 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Perry v. State12/10/1999
The evidence that Perry murdered Mildred Horn, Trevor Horn, and Janice Saunders, though substantial and more than legally sufficient, was almost entirely circumstantial. We recited that evidence in some detail in the opinion disposing of Perry's direct appeal, and there is no need to recount it all here. As Perry had no apparent connection with the victims and as it seemed clear from the circumstances that robbery was not a motive for the break-in at Ms. Horn's home, a key element of the State's case was tying Perry to Lawrence Horn, who did have a substantial motive to have Mildred and Trevor killed and also to have any witness to those murders killed. Horn lived in Los Angeles; Perry lived in Detroit; and Mildred and Trevor lived in Rockville.
The only direct testimonial evidence of contact between Horn and Perry came from Thomas Turner, a resident of Detroit, who was Horn's cousin and Perry's friend and who testified under a grant of immunity. In the spring of 1992, Horn, while visiting Detroit, had complained to Turner of problems he was having regarding visitation with his children, and Turner (1) suggested that Perry might be able to help him, and (2) assisted Horn in contacting Perry. After the murders, Turner continued to act as an intermediary to facilitate communication between Horn and Perry. Apart from Turner's testimony and the tape recording at issue here, the State's evidence relating to contact between Horn and Perry was entirely circumstantial and consisted of telephone records documenting approximately 160 calls during 1992 and 1993 (1) from public telephones in Detroit, located near Perry's home or in places Perry was known to visit, to Horn's home in Los Angeles, (2) from public telephones in Los Angeles to Perry's home in Detroit or to places in Detroit Perry was known to visit, (3) from public telephones in the Rockville area to Horn's home and from Los Angeles to hotels in Maryland at times when Perry was in Maryland, and (4) from public telephones in the Maryland-District of Columbia suburban area to Perry's home at times when Horn was in Maryland.
The State contended that these calls were, in fact, between Horn and Perry. Through evidence of the use of fictitious names, telephone cards in other person's names, and intermediaries, the State further attempted to show an elaborate scheme by Horn and Perry to camouflage the contact between them. All of the calls originated from pay phones; no evidence was uncovered of any calls between Horn's home and Perry's home. Similar camouflaging techniques were used to disguise the transfer of $6,000 from Horn to Perry, which presumably served as compensation for Perry's services. The money was transferred through Western Union in the name of a fictitious person in Los Angeles to Perry's girlfriend in Detroit.
On March 12, 1993 - nine days after the murders - the Los Angeles police executed a search warrant at Horn's apartment. Montgomery County Detective Wittenberger, who accompanied the Los Angeles police, described the residence as a small one-bedroom apartment, with a living room, kitchen area, and bathroom. In the living room, the police found three computers, computer disks, hard drives, back-up drives, telephone and bank records, videotapes, 56 cassette tapes, 12 micro-cassette tapes, and a telephone answering machine. After listening to and examining this evidence, the police discovered, at the end of one of the micro-cassettes - Tape No. 5 - a 22-second conversation between two men, whose voices were later identified as those of Horn and Perry. That conversation was copied to another cassette, and both tapes were eventually admitted into evidence against Perry. Tape No. 5 was admitted as State's Exhibit
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Maryland Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|