Jackson v. State

KENNEY, Judge. PROCEEDINGS Appellant, Steven Blair Jackson, was charged with two counts of second degree rape, two counts of second degree assault, and other lesser included offenses. A suppression hearing was held on January 25, 1999, to suppress evidence seized during the execution of a search warrant. The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County denied this motion.

A motion for reconsideration was also denied. Appellant was convicted at a jury trial of two counts of second degree rape and two counts of second degree assault. He was sentenced to two twenty-year terms of imprisonment, to be served consecutively. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal, presenting the following questions, which we have reworded as follows: I. Did the trial court err in declining to suppress evidence seized during the execution of the search warrant?

II

Did the trial court err in prohibiting expert testimony concerning the effect of bleach on the victim’s vaginal area?

III

Did the trial court err in admitting evidence of prior bad acts and refusing to give the jury a precautionary instruction? ⁴⁷² FACTS In June 1998, the victim, a 19 year old college freshman, was leaving a local Baltimore bar when she met appellant riding a horse outside of the bar. She approached appellant, expressing an interest in horses. The two exchanged telephone numbers and discussed the possibility of horseback riding together sometime in the future. On June 24, 1998, the two spoke on the telephone about arranging a time to go horseback riding.

She met appellant at Marley Station Mall and followed him in her car to the National Fitness gym, which he operated. Inside the gym, she changed into riding clothes. She and appellant left the gym in his car and drove to appellant’s stables. They then saddled two horses and went riding on a wooded trail.

After approximately a twenty minute ride, it was getting dark and the two went into a small bar for a few drinks. She and appellant remained at the bar drinking until approximately 11:00 p.m. During this time, she consumed three beers, a lemon drop shooter, and tasted another shooter. She took a fourth beer with her when the two left the bar.

While at the bar, she left twice to go to the restroom, leaving appellant alone with the bartender. During their conversations at the bar, she informed appellant that she was studying criminal justice. He responded that “he had been arrested before.” The victim testified that the next thing she remembered after she left the bar was that she and appellant were back at the stables. She remembered that she was nude and “he was having sex with me.” She attempted to stand up, but stumbled and fell.

She then began to vomit. She recalled him picking her up and putting her in a car. As they were riding in appellant’s car, she tried to climb out the window, still nude, and he pulled her back in the car. She next remembered being back at the gym, waking up in a bed, and realizing that appellant again was having sex with her.

The bed was in a mirrored room that was part of the gym that she had not seen before. At some point during the ⁴⁷³ night, appellant stated, “have you figured out what I have been arrested for?” Appellant helped her to her car, and she drove to her home in Ellicott City. She arrived at her home around 6:00 a.m. Once at home, she felt “awful,” but showered and went to work.

While showering, she noticed several bruises on her body. The following day, June 25, she told her mother she thought she had been raped. Her mother took her to the Howard County Hospital, where the victim recounted her story to several Howard County police officers. While at the hospital, she saw Dr. Michael Perline.

Dr. Perline noted that she was tearful and frustrated, but did not observe any injuries on her. A rape examination was not conducted because the incident did not occur in Howard County, and it was the hospital’s policy to refer people to the eounty in which the incident occurred. On June 27, 1998, the victim went to the Anne Arundel County authorities to report her story. She testified that after returning home she felt better.

She stated that, “I was cleaning myself and ... cleaning down there, and I felt something hard.” She removed the object, which she determined to be a plastic cap. She gave the cap to the police. Detective Kathy Pleasant and Detective Katherine Goodwin, Anne Arundel County police officers assigned to the Sex Offense Unit, testified at the suppression hearing that the victim had informed them that she was raped by appellant in a back room at National Fitness. The police drove her to the Sun Valley Shopping Center, where she identified the National Fitness gym as the location where the last incident occurred.

On July 2, 1998, police confirmed that the address of National Fitness was 7963 Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard. They checked the county dispatch system, the phone book, and land records. There was no distinction on the land records of a separate address of 7959A Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard. They also consulted a police officer who had, six years earlier, worked out at the gym, and confirmed the ⁴⁷⁴ address.

