Harris v. State

ANTHONY HARRIS v. STATE OF MARYLAND

No. 406-2020

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

October 1, 2021

Circuit Court for Montgomery County Case No.: 135856C

Berger, Friedman, Eyler, James R. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.

OPINION ^[*]

Berger, J.

Appellant Anthony Harris ("Harris"), was indicted in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, and charged with attempted first degree murder, first degree assault, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, and illegal possession of a regulated firearm having been adjudicated in juvenile court of a disqualifying crime. After he was convicted by a jury on all charges, Harris was sentenced to life for attempted first degree murder, with all but twenty-five (25) years suspended, along with a concurrent five years, mandatory, for use of a handgun in a crime of violence, as well as a concurrent five years for illegal possession of a regulated firearm. Following his release, the court imposed supervised probation for five years. Harris timely appealed and presents the following three questions for our review:

1. Whether the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress.

2. Whether the trial court erred in denying the motion in limine and in admitting inadmissible hearsay.

3. Whether the trial court erred in allowing prejudicial texts into evidence.

For the following reasons, we shall affirm.

BACKGROUND

On March 8, 2019, at around 1:00 a.m., Daquwan Williamson left his residence, located in an apartment complex on Grey Eagle Court in Montgomery County, Maryland, and walked towards a nearby Outback Steakhouse to meet a person identified as Jasmine Marcelle. As he was leaving his apartment complex, Williamson noticed a blue sports utility vehicle ("SUV") pass by him. In fact, that same vehicle passed by him several times while he was walking along Bent Willow Court, near Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, towards Wisteria Drive. The vehicle was occupied by two people and, at one point, Williamson saw that the passenger in the vehicle was wearing a white hat.

Moments later, Williamson heard four gunshots fired in his direction. Although it was dark outside, Williamson turned and saw a short man, wearing a white hat and on foot, shooting at him. He confirmed that man was the same person that he saw riding earlier in the blue SUV.^[1]

Williamson ran from the shots and hid in a nearby field. About ten minutes later, and because he erroneously thought he had been shot in the legs, he called 911. Williamson later realized that two of the shots went through his jacket.

The recording of the 911 call was played in court and, during that call, Williamson told the dispatcher that he was unsure if he had been shot, and that he was hiding in the woods across from the Outback Steakhouse located next to the school. He also stated that he thought he knew the person that shot him, stating "I think I know who it is because it looked like a person, but he doesn't like me because I'm [dating] his girlfriend." As will be discussed in more detail in the second question presented, Williamson also testified that he overheard someone in the SUV state, prior to the shooting during one of the vehicle drive-bys, "Hey, Ant, is that him?"

Williamson confirmed that he met Harris on a prior occasion, approximately two to three months before the shooting, when he was dating Dominquie Hill, the mother of Harris's daughter. This meeting occurred when Williamson was walking Hill and her daughter to her car, parked outside his apartment. At that time, Harris "popped out" from behind a car or a trash can. Harris confronted Williamson and asked him if he was dating Hill. After Williamson informed him that he was dating Hill, Harris replied, according to Williamson, that he "respect it. That was that."

Williamson also spoke to Harris on another occasion after this meeting. This transpired when Harris called Williamson approximately one or two weeks before the shooting. Williamson testified that Harris told him that "him and his baby mother were still talking. So I told him I respect that, I'll stop talking to her." Williamson testified that he stopped talking to Hill, until the night of the shooting, when he called her after he was shot.^[2]

On cross-examination, Williamson agreed that he thought Harris "had a problem" with him. On redirect, Williamson maintained that the man in the white hat pointed the gun at him when he fired the shots.

Dominiquie Hill testified that Harris was the father of her three-year-old daughter. She started dating the victim in this case, Williamson, in 2018. Hill confirmed that Harris confronted her and Williamson outside Williamson's apartment on one occasion in January 2019 when he "popped out" from behind a dumpster and grabbed their daughter. Hill testified that she knew that Harris did not want her dating anyone else and that he did not like Williamson. She further testified that Harris wanted to get back together with her while she was dating Williamson.

Hill learned about the shooting in this case shortly after it happened on the early morning hours of March 8, 2019, when Williamson called her. Williamson sounded "calm," but "out of breath," "in shock," "frantic," and "scared."

Hill also testified that, later on that same day, March 8, 2019 at around 2:16 p.m., Harris and she exchanged text messages. In one of those messages, Hill wrote "what's next, bitch" to Harris and that Harris replied, "When I'm done with him, you're next." Hill and Harris exchanged a number of messages throughout the rest of the day, involving their relationship, as well as their daughter, and Hill's relationship with Williamson. In addition, after the shooting but before he was charged, Harris called Hill and told her "Next time I won't miss."

Detective Diana Humphrey, of the Montgomery County Police, surveyed the area near the shooting and learned that two nearby townhomes were equipped with home surveillance cameras. One video, from the residence located at 12505 Starfire Court, captured the scene at around 1:00 a.m. The video was admitted pursuant to a stipulation and played for the jury. That video shows an unidentified individual running through a parking lot, followed by an SUV driving in the area.

The second video was obtained from 19007 Laurel Grove and was also admitted without objection. Unlike the first video, the second video included audio. The video depicts an individual, apparently Mr. Williamson, walking along a sidewalk located across a parking lot and a street, traveling from left to right. The video then shows an SUV, similar in appearance to the vehicle in the first video, passing by that individual, driving right to left, then turns a corner towards the camera. After the individual walks off screen to the right, a suspect is seen running from the left side of the camera's angle, through the parking lot in front of the home and then directly towards the individual walking away on the sidewalk. The SUV then returns from the left, and drives toward the right, near where the suspect is running towards the apparent victim who, by that point, had exited the camera's field of vision. It is at that time, and as testified to by Detective Humphrey, that ten (10) gunshots are overheard on the audio portion of the recording.

On cross-examination, Detective Humphrey confirmed that "Mr. Harris was our prime suspect from the beginning." This was based on information from both Williamson and Hill, as well as the fact that Harris fit the description of the person seen on the surveillance videos. The detective agreed, however, that Harris was not positively identified by the victim as the shooter.

Nevertheless, forensic evidence linked Harris to the shooting. Ten (10) .22 caliber shell casings were recovered from the scene. Thereafter, police obtained a search warrant for Harris's residence and seized a Sig Sauer .22 handgun from his bedroom. Eight (8) .22 caliber rounds were recovered from the magazine inside the gun, along with other .22 caliber ammunition recovered from the bedroom. The firearms examiner testified that the gun was operable and that the ten recovered casings in this case were all fired from that handgun.

Further evidence was presented from other witnesses, including Sierra Ward, Harris's girlfriend. Ward agreed that a gun was recovered from their shared residence during execution of a search warrant, but she denied knowing who the gun belonged to and denied ever seeing Harris in possession of that gun. Detective Humphrey, however, was recalled and testified that, when the police executed the search warrant, Ward told her the gun belonged to Harris. According to the detective, Ward relayed that she had seen Harris in possession of the gun the day before the interview, or on or around March 15, 2019. During her recorded statement, a portion of which was played for the jury, Ward was asked where Harris normally kept the gun, and she stated "It usually in his pants."^[3] In addition, the jury heard evidence concerning other text messages, including one from Harris to a person identified as "Vonte," in which Harris discussed his relationships and stated "I real live been thinking bout smoking this n**gah bruh." We shall include additional detail in the following discussion.

DISCUSSION

I.

Harris first contends the motion court erred in not suppressing evidence seized pursuant to a search warrant because there was no substantial basis for the magistrate to find probable cause and because the good faith exception did not apply. The State disagrees, as do we.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches

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