Ferrell v. State

1

MARTINEZ D. FERRELL v. STATE OF MARYLAND

No. 0355-2022

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

July 22, 2024

UNREPORTED ^[*]

Circuit Court for Prince George's County Case No. CT171231X

Wells, C.J., Leahy, Wright, Alexander, Jr. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.

OPINION

Leahy, J.

Officers responded to a call on the morning of July 29, 2017, from someone claiming that a man was "in the bushes and looked like he needed help." Upon arriving at the scene, a wooded area near Capital Heights in Prince George's County, the officers found Mr. Kevin Bartimus Hawkins ("Mr. Hawkins") "on the side of the road" with "severe head trauma[.]" Mr. Hawkins was rushed to Prince George's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead five days later, having suffered two gunshots to his left eye.

Mr. Martinez Diaz Ferrell ("Appellant") was tried before a jury in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County and convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Appellant was sentenced to life for the conspiracy conviction and twenty-five years for the second-degree murder conviction to be served concurrently. He timely filed this appeal and presents four questions for our review, which we have reordered, as follows:

I. "Did the Circuit Court err when it denied the [Appellant's] Motion for Judgment of Acquittal on the charge of second[-]degree murder?"

II. "Did the Circuit Court err when it denied the [Appellant's] Motion for Judgment of Acquittal on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder?"

III. "Did the Circuit Court plainly error [sic] by failing to instruct the jury that if they found the [Appellant] NOT Guilty of First[-]Degree Murder then they must acquit the [Appellant] of Conspiracy to Commit Murder?"

IV. "Did the Circuit Court impose an illegal sentence on the [Appellant] when it sentenced him to life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit murder after he was found NOT Guilty of First[-]Degree Murder?"

For the following reasons, we hold that the evidence was legally sufficient to sustain the jury's verdict convicting Appellant of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Next, we determine we determine that Appellant's jury instruction issue does not qualify for plain error review, and that the trial court did not impose an illegal sentence. Accordingly, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

On August 31, 2017, a grand jury in Prince George's County indicted Appellant on the following counts: murder in the first degree (Count I); use of a handgun in a crime of violence (Count II); use of a handgun in the commission of a felony (Count III); and, conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree (Count IV).

The following factual account is drawn from the evidence presented at Appellant's jury trial which took place over five days, beginning on November 30, 2021, and culminating with the jury's verdict on December 8, 2021. The State called fourteen witnesses. The defense did not call any witnesses and did not offer any evidence. We present the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. Hayes v. State, 247 Md.App. 252, 306 (2020) ("In examining the record, we view the State's evidence including all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, in the light most favorable to the State."). We later supplement these facts in our discussion of the issues.

The Victim's Mother

Ms. Sabrena Johnson testified that after finishing dinner on July 28, 2017, her son, Mr. Hawkins, went outside in the pouring rain because "D.J. was having a house party[.]"^[1] She noted that Appellant lived across the street from her family "at a[n] angle." At around 11:45 p.m., Ms. Johnson was sitting in her car preparing to go pick up her daughter from work when Mr. Hawkins approached and asked, "Ma, are you good[?]" She told him that she was leaving to go pick up his sister, and then she watched Mr. Hawkins "danc[e] back to" Appellant's house. Ms. Johnson mentioned that although "[i]t was dark[,]" she "saw people out[side]" Appellant's house, with "[t]he door . . . opened and music . . . playing."

After picking up her daughter, Ms. Johnson drove home and saw Mr. Hawkins outside of Appellant's house "just dancing in the rain[.]" She called out to him and asked why he was "dancing in the rain, looking crazy[,]" and he responded, "Ma, I'm living life. Let me live now." Around 1:40 a.m., Ms. Johnson left to pick-up her husband from work. Mr. Hawkins offered to go instead, but Ms. Johnson declined, and he returned to the party. When she returned a little after 2 a.m., her son was nowhere to be seen. The music had stopped, there were no people outside, and Appellant's house appeared as though "nothing had ever even happened."

