State of WV v. Richards
Annotate this Case
September 1995 Term
___________
No. 22724
___________
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA,
Plaintiff Below, Appellee,
v.
MICHAEL ROSS RICHARDS,
Defendant Below, Appellant
_______________________________________________________
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Ritchie County
Honorable Joseph Troisi, Judge
Criminal Action No. 93-F-18
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; AND
REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS
_______________________________________________________
Submitted: September 27, 1995
Filed: December 7, 1995
Scott E. Johnson
Assistant Attorney General
Charleston, West Virginia
Attorney for the Appellee
Elizabeth A. Pyles
Pyles & Auvil
Parkersburg, West Virginia
Attorney for the Appellant
The Opinion of the Court was delivered PER CURIAM.
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT
1. "The plain error doctrine contained in Rule 30 and Rule 52(b) of the West
Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure is identical. It enables this Court to take notice of
error, including instructional error occurring during the proceedings, even though such error
was not brought to the attention of the trial court. However, the doctrine is to be used
sparingly and only in those circumstances where substantial rights are affected, or the truth-
finding process is substantially impaired, or a miscarriage of justice would otherwise result."
Syllabus point 4, State v. England, 180 W.Va. 342, 376 S.E.2d 548 (1988).
2. "To trigger application of the 'plain error' doctrine, there must be (1) an
error; (2) that is plain; (3) that affects substantial rights; and (4) seriously affects the fairness,
integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings." Syllabus point 7, State v. Miller,
194 W.Va. 3, 459 S.E.2d 114 (1995).
3. "A jury verdict may not ordinarily be impeached based on matters that
occur during the jury's deliberative process which matters relate to the manner or means the
jury uses to arrive at its verdict." Syllabus point 1, State v. Scotchel, 168 W.Va. 545, 285 S.E.2d 384 (1981).
4. "Courts recognize that a jury verdict may be impeached for matters of
misconduct extrinsic to the jury's deliberative process." Syllabus point 2, State v. Scotchel,
168 W.Va. 545, 285 S.E.2d 384 (1981).
Per Curiam:
The defendant in this proceeding, Michael Ross Richards, was convicted of
second degree murder by a jury in Ritchie County, West Virginia, and was sentenced to from
five to eighteen years in the State penitentiary. On appeal, he claims that the trial court
improperly instructed the jury on several aspects of the case and that the court erred in
refusing to allow him to be heard when it appeared that a member of the jury had engaged
in juror misconduct. He also claims that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. After
reviewing the issues presented and the record filed, this Court concludes that the defendant
should have been afforded a hearing on the alleged juror misconduct, and the Court reverses
and remands on that point. The Court also believes that the other assignments of error are
without merit, and the Court affirms the circuit court's rulings on those points.
The defendant, Michael Ross Richards, was indicted for the murder of David
Lawrence after he indisputably shot and killed Mr. Lawrence outside the Richards' home
sometime after 4:00 a.m. on August 22, 1993. In the defendant's subsequent trial, the
defense took the position that the shooting was accidental. The State argued that it was done
with malice.
The evidence adduced shows that on the evening of April 21, 1993, the
defendant, who was entertaining David Varner, a friend from out of town, began a round of "bar hopping" with Mr. Varner in Ritchie County. At the time the defendant had a pistol in
his possession, since he and Mr. Varner had earlier entertained themselves by engaging in
target practice.
Sometime around 3:30 a.m. on August 22, 1993, the defendant and Mr. Varner
stopped at an establishment called the "Gas 'N Goods". There they initially encountered
Brian Lowther, an acquaintance. The defendant spoke to Mr. Lowther and, according to Mr.
Lowther, began discussing "just odds and ends and what we had been doing". The
defendant also showed Mr. Lowther the gun which he had in his possession. As they were
talking, another friend, Andy Cline, who was present with the victim, David Lawrence,
approached. At this time, according to Mr. Cline, the defendant and Mr. Lowther were
"discussing something, running around" and "Brian said . . . something about going down
to the dam and shooting the gun". In describing the defendant's mood, Mr. Cline said
"[s]eemed like he was -- he wasn't mad or nothing. He looked, like a normal mood." Shortly
thereafter, the parties left the Gas 'N Goods, and the defendant dropped Mr. Varner off at the
place where he was staying. The defendant returned to his own home.
