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State v. Morris2/5/1999
at the appellant had a previous history of criminal convictions, that the appellant allowed the victim to be treated with exceptional cruelty, that the appellant has a previous history of unwillingness to comply with a condition of release into the community, and that the felony was committed while on bail or probation. The court found no significant evidence in mitigation. Furthermore, the court imposed consecutive sentences finding the appellant to be a dangerous offender with little regard for human life and little hesitation about committing an offense when the risk to human life was high and because he committed these offenses while on probation.
I. Motion to Suppress
Nine hours after his arrest on September 17, 1994, the appellant executed a written waiver of his Miranda rights and provided law enforcement officers a complete statement of his involvement in the deaths of Charles Ragland and Erica Hurd and the aggravated rape of Angela Ragland. See supra. Prior to trial, the appellant filed a motion to suppress this statement alleging that the statement was not knowingly and voluntarily given due to the fact that he was under the influence of crack cocaine. A hearing on the motion was heard on September 10, 1996.
The evidence at the suppression motion revealed that the appellant had been smoking crack cocaine on the evening of Friday, September 16, 1994. Russell Morris, the appellant's brother, verified that, when he saw the appellant at 5:30 p.m. that evening, the appellant had informed him that he had spent $200 on crack cocaine and was going to obtain more. He also testified that the appellant appeared to be intoxicated. Next, the defense attempted to call the victim, Angela Ragland, to the stand to testify regarding the appellant's appearance and actions during the commission of these offenses. The State objected on the basis that Angela Ragland was not "in any position to know anything about the condition that [the appellant] was in at the time that the statement was given." The trial court sustained the State's objection on the same ground, expressly finding that Ms. Ragland had no knowledge of the appellant's state of mind or whether he was under the influence of cocaine when he gave his statement some fourteen hours after he committed these offenses.
Dr. Robert Parker was called as an expert witness on the effects of crack cocaine on the human body. See supra. Specifically, Dr. Parker testified that mania was present during the "crash phase" when the appellant's statement was given. He explained that, during the "crash phase," one's judgment was impaired and usually was accompanied with confusion and suicidal thoughts. Moreover, "crash phase" symptoms could cause one not to care about or understand the consequences of their actions.
At the Conclusion of Dr. Parker's testimony, the defense again attempted to introduce the testimony of Angela Ragland. However, the trial court refused to admit such testimony finding that "there's been no proof here presented, notwithstanding the use of cocaine, that he, because of the ingestion of cocaine, didn't understand what he was doing when he gave his statement. There's been no proof of that."
The defense then offered to call the appellant to testify regarding "how [the drugs] affected his body, . . . the way he was . . . acting, how he was feeling about those things at the time he gave his statement and before that." Defense counsel asked the court to limit the examination of the appellant to these matters and to prohibit questioning as to the "facts of what happened on this alleged incident about the killings." The trial court refused this request, finding that there was no reason to prohi
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