State v. Horton

506 S.E.2d 46, 203 W. Va. 9, 1998 W. Va. LEXIS 55
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedJune 22, 1998
DocketNos. 23892, 23893
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 506 S.E.2d 46 (State v. Horton) 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. Horton, 506 S.E.2d 46, 203 W. Va. 9, 1998 W. Va. LEXIS 55 (W. Va. 1998).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:1

These consolidated cases are before this Court upon appeal from final orders of the Circuit Court of Mineral County entered on September 12, 1995, and October 4, 1995.2 The appellants, Darnell A. Allen, Jr., and Charlton A. Horton, Jr., were convicted in separate trials of the offense of murder in the first degree without a recommendation of mercy. On appeal, the appellants challenge the circuit court’s denial of their motions to suppress certain evidence and motions for a change of venue. The appellants also contend that the circuit court erred when it [14]*14admitted into evidence a video of the crime scene. Finally, appellants assign several errors to their individual trials.

This court has before it the petitions for appeal, all matters of record, and the briefs and argument of counsel. For the reasons discussed below, appellants’ convictions are affirmed.

I.

Arthur Samuel Smith, Jr., was beaten to death with a blunt instrument during the early morning hours of January 8, 1994, in Keyser, West Virginia. The police were called to the crime scene around 2:20 a.m. by Robert Martin who witnessed the crime when he looked out the upstairs window of his apartment. Mr. Martin saw two black men in dark bulky coats striking something on the ground with a stick or club near the Lighthouse Assembly of God Church on Virginia Street. When the police arrived, they discovered Mr. Smith’s body.

The appellants were taken to the police station for questioning shortly after the crime occurred. They were spotted in the area where the crime had been reported, and they matched the description of the suspects given by the eyewitness. At the station, the appellants gave conflicting statements about where they had been that evening just prior to the crime. After the police found a small piece of body tissue on appellant Allen’s cap and a blood stain on appellant Horton’s boots, they were arrested and charged with murder.

The appellants were tried separately in August 1995. At both trials, Aaron Delsig-nore testified that appellant Allen had asked him on the night of January 7, 1994, to borrow a baseball bat that Mr. Delsignore kept in his car. Mr. Delsignore told appellant Allen he could use the bat, and he noticed it was missing the next day.3 The evidence also revealed that a few months prior to the crime, appellant Allen had made threats against Mr. Smith because Mr. Smith had kissed appellant Allen’s teenage sister on the cheek giving her a rash. Appellant Allen was convicted on August 10,1995, and appellant Horton was convicted on August 25, 1995. The appellants were given life sentences without mercy as reflected in the final orders.

II.

We begin our review by considering those assignments of error raised by both appellants. As their primary assignment of error, both appellants contend that the circuit court should have suppressed as evidence their clothing, the results of the DNA blood tests therefrom, and the oral statements they made to the police officers because their rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the United States Constitution and Sections 5, 6, and 10 of Article III, of the West Virginia Constitution were violated. The appellants essentially argue that then-prolonged detention constituted an illegal seizure thereby rendering the evidence obtained during that time inadmissable. Appellants also contend that the evidence was inadmissable because their clothing was taken without their consent and their oral statements to the police were not voluntary.

We first note our standard of review relating to a motion to suppress. In Syllabus Point 1 of State v. Lacy, 196 W.Va. 104, 468 S.E.2d 719 (1996), we stated:

When reviewing a ruling on a motion to suppress, an appellant court should construe all facts in the light most favorable to the State, as it was the prevailing party below. Because of the highly fact-specific nature of a motion to suppress, particular deference is given to the findings of the circuit court because it had the opportunity to observe the witnesses and to hear testimony on the issues. Therefore, the circuit court’s factual findings are reviewed for clear error.

In Syllabus Point 2 of Lacy, we further advised:

In contrast to a review of the circuit court’s factual findings, the ultimate determination as to whether a search or seizure was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 6 of Article III of the West Virgi[15]*15nia Constitution is a question of law that is reviewed de novo. Similarly, an appellate court reviews de novo whether a search warrant was too broad. Thus, a circuit court’s denial of a motion to suppress evidence will be affirmed unless it is unsupported by substantial evidence, based on an erroneous interpretation of law, or, based on the entire record, it is clear that a mistake has been made.

We begin our analysis by reviewing the events as they unfolded on the night of January 8, 1994. Initially, the appellants were stopped by Lieutenant William Roy of the Keyser city police as he was on his way to the crime scene. The officer noticed the appellants walking away from the area where the crime had been reported. Because the appellants matched the description of the suspects related by the radio dispatcher, Lieutenant Roy stopped them and asked them where they had been. The appellants told the officer that they had been at appellant Horton’s father’s house, and they were going to a friend’s house on Main Street. With this explanation, Lieutenant Roy told the appellants to go ahead, and he returned to his car. A few minutes later, Lieutenant Roy received a message from one of the officers at the crime scene requesting him to find the appellants for questioning. According to Lieutenant Roy, he found the appellants the second time on Main Street and asked them to come to the station for questioning regarding an altercation.4 According to Lieutenant Roy, the appellants voluntarily agreed to come to the station, and they got in the backseat of his police car. Upon arrival at the police station, Lieutenant Roy placed the appellants in separate rooms and read them their Miranda rights.5 Each signed a waiver form at that time. The appellants then waited approximately three hours for the investigating officers to return from the crime scene.

As support for their contention that they were illegally seized, appellants rely upon our holding in Syllabus Point 2 of State v. Jones, 193 W.Va. 378, 456 S.E.2d 459 (1995), wherein, we stated:

If the police merely question a suspect on the street without detaining him against his will, Section 6 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution is not implicated and no justification for the officer’s conduct need be shown. At the point where a reasonable person believes he is being detained and is not free to leave, then a stop has occurred and Section 6 of Article III is triggered, requiring that the officer have reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot. If the nature and duration of the detention arises to the level of a full-scale arrest or its equivalent, probable cause must be shown.

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Related

State of West Virginia v. Charlton A. Horton, Jr.
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2026
State of West Virginia v. Micah A. McClain
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2022
Charlton A. Horton, Jr. v. David Ballard, Warden
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2017

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Bluebook (online)
506 S.E.2d 46, 203 W. Va. 9, 1998 W. Va. LEXIS 55, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-horton-wva-1998.