Shortly after the defendant arrived at his home, the victim and Andy Cline
drove up. Mr. Cline got out of the car and began talking with the defendant. Mr. Cline
testified "I went up and asked him what he was into and I think maybe he was talking about
what he done earlier that day. I can't remember what all was said, just normal conversation." At that time the defendant, who apparently was about to go into his home, had the pistol, in
its holster, in his hands. Then, according to Cline, "[h]e said he was going to scare Davey
[Lawrence, the victim] and pulled it [the pistol] out of the holster." He then walked over to
the car where Lawrence was still sitting and, according to Mr. Cline, opened the door and
said to Lawrence, "You're going to take me where I want to go, aren't you, Davey." At that
point, the pistol went off.
The defendant, in a statement which he gave after the shooting, indicated that
he had seen David Lawrence a couple of times before, but that he had never really associated
with him. He did not indicate that he intended to frighten David Lawrence, but he stated that
after talking with Cline "I grabbed my gun and I sat down in the front seat of the [Lawrence]
car, the gun went off."
On the basis of this evidence, the jury found the defendant guilty of second
degree murder.
In the present appeal, the defendant's first assertion is that the trial court
erroneously instructed the jury at three points.
First, he says that the court erroneously stated that:
In a homicide trial malice and intent may be inferred by the jury
from the defendant's use of a deadly weapon, if the evidence
does not show that the defendant had an excuse, justification or
provocation for his conduct. It is the evidence of excuse,
justification or provocation, which, if believed by the jury, will
reduce the homicide to something less than murder.
He argues that this instruction, in effect, relieved the State of the burden of proving intent
and malice unless he showed excuse, justification, or provocation and that the trial court, by
giving this instruction, improperly shifted the burden of proof to him.
The defendant also complains that the court improperly instructed the jury that:
. . . [I]f at the time of the shooting of David Lawrence, the jury
determines that the defendant, Michael Ross Richards, had no
specific intent to kill David Lawrence, but rather only wanted to
frighten him, not intending to kill him, then you may not find
Michael Ross Richards guilty of first degree murder.
He argues that by giving this instruction the court, in effect, directed a verdict on the fact that
David Lawrence was shot and that he, the defendant, was the individual who shot Lawrence.
Lastly, the defendant claims that the court erred by saying:
The Court instructs the jury that if the jury believes from
the evidence herein that Michael Ross Richards embarked on an
unlawful course of conduct designed and intended by him to
frighten David Lawrence, but not to kill him, and that during the
course of that conduct, without malice on the part of the said
defendant, the said David Lawrence was killed, then your
verdict shall be of no higher grade than voluntary manslaughter.
The Court notes that although the defendant complains about the fact that these
instructions were given, his attorney indicated that he did not when pointedly asked by the
court during trial if he had any problems with the instructions.
As a general rule, this Court has refused to consider instructional error on
appeal unless an objection was made at trial. As stated in syllabus point 6 of State v. Davis,
153 W.Va. 742, 172 S.E.2d 569 (1970):
As a general rule, no party may assign as error the giving
of an instruction unless he objects thereto before the arguments
to the jury are begun, stating distinctly as to the instruction the
matter to which he objects and the grounds of his objections;
and ordinarily only grounds thus assigned in the trial court will
be considered on appeal of the case to this Court.
In spite of this, the Court has recognized that grave instructional error may be
considered even in the absence of an objection if the giving of the instruction constitutes
plain error and if the substantial rights of the defendant are affected, or the truth finding
process is substantially impaired, or a miscarriage of justice would otherwise result. See
State v. England, 180 W.Va. 342, 376 S.E.2d 548 (1988); State v. Fisher, 179 W.Va. 516,
370 S.E.2d 480 (1988); and State v. Schofield, 175 W.Va. 99, 331 S.E.2d 829 (1985). The
rule has been summarized in syllabus point 4 of State v. England, supra, as follows:
The plain error doctrine contained in Rule 30 and Rule
52(b) of the West Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure is
identical. It enables this Court to take notice of error, including
instructional error occurring during the proceedings, even though such error was not brought to the attention of the trial
court. However, the doctrine is to be used sparingly and only in
those circumstances where substantial rights are affected, or the
truth-finding process is substantially impaired, or a miscarriage
of justice would otherwise result.
More recently, in syllabus point 7 of State v. Miller, 194 W.Va. 3, 459 S.E.2d 114 (1995),
the Court indicated that:
To trigger the application of the "plain error" doctrine,
there must be (1) an error; (2) that is plain; (3) that affects
substantial rights; and (4) seriously affects the fairness,
integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceeding.