They also spoke with an officer’s wife who formerly taught aerobics at the gym and were informed that the aerobics room was no longer used for aerobics, but was used for storage. Detective Pleasant testified that after discussions with the victim and the other individuals, she concluded that appellant might be living or sleeping at National Fitness. A warrant was issued to search the location of 7963 Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard and seize evidence including: bed sheets or bedding, sex toys, occupancy documents, and pill bottles. Detective Pleasant, along with other officers, went to National Fitness to execute the warrant.

They went directly to the front desk and asked to speak with appellant. While Detective Pleasant was speaking with appellant, the other officers were securing the premises. Detective Goodwin approached appellant, informing him that doors in the back of the gym were locked. Appellant stated that the area was storage and gave Detective Pleasant the keys to the doors.

The receptionist informed the officers that the doors in the back were locked and that “there was a bunch of stuff on the other side” and that “it would be easier to go around.” The officers then went out the front door and, using the keys, entered a door marked 7959A, which they were told was the storage area. Detective Pleasant had a photograph taken the day of the search that indicated the separate address, but testified that at the time of the search she did not notice a separate address. The room appeared to be an aerobics room with walled mirrors and “cushy” flooring, now used to store old exercise equipment, boxes, and promotional materials. Inside the room, they discovered what appeared to be appellant’s bedroom area.

From the area, they recovered an empty pill bottle, a bleach bottle, sex toys, photographs, and other documents, which were later entered as evidence against appellant. The theory of the prosecution’s case was that appellant drugged the victim’s drinks and raped her. Appellant, on the other hand, contended that the parties engaged in consensual sex. ⁴⁷⁵ Appellant testified at the suppression hearing concerning the aerobics room. He stated that interior doors no longer connected the gym to the aerobics/storage area.

Although the area had previously been part of the gym, fire codes required a firewall to be built between the two areas and the only access was through the front. He slept in the area, but the phone line was registered to the National Fitness 7963 address, and his mail was delivered to the National Fitness 7963 address. The trial court denied appellant’s motion to suppress evidence seized from this aerobics/storage area. The trial court stated: Now in this case, it is all the same, really, because — -just because it has another number up there, it is part of the same area.

He is sleeping there. He shows his MVA, the records, that he even lists his license at the number that was — that they used for the warrant. The keys, if they have the keys, they could go right into it. Under all the circumstances, the court is going to deny your motion to suppress.

DISCUSSION I. Suppression Hearing Appellant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. He argues that, although the warrant was valid, its execution was improper. He asserts that the bedroom area, because it had a designated street number, was a separate address, and therefore the police officers went outside the scope of the warrant in searching the separate locked area. He argues that, upon realizing the warrant was not broad enough, the police officers took it upon themselves “to extend the authorization [of the warrant] to a location next door.” We disagree.

In reviewing a denial of a motion to suppress, this Court reviews only the record of the suppression hearing, reviewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the State ⁴⁷⁶ as the prevailing party. Williams v. State, 127 Md.App. 208 , 732 A.2d 376 (1999). We accept the factual findings of the trial court, unless clearly erroneous, but make our own independent constitutional appraisal of legal conclusions. Ferris v. State, 355 Md. 356 , 735 A.2d 491 (1999).

In Ferguson and Crenshaw v. State, 236 Md. 148 , 202 A.2d 758 (1964), the Court of Appeals was confronted with a similar situation of a business with multiple buildings. The police had a warrant to search the premises known as Central Battery Service, located at 1301 E. Baltimore Street. Central Battery Service was a tire, battery, and repair shop located at the corner of Baltimore Street and South Central Avenue. The business consisted of several adjoining buildings, all owned by the same person and operated as part of Central Battery Service.

The formal address of Central Battery Service was 1301 E. Baltimore Street, although the rear buildings, consisting of the battery and repair shops, faced South Central Avenue and were numbered 3, 5 and 7 S. Central Avenue. All the buildings were joined, except for the repair and battery shop which was connected by a small alleyway due to fire regulations. The buildings were painted the same, and all carried the logo “Central Battery Service.” In executing the warrant for 1301 E. Baltimore Street, the officers went to the rear buildings where the repair and battery shops were located. They arrested Crenshaw and searched the surrounding premises.

