Tucker v. State

965 A.2d 900, 407 Md. 368, 2009 Md. LEXIS 17
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedFebruary 20, 2009
Docket35 September Term, 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 965 A.2d 900 (Tucker v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tucker v. State, 965 A.2d 900, 407 Md. 368, 2009 Md. LEXIS 17 (Md. 2009).

Opinions

[370]*370BATTAGLIA, Judge.

Petitioner, Dion G. Tucker, invites us to explore the application of our decision in Smith v. State, 388 Md. 468, 880 A.2d 288 (2005), to a sentence included in a cross-racial identification jury instruction. In doing so, we do not address whether such an instruction was appropriate in the case at bar, but whether, once given, the instruction was a correct statement of the law. We granted certiorari, Tucker v. State, 405 Md. 290, 950 A.2d 828 (2008), with respect to the following question:

Did the trial court err in granting the State’s jury instruction regarding cross-racial identification over Mr. Tucker’s objection, when the State’s instruction misquoted applicable law and directed the jurors to believe that cross-racial identification was not a factor in eyewitness testimony?

We shall hold that the trial judge erred because the instruction, as formulated, was not a correct statement of the law.

I. Introduction

A. Facts

The State’s evidence tended to show the following facts:

On the morning of September 30, 2005, Hilary Auth was in her bathroom when she heard a loud banging noise. She peered out the window, and saw a man in a hooded, “light blue sweatshirt, blue/gray sweatshirt ... [with] a design on it,” dark jeans and heavy boots, attempting to break into her home; she identified the man as black when he looked up for a brief second and she saw part of his eye and face. After attempting to call 911 but getting no dial tone, Auth concealed herself in her bedroom, and peeking through the bedroom door, noticed a different African-American man in a red-hooded sweatshirt, heavy boots, and jeans, with slightly less than shoulder-length braided hair, of slight build, relatively thin and without “broad shoulder[s],” coming up the stairs.

Auth then moved from her bedroom to her livingroom, and once there, called 911 from a cordless phone. While waiting [371]*371for the 911 operator, Auth looked from the livingroom to the top of the stairs and saw the red-hooded individual looking back at her, as well as the same blue/gray-hooded individual that she had seen from her bathroom window, standing behind. Auth stated that the red-hooded individual declared “I’m out,” had a dispute with the blue/gray-hooded burglar, and ran out the front door. Auth gave no facial description of the blue/gray-hooded burglar; although she later identified the burglar as Tucker.

Police officers arrived soon thereafter and found neither burglar in the house. Auth met with Detective Tracy Williams, provided a description of the burglars, and reported that her cell phone, keys and purse had been stolen, as well as credit cards, including a Target Visa card, which was immediately cancelled. Detective Williams had an opportunity to speak with a credit card representative from Target stores, who told him that Auth’s card had been used less than an hour after the burglary at a Target in Bowie, Maryland, and that the card was used again at a Target in Forestville, Maryland; both attempts to use the card were fruitless.

Detective Williams obtained a videotape of the Bowie Target and a description from a Target loss prevention officer of a 2005 Chevrolet Impala. On the videotape, a man and three women were shown shopping and then attempting to buy electronics, using the Target Visa. The man specifically was shown pushing a shopping cart, choosing items to purchase, and proceeding to checkout with the three women who accompanied him, one of whom later turned out to be Jasmine Joyner, who actually had the card in her hand. After the card was denied because Joyner’s identification did not match the name on the Target card, the four left in the 2005 Chevrolet Impala.

On October 4, four days after the burglary, Auth viewed the Target videotape and almost immediately identified two of the individuals in the Target stores as those that she had seen in her home. Ten days later, Detective Williams submitted the [372]*372two pictures identified by Auth to a local newspaper, in an attempt to solicit pertinent information.

Within five days of the bulletin, on October 19, Tucker reported to the Anne Arundel County Police Department that his 2005 Chevrolet Impala had been stolen sometime between October 14 and October 19. Shortly thereafter, Detective Williams discovered Tucker’s stolen auto report, which precipitated his securing a picture of Tucker, who the Detective then identified as the man on the Target videotape. Investigating further, Detective Williams spoke to Investigator William Kissler, who informed him that a car resembling the Chevrolet Impala had been found, but that because it had been completely burned, it was not possible to identify the car or its owner.

Detective Williams brought Tucker in for questioning on October 27, and after having been advised of his Miranda rights, Tucker spoke to police. He was shown four still photos taken from the Target videotape and was able to identify the three women, as Cheryl, Monique and Jasmine, but declared that the man in the fourth photo was his “twin brother, Mongo.” After being shown a picture of his older brother Mongo, Tucker admitted it was he in the picture. Tucker further asserted that Jasmine, Monique and Cheryl had come to his home during the morning of September 30, sometime after 10:30 a.m., and asked him to drive them to Target in his Chevrolet Impala. Tucker stated that he initially had believed that they were just going shopping, until Joyner was denied the use of the Target card because her identification did not match the name on the card. Tucker also admitted that the group attempted to make other electronics purchases at the Forestville Target, but again, the card proffered by Joyner was denied; although at a 7-Eleven store, they successfully used the card to purchase gas.

In a signed statement, Tucker denied being involved in the burglary and declared that Jasmine, a black female about 21 years old with shoulder length braided hair, was involved in a burglary before she came to his house with Cheryl that [373]*373morning. When asked whether Jasmine had had any cuts on her hand that day, Tucker remembered that she had put a bandage on a cut on one of her fingers and that it had continued to bleed. Taylor also, when responding to a question about who had stolen his car, opined, “I think it was Jasmine. My mother told me that there was an article in the Capitol Newspaper that showed my picture and hers. The article was accusing us of committing the burglary. I called Jasmine and told her about it. I think she stole my car and set it on fire to destroy any evidence. I don’t have any proof, but I think Jasmine thought that she was seen in my car leaving Target that day.”

Tucker was arrested and charged with first, third and fourth degree burglary, theft, and stealing another’s credit card; although he subsequently was indicted only for first degree burglary,1 breaking and entering Auth’s home, and for theft over $500,2 more specifically, of a diamond band, a [374]*374camera, a nominal amount of currency, car keys and other personal property of the Auth’s.

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Bluebook (online)
965 A.2d 900, 407 Md. 368, 2009 Md. LEXIS 17, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tucker-v-state-md-2009.