The Court notes that in the case presently under review, the trial court, in
addition to giving the instructions of which the defendant complains, explicitly instructed the
jury that:
[A] defendant is never to be convicted on conjecture or
suspicion, no matter how grave or strong. The burden always
is upon the State of West Virginia to prove guilt, that is, to
prove each material allegation in the indictment, and each
element of the crime charged, beyond a reasonable doubt. The
burden never shifts to a Defendant . . . .
The trial court also instructed the jury on each of the verdicts possible under the indictment
and stated with specificity what burden the State was required to meet before such a verdict
could be returned. For instance, with regard to first degree murder the court stated:
The state of West Virginia must overcome the presumption that
he [the defendant] is innocent and prove to the satisfaction of
the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that: One, the defendant,
Michael Ross Richards; Two, in Ritchie County, West Virginia;
Three, on or about the 22nd day of August, 1993; Four, did kill David Lawrence; Five, unlawfully; Six, willfully; Seven,
intentionally; Eight, maliciously; Nine, deliberately; Ten, and
premeditatedly.
The trial court also said:
If the jury and each member of the jury has a reasonable
doubt of the truth of the charge as to any one or more of the
elements of murder in the first degree, you shall not find
Michael Ross richards [sic] guilty of murder in the first degree.
Similarly, the trial court specified what the State had to prove before the
defendant could be convicted of second degree murder:
Before the defendant, Michael Ross Richards, can be
convicted of murder in the second degree, the state of West
Virginia must overcome the presumption that he is innocent and
prove to the satisfaction of the jury beyond a reasonable doubt
that: One, the defendant Michael Ross Richards; Two, in
Ritchie County, West Virginia; Three, on or about the 22 day of
August, 1993; Four, unlawfully and; Five, maliciously, but
without deliberation or premeditation; Six, killed David
Lawrence.
The court also told the jury:
If the jury and each member of the jury has a reasonable
doubt of the truth of the charge as to any one or more of the
elements of murder in the second degree, you shall not find
Michael Ross Richards guilty of murder in the second degree.
After reviewing the overall charge in this case, the Court believes that although
the instructions about which the defendant complains, when taken out of the overall context of the charge, do appear to relieve the State of parts of its burden of proof, the trial court
elsewhere clearly and correctly stated the State's burden of proof and identified each element
that the State had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt before the jury could find the
defendant guilty.
This Court believes that the trial court's overall charge properly identified the
State's burden and that any isolated error in the charge was not so substantially great as to
affect seriously the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceeding and that
it consequently was not plain error under the rule set forth in State v. Miller, supra. In a
situation such as this, the appropriate inquiry is whether an instructional error or apparent
instructional error was remedied by other instructions given in the case. See State v.
England, supra; State v. Pannell, 175 W.Va. 35, 330 S.E.2d 844 (1985); State v. Vance, 168
W.Va. 666, 285 S.E.2d 437 (1981). Even though the first language complained of by the
defendant suggested that the defendant had to show excuse, justification, or provocation to
eliminate the inference of malice and intent, the court elsewhere very specifically stated that
the State had the burden of showing malice and intent beyond a reasonable doubt. Similarly,
while the trial court elsewhere seemingly stated that the defendant shot the victim, the court
elsewhere stated that the State had to prove that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.
Additionally, with regard to the question of whether the defendant shot the victim, all the
evidence adduced, including the defendant's own statement, showed that the defendant had,
in fact, shot the victim. In view of this, even if the trial court had not given the additional instruction on the State's burden of proof, this Court could not consider the court's statement
that the defendant shot the victim plain error.
The defendant's second principal assignment of error is that the trial court erred
in refusing to allow him to be heard on the issue of juror misconduct.
In a presentencing motion and during the sentencing hearing, counsel for the
defendant alleged that a juror had improperly conducted independent research by seeking a
definition of "malice" in a dictionary during jury deliberations.
In State v. Scotchel, 168 W.Va. 545, 285 S.E.2d 384 (1981), this Court
indicated that ordinarily a jury's verdict may not be impeached based upon matters that occur
during the jury's deliberative process if the matters relate to the manner or means that the jury
uses to arrive at its verdict. The Court stated in syllabus point 1:
A jury verdict may not ordinarily be impeached based on
matters that occur during the jury's deliberative process which
matters relate to the manner or means the jury uses to arrive at
its verdict.
