previous correct instructions.

[506]*506II. In Camera Review

Six days before trial, the court heard the defendant’s motion for production of exculpatory material that the State may have obtained during interviews with various witnesses. Specifically, the defendant requested disclosure of the prosecutor’s notes of any witness preparation which contained “information that has come to [the prosecution’s] attention that is potentially exculpatory to any degree whatsoever.” The defendant stated that “the court can redact [the State’s] work-product” before turning over the material. The State concedes that the defendant’s request was, in effect, a request for an in camera review of all of the prosecution’s interview notes.

The trial court ruled that the prosecutor’s notes were protected by the work-product privilege, but ordered the prosecution “to divulge to the defendant any information received from those witnesses relative to or that might lead to exculpatory evidence,” consistent with the State’s obligation under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963).

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Bluebook (online)
607 A.2d 127, 135 N.H. 502, 1992 N.H. LEXIS 65, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dedrick-nh-1992.