Later that morning around 6:30 a.m., Ms. Johnson noticed that her son was not sleeping in his bedroom nor was he asleep on the couch in the living room. She instinctively checked her phone in case he messaged her, as her children would always text if "they were staying out[,]" but there were no text messages or calls from Mr. Hawkins. Concerned, she searched outside, half-expecting to find him "locked . . . out" and sleeping in his car. He was nowhere to be found. Immediately, Ms. Johnson began calling and texting him but received no response. She attempted to locate him using the "Find My Phone" application to GPS-track Mr. Hawkins's location; however, the efforts were unsuccessful because the signal was "pinging . . . like it was moving[,]" but it "would show[] different spots[.]"

Around 9 a.m., Ms. Johnson walked across the street to Appellant's house, the last place she had seen Mr. Hawkins. Ms. Johnson spoke to Appellant, whom she identified in court, and Appellant informed Ms. Johnson that her son had "got[ten] in a . . . silver car or gray car with tinted windows, with a female." Ms. Johnson returned to her house "with a real bad feeling in [her] gut." She continued to call, text, and "even email" her son. A few hours later, Ms. Johnson returned to Appellant's house to inquire further about Mr. Hawkins, but she received the same response.

Later that evening, Ms. Johnson was "getting ready to leave" with her daughter and her husband to drive along the road to try to find her son. When she opened the door to go outside, the police were there bearing devastating news. Upon learning of the situation, Ms. Johnson rushed to Prince George's Hospital where her son had been admitted. Mr. Hawkins remained at the hospital for five days without regaining consciousness. On August 3, Mr. Hawkins was pronounced dead at 4:02 p.m.

The Investigation

Around 11:30 a.m. on July 29, Mr. Charlie Starling arrived at the Pine Grove area in Capitol Heights, Maryland, intending to "help[] neighbors" by clearing trees and grading the backyard. While approaching his tractor, he noticed Mr Hawkins near a "rotted log" in the bushes. Mr. Starling stated that Mr. Hawkins's clothing was "pulled down to his kneecap[,]" and it seemed as though Mr. Hawkins had "scrambled and propped [himself] upside" on the rotting log. Mr. Starling immediately called the police.^[2]

The Prince George's County Police Department received an emergency call reporting a "man in the bushes [who] looked like he needed some help." Officer Daniel Hamilton was the first to respond, arriving at 1408 Pine Grove in Prince George's County. Upon arrival, Officer Hamilton observed that Mr. Hawkins had "pretty severe head trauma[,]" "road rash[,]" and was "missing one of his eyes." Despite his critical condition, Mr. Hawkins was alive at the time and had "agonal breathing, which is very shallow breath." Officer Hamilton immediately began "administering life saving measures" and called the fire department for additional assistance. Emergency medical personnel transported Mr. Hawkins to the hospital for further treatment.

Sergeant Michael McAveety went to 1408 Pine Grove Road to "conduct canvasses, help with pulling video, [and] conduct[] interviews." He recovered video recordings from two different houses situated alongside Pine Grove Road. During trial, Sgt. McAveety paused the first video at 2:31:46 and described an "SUV with its lights shut[] off" coming from the Pine Grove area, where Mr. Hawkins was discovered. The vehicle then made "a three-point turn in the middle of the road" before returning "back up Pine Grove." The second video also depicted an SUV turning off its headlights and "continuing down Pine Grove Road, toward 1400."

Based on information gathered from Mr. Hawkins's family, Sgt. McAveety proceeded to "1020 Atlee Drive" and spoke with Appellant. Appellant stated that Mr. Hawkins "had come by for a party," but he had left "in a silver sedan[.]" Upon further examination, Sgt. McAveety searched motor vehicle records and discovered that Appellant's wife owned "a black Chevy Trail Blazer." He obtained search warrants for Appellant's house and for the vehicle.

Sergeant Michael Genung testified that he was the lead detective assigned to the case. He executed the warrant for the vehicle on August 9, 2017, after locating the vehicle about "a mile" away from 1020 Atlee. Sgt. Genung conducted a "quick visual observation" and noticed that the vehicle "looked like it was freshly cleaned." While examining the exterior, he did not "notice anything out of the ordinary."

Sgt. Genung explained that he interviewed Appellant on August 10. He advised Appellant of his rights "[i]n front of his house on Atlee drive" and then "transported [him] to the homicide office for an interview that could be recorded." The interview with Appellant took place around 1:40 a.m., and the recording of the interview was presented to the jury and admitted into evidence.

During the interview, Sgt. Genung asked Appellant "what kind of black SUV do you drive?" and Appel...