On the other hand, in syllabus point 2 of the same case, the Court stated:
Courts recognize that a jury verdict may be impeached
for matters of misconduct extrinsic to the jury's deliberative
process.
In distinguishing between the matters which may serve as a basis for
impeachment of a jury's verdict from those which may not, 2 F. Cleckley Handbook on West
Virginia Criminal Procedure (1993), at page II-273, states:
A distinction exists between matters which inhere in the verdict
and those which do not. Although a juror cannot testify to
matters contained in his personal consciousness (motive) which
are not accessible to other testimony, he is competent to be
heard as to the existence of overt acts or improper influences
(irregularity). Courts recognize that a jury verdict may be
impeached for matters of misconduct extrinsic to the jury's
deliberative process. State v. Scotchel, supra. Jurors are
competent to testify to the facts and circumstances surrounding
such misconduct, but they may not testify to what motivated or
actuated the misconduct. Haight v. Goin, 346 S.E.2d 353
(W.Va. 1986). In State v. Daniels, 182 W.Va. 643, 391 S.E.2d 90 (1990) and in State v. Strauss, 415 S.E.2d 888 (W.Va. 1992),
the court permitted the use of a juror's testimony in an attempt
to impeach the jury's verdict. In both of these situations,
however, extraneous prejudicial information was received.
In a number of circumstances, courts have considered a juror's reference to
matter other than that which may properly be taken into the jury room to be highly irregular.
For instance, in Mattox v. United States, 146 U.S. 140, 13 S. Ct. 50, 36 L. Ed. 917 (1892), the
court held that it was prejudicial for a juror to refer to a newspaper article in the jury room.
Likewise, in State v. Rice, 83 W.Va. 409, 98 S.E. 432 (1919), the Court considered it
improper for a juror to consider a statement by a witness inconsistent with the witness'
testimony at a later trial. Similarly, in In re Beverly Hills Fire Litigation, 695 F.2d 207 (6th Cir. 1982), the court found that it was improper for a jury to consider the results of an
extrajudicial experiment conducted by a fellow juror.
In United State v. Duncan, 598 F.2d 839 (4th Cir. 1979), the United States
Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit addressed the question of whether a juror's reference to
a dictionary for the definitions of "motive" and "intent" constituted prejudicial error. The
court concluded that the reference to a dictionary was misconduct, although it was not
prejudicial per se. In reaching that conclusion, the court referred to Rodrigues y Paz v.
United States, 473 F.2d 662 (5th Cir. 1973); United States v. Siragusa, 450 F.2d 592 (2nd
Cir. 1971); Faith v. Neely, 41 F.R.D. 361 (N.D. W.Va. 1966); and Frazier v. Beard, 201 F. Supp. 395 (W.D. Va. 1962).
In the Duncan case, there was evidence that as soon as a member of the jury
mentioned the reference to the dictionary, the foreman of the jury immediately squelched all
discussion of the point. The court concluded that the squelching of the discussion of the
dictionary definition, as well as the fact that the problems relating to it were not promptly
raised before the trial court, justified the conclusion that, in addition to not being prejudicial
per se, the incident was not prejudicial in actione.
Consistent with the holding in the Duncan case, we believe that reference to
a dictionary by a juror during deliberations or during the trial of a case is misconduct. Further, the cases cited, including State v. Scotchel, supra, especially, suggest that it might
be the type of conduct by which a jury's verdict might be impeached and which might be
prejudicial.
In the present case, unlike in the case of United States v. Duncan, supra, it is
not clear whether the juror in question, or the jury as a whole, relied on the dictionary
definition of malice in determining the defendant's guilt. It is not even clear whether the
inquiring juror communicated that dictionary definition to the other members of the jury in
any way. Under these circumstances, and given the importance of affording the defendant
a fair trial, and given especially the fact that the juror referred to the definition of malice,
about which there was some small confusion in court's charge, this Court believes that it was
incumbent upon the trial court in the present case to conduct a hearing to determine what
effect, if any, the juror's misconduct by way of referring to the dictionary, had upon the jury's
verdict in this case.
Having reached this conclusion and having determined that the trial court did
not conduct the appropriate hearing, we believe that this case must be remanded with
directions that the circuit court conduct an appropriate hearing on the alleged juror
misconduct. The trial court must set aside the jury's verdict if it appears that such
misconduct was present and if it further appears that the misconduct prejudiced the jury's
verdict.
