Woodlock v. State

639 A.2d 188, 99 Md. App. 728, 1994 Md. App. LEXIS 54
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedApril 5, 1994
DocketNos. 1162, 1163
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 639 A.2d 188 (Woodlock v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Woodlock v. State, 639 A.2d 188, 99 Md. App. 728, 1994 Md. App. LEXIS 54 (Md. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

JAMES S. GETTY, Judge, Specially Assigned.

On May 29, 1993, Mark John Woodlock and Aaron Tyrone McCoy, the appellants in this case, were convicted after a three-day jury trial in the Circuit Court for Harford County of robbery, conspiracy, theft, and battery. Woodlock received a ten year sentence for robbery and a concurrent ten year sentence for conspiracy. McCoy’s sentence was for six years on each count, to be served concurrently.

This appeal ought to be about the robbery that occurred at 5:00 p.m. on October 8, 1992, at the P.M. Creations Jewelry Store in Harford County, when two males stole two diamond bracelets after spraying the store owner with mace. The appeal, however, is not about the robbery; appellants never mention it, perhaps because they were apprehended within two hours of the robbery, following a high-speed chase on Route 1-95, with the diamond bracelets in their possession.

[732]*732In view of the overwhelming evidence of guilt, appellants seek to distance themselves from the robbery by arguing that a mistrial should have been granted on the second day of trial when the trial judge ordered that appellants be bound and gagged. The principal issue on appeal, therefore, involves the unsuccessful efforts by appellants to sabotage the trial through disruptive behavior that included threats toward the trial judge, offensive language, demands that defense counsel be replaced, and a refusal to remain in the courtroom. Without justification, appellants sought to provoke the court into taking action that might warrant appellate reversal. They failed.

The following issues have been raised:

I. The trial court erred in denying appellants’ motion for mistrial.
II. The trial court erred in admitting prejudicial evidence.
III. The trial court erred in denying appellants’ motion for mistrial for the State witnesses’ repeated references to uncharged criminal conduct.
IV. The trial court erred in admitting identification evidence of appellant Woodlock by Paul and Jan Metzner.
V. The trial court erred by denying appellant’s motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. •
VI. The trial court erred in permitting identification testimony based upon viewings in violation of the sequestration order.
VII. The trial court improperly considered at sentencing appellant Woodlock’s non-residency in Harford County and uncharged criminal conduct.

Issue I

Appellants demanded a mistrial on the second day of trial after they provoked the following course of events:

Woodlock interrupted the roll call of the jury by asking the court to dismiss his counsel. The court excused the jury and engaged in a lengthy discussion with both appellants about [733]*733proceeding without representation. Neither appellant could recite any valid reason for dismissing counsel, and, after repeated interruptions, the court decided to proceed with the trial and instructed both appellants to be quiet.

The court’s efforts to proceed -with the trial were greeted with the following response by Woodlock as the jurors were returning to their seats:

“F— that man. Do whatever. Do whatever man. F— that. You all can do whatever with me man.”

The court granted a recess when appellants asked to leave the courtroom.

Out of the presence of the jury, appellants were advised by the court that unless they behaved, they would be bound and gagged. This warning prompted the following challenge: Woodlock, who was 6'6" tall, said someone would have to “beat [him] down,” and he “was going to say an outburst” (as the jury returned), and “I want to see somebody to try and bind and gag me.” Both appellants demanded again that they be removed from the courtroom.

The court directed that the jury be removed again, but the outbursts continued and the deputies were instructed to bind and gag the appellants. As appellants were being removed from the courtroom, Woodlock continued his oppugnant tirade directed to the court, stating:

“You’re a damned fool. The jury heard all of this. You’re a nut. You’re a cracker ass mother-f-..... Crazy ass mother-f-.....”

When appellants and the jury were removed again from the courtroom, the court sent defense counsel to the lockup seeking a firm answer on representation. Both appellants were returned to the courtroom, out of the presence of the jury, but neither man would respond until the court said, “lacking a response, counsel [will] remain.” Appellants then stood as if to leave the courtroom and they were again warned that when court resumed in the afternoon, any outbursts within the presence of the jury would result in an order to bind and gag them, or to conduct the trial without them.

[734]*734The afternoon session was a continuation of what had already occurred. As the jury was returning, both appellants resumed their verbal assault upon the court which prompted an order that they be bound and gagged and the jury was excused. Both appellants demanded that a mistrial be granted and they insisted that they could not be restrained. At some point, a deputy used a stun gun to restrain Woodlock.

Appellants’ counsel requested either a mistrial based upon the use of the stun gun, which the jury allegedly witnessed, or a curative instruction. The court denied the oral motion for a mistrial citing the “deliberate sabotage” efforts of appellants seeking to destroy an orderly resolution of the criminal charges. The court advised the jury that it could not consider the disruptive behavior of appellants in deciding guilt or innocence.

The courts uniformly rely upon an abuse of discretion standard for reviewing the action of trial judges in the matter of restraint. Hunt v. State, 321 Md. 387, 583 A.2d 218 (1990); Bruce v. State, 318 Md. 706, 569 A.2d 1254 (1990). A reviewing court does not engage in speculating whether less oppressive security measures were available to the trial court, provided that the measures employed were reasonable. This is so because we were not present and thus we cannot gauge the tension that existed in the courtroom, the degree of hostility exhibited by the defendants, their ability to carry out the threats they made, or the immediacy of the danger to all persons present in the courtroom. What we measure, therefore, is whether the methods applied were reasonable and whether they posed an unacceptable risk of prejudice to the defendant. Bruce, supra, at 408.

Obviously, placing restraints such as gags, handcuffs, or leg irons on a defendant at the guilt/innocence stage of a trial is inherently prejudicial and must be a response to a compelling State interest. In Hunt, supra, the Court of Appeals recognized three essential State interests that may justify physical restraints of defendants. They are:

1. Preventing the defendant’s escape,
[735]*7352. Protecting those in the courtroom, and
3. Maintaining order in the courtroom.

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Bluebook (online)
639 A.2d 188, 99 Md. App. 728, 1994 Md. App. LEXIS 54, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodlock-v-state-mdctspecapp-1994.