State v. Heller

731 S.E.2d 312, 399 S.C. 157, 2012 S.C. App. LEXIS 178
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedJune 13, 2012
DocketNo. 4990
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 731 S.E.2d 312 (State v. Heller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Heller, 731 S.E.2d 312, 399 S.C. 157, 2012 S.C. App. LEXIS 178 (S.C. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

HUFF, J.

Following a jury trial, Christopher Heller was convicted of murder and assault and battery with intent to kill (ABWIK). Heller appeals, asserting the trial court erred in (1) allowing him to be impeached with his prior drug convictions pursuant to Rule 609(a)(1), SCRE, because the probative value of his drug convictions substantially outweighed their unduly prejudicial effect, (2) refusing to declare a mistrial where a witness made reference to Heller being on parole, and (3) refusing to grant an in camera hearing on the admissibility of a witness’s voice identification of Heller. We affirm.

[160]*160FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In the early morning hours of August 25, 2006, a paramedic, responding to an unknown medical complaint at a trailer park, found Gustavo Guzman-Hernandez, known as “Chino,” lying in the roadway.1 As the paramedic approached, he encountered another man, who could not communicate in English. This person pointed to a trailer with an open door. The paramedic pronounced Chino dead and left the scene to wait on law enforcement to advise that the scene was secure. After Officer Clark arrived and entered the trailer, he heard moaning and then found Mary Deanna Chavis (Mary) inside the trailer.

Mary was grievously wounded, with multiple lacerations and evisceration of her bowel. The attack on Mary was so brutal, medical personnel did not expect her to live. She had multiple stab wounds to her face, chest, neck, head and hands, with a laceration to her left lower quadrant in which the muscle had been completely transected and her intestines were protruding from her abdomen. However, after multiple surgeries, Mary did survive her wounds. An autopsy on Chino likewise revealed he suffered from numerous stab wounds, including four to his face, defensive wounds to his hand, a deep wound to his left shoulder, and a fatal, slashing stab wound to the right side of his chest which penetrated his heart. The pathologist opined a single-edged weapon, such as a knife, caused Chino’s injuries, and stated that a pocketknife is usually used in cases such as this. He determined the blade would likely have been three to four inches long but could have been longer.

The State presented the testimony of Billie Joe Risinger, known as “Tracy,” who was present at Mary’s trailer on the night of the stabbings. Tracy, who admitted she was addicted to crack cocaine, stated that on August 25, 2006, she saw Mary sitting with some other friends in Mary’s front yard. Tracy testified that they all had the same addiction, and she called one of their drug suppliers, Kevin Nails, who came over and “served them.” Tracy said she then left in a car with Kevin, along with a man named Devon and the defendant, Christopher Heller, who she had never seen before that night. Kevin [161]*161“serve[d] somebody else some drugs” and the group returned to Mary’s trailer, where they found Mary and Chino. After Tracy engaged in sexual intercourse with Devon, Kevin and Devon left the trailer, leaving Heller with Tracy, Mary, and Chino at the trailer. The entire group smoked some crack, and Heller began acting strangely, removing and then putting back on his shoes and shirt. Heller also attempted to follow Tracy when she tried to leave, making Tracy feel uncomfortable. Because of his behavior, Mary politely told Heller he had to leave. Heller initially left the trailer, but then knocked on the door three to five minutes later. At this point, Chino left to get a phone so they could contact Kevin to come get Heller. With only Mary and Tracy left in the house, they heard a knock at the door. Over trial counsel’s objection, Tracy identified the voice she heard at the time of the knocking as belonging to Heller. When she heard his voice, she told Mary not to open the door, but Mary told Tracy to just shut the bedroom door, as Tracy was in the bedroom at the time. Tracy heard a lot of banging and screaming, and heard Mary screaming for her life, so she locked the door and hid under the bed. Eventually, Tracy heard Mary say that she was dying and her “guts [were] hanging out.” After Tracy asked where the man was, and Mary responded that she did not know, Tracy opened the door and fled from the trailer. When she got outside, she saw Chino, face down in the street. Tracy began knocking on trailer doors to obtain a phone to call for help, but then saw Kevin ride by in his car. She flagged down Kevin and told him his “cousin had went crazy, and he was trying to kill everybody.” Kevin took Tracy to another location, where she called her mother, who then picked up Tracy and took Tracy back to her house. The next day, law enforcement contacted Tracy about the matter, and Tracy told them what occurred, with the exception of naming Kevin. The following day, however, she told law enforcement about Kevin and helped identify him. Thereafter, on August 29, Tracy helped develop a composite picture of a man’s face, as well as of tattoos she observed on his body.2 On August 30, she identified Heller in a photographic line-up.

[162]*162The State additionally presented the testimony of Kevin. Kevin stated that in August 2006, his cousin, Heller, was staying with Kevin’s family in Lexington because Heller was supposed to go with Kevin’s mother and grandmother to Cherokee, North Carolina for the weekend. On August 25, at around 3:00 a.m., Kevin, Heller, and Devon went to Mary’s trailer, where they saw Mary, Tracy, and “the Mechanic” (Chino). Kevin, Devon, Tracy, Mary, and “the Mechanic” started smoking drugs. Devon and Tracy went into a bedroom to engage in sexual intercourse, and after they came out, Heller and Tracy went into the bedroom. At that time, Kevin received a phone call and needed to leave Mary’s house. Devon went with Kevin, and when Kevin called Heller to go with them, Heller became upset because he wanted to have sex with Tracy. Kevin then told Heller to just stay with Tracy, and he would return to pick up Heller. Kevin and Devon then left. Sometime later, after dropping Devon off somewhere, Kevin drove back to Mary’s trailer to get Heller. When he honked his horn but got no response, he left Mary’s home, and then saw Tracy at the top of the hill. Tracy then jumped in his car stating, “Your boy, your boy snapped.” When Kevin asked Tracy where Heller was, she told him that she did not know, and that Heller had left. Kevin dropped Tracy off at another trailer park and then phoned his mother, who joined him to drive around looking for Heller. When they reached Tracy’s trailer and observed the blue lights, Kevin panicked and continued driving. They tried to find Heller, but to no avail. Later that same day, around 9:30 p.m., Kevin received a call from Heller. Kevin drove to pick up Heller, and they then met Kevin’s mother at a Burger King. Kevin’s mother took Heller to Lexington, and then she drove him to Baxley, Georgia the next day.

Mary Chavis also took the stand and testified to the circumstances surrounding the stabbings that night. According to Mary, in the early morning hours of August 25, 2006, she and [163]*163Chino saw Tracy riding in a car with Kevin, who Mary knew, and two other men, who Mary did not know. Tracy asked to go in Mary’s house, so Mary gave her the key. Mary told Tracy she and Chino were going to the store, and instructed her to put the key back in a flower pot. When Mary and Chino returned to her home, the people were still in her home, which made Mary uncomfortable, so she and Chino left.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Shakoya A. Darby
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2025
Michele Branning v. James Jay Branning
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2025
State v. William Thomas Gule, Jr.
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2022
State v. Moore
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2015
State v. Anthony
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2014
State v. Heller
Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2014
State v. Barnes
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2013

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
731 S.E.2d 312, 399 S.C. 157, 2012 S.C. App. LEXIS 178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-heller-scctapp-2012.