As appellant argues here, Crenshaw argued that the search of the repair and battery shops was illegal, “since they have different addresses they must be treated as and considered to be separate and distinct locations.” The Court of Appeals found that the search of the buildings was proper as the buildings consisted of “one business establishment.” The court relied on the fact that all the buildings were owned and operated by one person, were all the same color, were all adjacent to one another, and the fact that Central Battery Service listed its address as 1301 E. Baltimore Street “even though it encompasses a larger area than ⁴⁷⁷ the specific piece of property with that address.” The Court found that “the description in the warrant is sufficient to authorize a search of the entire premises despite what the land records show is the ownership of the property.” This case presents somewhat similar circumstances. The disputed area once housed gym activities and is currently being used to store gym equipment. Its separation by a fire wall was imposed by a building code regulation. The area is owned by the same individual.

The area contains National Fitness phone lines and continues to serve a gym function, i.e., storage of gym equipment. In addition, it remains equipped to house gym activities if necessary. Other than the different address on the exterior doorway, there is nothing to suggest that this area was not part of the 7963 property. In fact, appellant listed 7963 Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard as his address on official MVA records and has his mail sent to the 7963 gym address.

We find that although the now separate storage area may have a separate street number, it sufficiently remained part of the same “business establishment” to be included in the search of 7963 Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard. Even if the premises were to be considered a separate address and not part of the National Fitness gym, the officers had a reasonable, good faith belief that they were searching the gym area, and therefore that the search was proper. Both parties cite Maryland v. Garrison, 480 U.S. 79 , 107 S.Ct. 1013 , 94 L.Ed.2d 72 (1987), for the “good faith exception” to the warrant requirement. In Garrison , the officers received a warrant to search the third floor of 2036 Park Avenue and, based on utility company records, the officers believed that only one apartment was located on the third floor.

Upon entry, the police detained the suspect, Lawrence McWebb, and used his key to gain entry to the third floor of the house. The police seized evidence of narcotics and drug paraphernalia from the apartment, but soon realized that they were in a second apartment located on the third floor, which belonged to Harold Garrison, and stopped the search. The seized evi ⁴⁷⁸ dence was later used to convict Harold Garrison on drug charges. In upholding the search of Garrison’s apartment, the Supreme Court discussed two constitutional issues, first finding that the warrant was valid and then discussing the reasonableness of the manner in which it was executed.

Noting that searches are limited in scope based on the purpose justifying the search, the Court stated that “the Court has also recognized the need to allow some latitude for honest mistakes that are made by officers in the dangerous and difficult process of making arrests and executing warrants.” Garrison, 480 U.S. at 87 , 107 S.Ct. 1013 . The Court concluded that the officers acted in a reasonable manner and the search was proper. The Court found that “the objective facts available to the officers at the time suggested no distinction between McWebb’s apartment and the third-floor premises.” Garrison, 480 U.S. at 88 , 107 S.Ct. 1013 . The Court noted that nothing McWebb did or said would have suggested that there were two apartments on the third floor.

In fact, McWebb provided the officers the key to both the first floor entry and the third floor, leading the officers to believe they were entering an undivided apartment on the third floor. Garrison, 480 U.S. at 88 n. 12, 107 S.Ct. 1013 . Similar to Garrison , we find that the officers in the present case acted reasonably in searching the aerobics/storage area. Appellant asserts that, “after searching 7963 and failing to locate a bedroom, the police knew they either had a misinformed witness or they were searching the wrong area.” We find, however, that the police had a reasonable basis for believing the storage area was part of the gym.

First, the officers observed interior locked double doors. Upon inquiry, appellant informed the officers that the doors went to a storage area. Further, the officers testified that appellant provided them with the keys to the area, and it was the receptionist who suggested easier access from the outside. Upon entry, the officers found old gym equipment and promotional material in what appeared to be an aerobics room. ⁴⁷⁹ There is no evidence that during the search appellant claimed the storage area was not part of the gym, or that it was a private residence.

Detective Pleasant testified that, at the time of the search, she did not notice that the area had a separate address. The officers, acting on the witness’s statements, knew they were looking for a “back area” that had mirrored walls, akin to an aerobics room. We believe the officers had a good faith belief that they were searching part of the gym, and not a separate address.

II

Expert Testimony Appellant asserts that the trial court erred in not allowing Dr. Michael Perline, a witness for the State, to be cross-examined concerning the effects of bleach on the vaginal area of a 19 year old woman. Appellant argues that the State, during closing argument, “offered a