Staton v. United States

466 A.2d 1245, 1983 D.C. App. LEXIS 497
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 30, 1983
Docket80-811
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 466 A.2d 1245 (Staton v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Staton v. United States, 466 A.2d 1245, 1983 D.C. App. LEXIS 497 (D.C. 1983).

Opinion

BELSON, Associate Judge:

Following a jury trial appellant was found guilty of rape while armed, D.C.Code §§ 22-2801, -3202 (1981) and armed robbery, id. §§ 22-2901, -3202, and sentenced to concurrent terms of 10 to 30 years. Thereafter he noted this appeal, in which he contends that the trial court erred in: 1) permitting the government to impeach a defense witness by eliciting certain evidence of bias; 2) admitting into evidence a confession that related to an uncharged offense, and 3) admitting into evidence a confession that was involuntary. While we reject appellant’s first and second arguments, we remand the record to the trial court for more explicit findings relative to the admissibility of the confession as well as any appropriate further proceedings.

I

At approximately 10:30 p.m. on June 16, 1978, complainant was grabbed from behind as she walked along Hannah Place, Southeast, toward Benning Road. Her attacker pressed a sharp object against her neck and forced her into nearby woods, where he raped her. Due to poor lighting complainant could not see her attacker’s face. She was, however, able to see that he was a dark-skinned black who was wearing a white shirt with black designs. In addition, she was able to form an impression of his height as compared to her own. After the rapist had left, she struggled from the woods to see a man wearing a white shirt with black designs who was standing near a parked blue Volkswagen. Upon becoming aware of complainant’s presence, the man dragged her back into the woods, where he bound and gagged her.

Shortly thereafter, at approximately 11:00 p.m., complainant managed to attract the attention of two men, who summoned the police. The men discovered the complainant while investigating a loud collision that had just taken place between the same blue Volkswagen and a parked van that was owned by one of the men. At about this time, another witness saw appellant *1248 emerging from the same woods into a different street.

When the police arrived, they found that the Volkswagen, at this point unoccupied, contained articles belonging to complainant. Police traced ownership of the car to Sharon Quick, who lived with appellant. The police ascertained that appellant had reported the car as stolen after the rape, at approximately 11:30 p.m. A police officer was dispatched to appellant’s apartment, where he told appellant that the car he had reported stolen had figured in a rape, and advised appellant of his Miranda rights. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Appellant changed his clothes and voluntarily accompanied police to the scene of the rape, where a showup was conducted.

During the showup appellant was told to stand in front of a parked police car in which complainant was seated. Detective Esther Dimery was inside the car with complainant during the identification procedure; Detectives Steven Matthews and Lorren Leadmon stood immediately outside the car. Through the car’s open window Detective Matthews explained the procedure to complainant. Complainant initially indicated that appellant was not her attacker because his clothes were different. Detective Matthews then instructed her to disregard clothing, which could have been changed, and to focus on build. Complainant then indicated that she was not sure. Complainant testified at trial that she then said that “from his build and everything” she was sure appellant was the rapist.

Following the showup appellant explained his whereabouts earlier in the evening to Detectives Leadmon and Mendez. He voluntarily produced for them the clothing he claimed to have been wearing when the Volkswagen had been stolen from the parking lot of a 7-Eleven store between 10:30 and 10:45 p.m. The next day, the keys to the Volkswagen were found at the scene of the rape, as was a hat of the type appellant’s girlfriend said appellant was wearing when he left their dwelling early on the night of the rape.

The day after the rape appellant, who had not been charged, voluntarily came to the police station. After waiving his Miranda rights he gave an exculpatory statement and was allowed to leave.

On June 23, 1978, Detectives Leadmon and Mendez arrested appellant at his home and once again advised him of his Miranda rights. After being taken into custody appellant made two statements to the police. The first was exculpatory. In the later statement he confessed to committing a rape at about the same time and in the same area as the rape of complainant, but described a victim other than complainant and indicated a different location as the site of his initial contact with the victim.

II

Appellant’s first contention is that the trial court erred in allowing the government to impeach Detective Esther Dimery, who testified for the defense, by eliciting evidence that tended to show bias. Dimery, who had been with the complaining witness during the June 16 showup, testified at trial that the complaining witness had stated throughout the showup that appellant was not her attacker. In this respect Dimery’s testimony differed from that of Detective Matthews, who also had been present during the showup, and who had testified that after being instructed to disregard appellant’s clothing, complainant said she was unsure, and complainant's testimony that she was able to state that appellant had the same build as her attacker.

On cross-examination the government attempted to show Dimery’s bias by inquiring into an internal police investigation that was initiated after Dimery testified at the preliminary hearing in a manner consistent with her testimony at trial (i.e. that the complaining witness had affirmatively maintained that appellant was not the rapist) but inconsistent with the affidavit Dimery had prepared in support of the arrest warrant, which stated that although the *1249 complaining witness could not identify appellant, she said he fit the rapist’s general description. During cross-examination Dimery acknowledged that as a result of her handling of the investigation she had been criticized by superiors, who attempted to transfer her from the Sex Squad.

It was the government’s theory, therefore, that the criticism which Dimery had received in connection with her performance on this case had angered her, thereby rendering her biased against the government’s position. Appellant, by contrast, maintains that the government’s line of questioning was not probative of the issue of whether Dimery was biased, and hence was irrelevant. In this connection appellant notes that since Dimery’s testimony at trial was consistent with her preliminary hearing testimony, the intervening internal police investigation obviously had not led her to change her testimony, and thus her trial testimony cannot be viewed as the product of bias. On the record presented here we cannot agree.

If the criticism of Detective Dimery’s performance had occurred only after the preliminary hearing we might find appellant’s argument more persuasive.

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Bluebook (online)
466 A.2d 1245, 1983 D.C. App. LEXIS 497, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/staton-v-united-states-dc-1983.