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Merritt v. State12/5/2001
.2d at 678. The application for the search and seizure warrant contained a statement by the detective that she was experienced, having made arrests that led to 100 convictions, and that she determined that Merritt was responsible for the murder. We specifically warned about this type of evidence in Dorsey, as tending to portray a detective as "`a super-investigator'" and improperly bolstering the detective's testimony against that of other witnesses. 276 Md. at 644-645, 350 A.2d at 669-670. The investigations which contributed to the detective's conviction rate were wholly irrelevant and prejudicial. Moreover, the detective's statement pronouncing "one of the persons responsible for the murder of Brian Owens is Chris Merritt" was clearly improper and prejudicial opinion evidence on the ultimate issue at the trial. See the discussion in Bohnert v. State, 312 Md. 266, 277-279, 539 A.2d 657, 662-663 (1998).
The detective also stated in the affidavit that Merritt admitted to owning a .38 caliber handgun and a .380 caliber handgun, the same caliber used in commission of the murder. Merritt's statement to police that he owned a .38 caliber gun was successfully redacted from the taped statement admitted at trial. There was no evidence admitted at the trial that Merritt told police that he owned the same caliber gun, .380, as one of the murder weapons. The only evidence that Merritt owned guns came from the testimony of Shands, the accomplice. These statements contained in the affidavit, as to Merritt's ownership of weapons, improperly corroborated Shands's testimony and thus were extremely prejudicial.
Exhibit 6 contained Merritt's statement that he was "selling weed" before the crime and included the inventory list of items seized from Merritt's home evidencing drug dealing. Such evidence of other crimes would not be admissible under the circumstances of this case, and it was highly prejudicial in showing the "criminal propensity" and "criminal character of the defendant," Snyder v. State, 361 Md. 580, 602-603, 762 A.2d 125, 137-138 (2000), and cases there cited. See also, e.g., Skrivanek v. State, 356 Md. 270, 291, 739 A.2d 12, 23-24 (1999); Harris v. State, 324 Md. 490, 496-497, 597 A.2d 956, 959-960 (1991); State v. Werner, 302 Md. 550, 556-557, 489 A.2d 1119, 1123 (1985).
The trial judge was of the view that the "overpowering evidence" of Merritt's guilt rendered harmless the submission of exhibit 6 to the jury. The principal witness for the State providing the direct evidence of Merritt's guilt, however, was the accomplice and admitted murderer, Shands. The witness Laboard repudiated his earlier statement implicating Merritt. In light of the prejudicial nature of exhibit 6, we cannot conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the submission of exhibit 6 to the jury in no way influenced the verdict.
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED TO THAT COURT WITH DIRECTIONS TO REVERSE THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR BALTIMORE CITY AND REMAND THE CASE TO THAT COURT FOR A NEW TRIAL. COSTS IN THIS COURT AND IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS TO BE PAID BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE.
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