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State v. White8/31/2001
On Appeal from District Court of Vermont, Unit No. 2, Rutland Circuit May Term, 2001 Theresa S. DiMauro, J.
Defendant Robert White appeals his conviction for second degree murder following a jury trial in Rutland District Court, and the subsequent imposition of a sentence of life in prison without parole. Defendant claims that the conviction and sentence should be vacated, and the case remanded for a new trial, on the grounds that (1) the evidence presented does not support a finding of defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the failure of the police to photograph and preserve certain evidence required either dismissal of the charge against him or suppression of the evidence in question; (3) the court erred in allowing testimony regarding defendant's marital difficulties and his earlier discharge from employment at the business where the murder took place; and (4) the trial court's imposition of the sentence of life without parole, based upon aggravating circumstances, was unjustified and therefore error. We perceive no error in regard to defendant's arguments, so we affirm the conviction and sentence.
On April 18, 1998, shortly before 11:00 p.m., Jane Desmarais arrived at the Econo Lodge Motel in Rutland to begin her overnight shift as the front desk clerk. Around 1:00 a.m., a couple checked into the motel, where they observed Desmarais speaking with a man in the motel lobby. The man addressed the couple, acting as if he was participating in the check-in process. Defendant had been employed as a night clerk at the motel the previous fall and was familiar with the nighttime check-in procedures and where cash was kept on the premises.
At 2:15 a.m., a long-distance telephone call was made to the front desk of the motel by a person trying to get in touch with one of the motel's customers. When no one answered, the person tried again four or five times within the following half-hour, but was unable to reach anyone at the front desk. At 6:00 a.m., Desmarais' mother telephoned the motel, and when no one answered, went to the motel to check on her daughter. When she arrived, the entrance was locked, but inside all the lights and the television were on. After no one responded to her knocking on the door and a window, she contacted the owner of the motel, Patrick Abatiell, Sr. Abatiell then drove to the motel, unlocked the door, and entered with Desmarais' mother. They discovered Desmarais deceased, her body lying on the floor of the lobby in a location not visible from the front door. Blood spots on the floor and the arrangement of the victim's clothes suggested that the body had been moved to that spot from a more visible location. The body had been disfigured by the application of chemical solvents, including paint remover and commercial drain opener, and appeared to have been burned as well. An autopsy indicated that the cause of death had been asphyxia due to strangulation. There was over $400 in cash missing from the motel office area.
While processing the crime scene, the police took into evidence two advertising flyers, one 8½ by 11 inches in size, and the other 8½ by 5½ inches. The larger flyer had reddish-brown stains on the back, unprinted side that appeared to be consistent with blood and that resembled a palm print. The smaller flyer had on it what appeared to be a fingerprint made in blood. The flyers were submitted to the state police forensic laboratory for identification of the reddish-brown stains as well as to make an identification of the prints. In the course of processing the larger flyer to identify the palm print, the document was sprayed with ninhydrin, a chemical used to reveal more of the full hand print on the flyer. The ninhydrin treatmen
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