In addition to the foregoing issues, the defendant also claims that he did not
receive effective assistance of counsel.
This Court notes that it has repeatedly held that an ineffective assistance claim
cannot be asserted on appeal if the record provided on appeal proves to be so deficient as to
preclude the Court from reaching reasoned determination on the merits of the ineffective
assistance of counsel claim. As stated in State v. Miller, supra at ___, 459 S.E.2d at 126:
In this vein, we have held with a regularity bordering on
monotonous that if the record provided to us on direct appeal
proves to be so deficient as to preclude us from reaching a
reasoned determination on the merits of the ineffective
assistance claim, it is the defendant who must bear the brunt of
an insufficient record on appeal. See State v. Kilmer, 190
W.Va. 617, 631, 439 S.E.2d 881, 895 (1993); State v. Whitt,
184 W.Va. 340, 346, 400 S.E.2d 584, 590 (1990); State v.
Wickline, 184 W.Va. 12, 17-20, 399 S.E.2d 42, 47-50 (1990);
State v. Tesack, 181 W.Va. 422, 428, 383 S.E.2d 54, 60 (1989);
State v. Chamberlain, 178 W.Va. 420, 427, 359 S.E.2d 858, 865
(1987). See also State v. England, 178 W.Va. 648, 363 S.E.2d 725 (1987). The very nature of an ineffective assistance of
counsel claim demonstrates the inappropriateness of review on
direct appeal. To the extent that a defendant relies on strategic
and judgment calls of his or her trial counsel to prove an
ineffective assistance claim, the defendant is at a decided
disadvantage. Lacking an adequate record, an appellate court
simply is unable to determine the egregiousness of many of the
claimed deficiencies. Such a situation exists here.
In the present case, the majority of the points that the defendant asserts which
rise to the level of ineffective assistance of counsel would require information outside the record for resolution. For instance, the defendant claims that defense counsel should have
moved for a change of venue because forty-five percent of the jury panel was dismissed. The
key issue in a venue determination is whether the defendant did have an impartial jury trial,
not whether a number veniremen were dismissed. State v. Settee, 161 W.Va. 384, 242 S.E.2d 464 (1978). In the present case, the record as developed simply fails to show that the
jury was not impartial. The defendant also claims that his counsel was ineffective in failing
to call him as a witness. Rather clearly, the decision to call a defendant to the stand is often
a tactical decision. See, e.g., United States v. Teage, 953 F.2d 1525 (11th Cir. 1992).
Without information extrinsic to the present record, the Court cannot determine whether
counsel's decision not to call the defendant was a tactical one or a matter rising to the level
of ineffective assistance. The Court also notes that the defendant claims that his counsel was
ineffective in that he did not move for dismissal of the indictment based on the evidence
available to the grand jury. The defendant claims that the indictment was based on the
demonstrably false testimony of a police officer. However, the Court cannot determine that
the evidence was demonstrably false from the record presently before it. All these
circumstances indicate that under the rule in State v. Miller, supra, treatment of the
defendant's ineffective assistance claim would be inappropriate in this appeal.
Lastly, it appears that the defendant is claiming that his attorney failed to
render effective assistance of counsel when he failed to object to certain remarks made by
the prosecutor during closing argument. There might have been tactical reasons for counsel not objecting. Again, we cannot conclude from the record presented that such was or was
not the case or that counsel's assistance was ineffective.
For the reasons stated, this case is remanded to the Circuit Court of Ritchie
County for a hearing on the question of whether one of the petit jurors actually referred to
a dictionary to ascertain the definition of malice during the trial of this case. If the court
finds that the facts do support such a finding, the court is directed to determine whether that
reference in any way affected the jury's verdict or prejudiced the defendant's trial.
In the event the court finds that the juror did refer to the dictionary for the
definition and that the jury's verdict was affected or the defendant's trial was prejudiced by
the juror's reference, the trial court is directed to set aside the defendant's conviction and to
award him a new trial. In the event the trial court determines that no reference to a
dictionary occurred or that the reference did not affect the jury's verdict or prejudice the
defendant's trial, the defendant's conviction shall stand, and the trial court should make
appropriate disposition of the defendant in accordance with the conviction.
Affirmed in part;
reversed in part; and
remanded with directions.
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