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Lovell v. State11/12/1997
-inch spread of gunpowder. Tfc. Plank had not removed his sidearm from its holster.
Trooper Lord knew that one of his shots had broken the rear window of the Sundance. Actually, one of his shots had passed through Lovell's right forearm, shattering the midportion of the radius, but leaving the ulna intact. In addition, Lovell had suffered a superficial gunshot wound of the scalp.
Lovell proceeded in the Sundance to the vicinity of 6302 Crisfield Highway where he found a pond into which he partially submerged the car. At some point Lynch and Lovell had separated. Lovell went on foot to a house at the stated address--the home of Andrew and Marguerite Robinson--where he rang the doorbell on four or five occasions between 1:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. The Robinsons did not answer because they saw no car. Lovell then broke into the Robinsons' home through a back bedroom window. Mr. Robinson attacked Lovell by swinging an aluminum extension handle from a vacuum cleaner. The parties have stipulated that Mrs. Robinson "ran through the house ... to call 911. ... Lovell ... grabbed [Mrs.] Robinson and put a pistol to her head. [Mr.] Robinson struck ... Lovell and they struggled on the floor. Robinsons would testify that during this period of time, ... Lovell fired four or five shots in the house."
The Robinsons subdued Lovell and held him until the police arrived. A .45 caliber handgun, lying next to Lovell, was recovered by the police. Lovell was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center where his wounds were treated and three pins were inserted to repair the comminuted fracture in his right forearm. He was discharged from the hospital six days later, on October 23, 1995.
As quoted in the stipulation, Lovell, who is African American, told one of the hospital nurses the following:
"'I guess this is the last time you going to see me. Well, maybe you'll see me in a few years when I'm dead. I guess I'm not going to go to heaven because I'm afraid of dying. I'm afraid to die. The caucasians can kill a whole nation of my people, but you kill a cop and they made a big deal out of it.' When [the nurse] asked if [Lovell] was sorry for what he did he responded, 'No, not really.'"
When a Commissioner of the District Court of Maryland conducted an initial appearance interview of Lovell at the hospital, Lovell stated, "I did it."
The parties also stipulated concerning physical evidence. This includes the fact that the .45 cartridge cases found in the Robinsons' residence and the .45 cartridge cases found at the murder scene were fired from the same handgun. Further, Lovell's right thumb print was found on one of the traffic citations written by Tfc. Plank to Charles Billups. In addition, chips of red paint found at the murder scene were consistent with the paint on the Sundance recovered from the pond near the Robinsons' home.
Represented by the Chief of the Capital Defense Division of the Maryland Public Defender's Office, Lovell entered a guilty plea to the first-degree, premeditated murder of Tfc. Plank. He also pleaded guilty to assault with intent to murder Trooper Lord, burglary of the Robinsons' home, assault upon each of them, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute.
Lovell elected to be sentenced by a jury for the capital murder. In a proceeding that began on June 24, 1996, and ended on June 27, 1996, approximately one-half of which was consumed in selecting a jury, the jury imposed a sentence of death. Aggravating factors found by the jury were that Tfc. Plank was "a law enforcement officer who was murdered while in t
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