Preview:

In the Circu it Court for P rince Geo rge's Cou nty Case No. CT 02-0154X IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 18 September Term, 2005 ______________________________________

WENDELL HACKLEY

v.

STATE OF MARYLAND

______________________________________ Bell, C.J. Raker Wilner Cathell Harrell Battaglia Greene, JJ. ______________________________________ Opinion by Wilner, J. ______________________________________ Filed: November 9, 2005

Petitioner, Wen dell H ackl ey, was convicted in the Circuit Court for Princ e George's County of second degree assault, reckless endangerment, and stalking. Upon his conviction for stalking, he was sentenced to five years in prison, all but two of which were suspended in favor of probation. He appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, claiming that the crime of stalking requires "approa ching or p ursuing" th e victim and that the evide nce failed to show that he e ngage d in that c onduc t. The intermediate appellate court agreed that "approaching or pursuing" was an element of the off ense but af firmed the conviction on the ground that Hackley's conduct amounted to approaching or pursuing his victim. Hackley v. State , 161 Md. App. 1, 866 A.2d 906 (2005). W e granted Hack ley's petition for certiorari to consider the two questions he raised in the Court of Special Appeals. Although we believe that the Court of Special Appea ls misconstrued the statute and shall hold that the crime o f stalking does not require that the defen dant appro ach or pu rsue his victim, its erroneous interpretation does not assist Hackley. We shall affirm the judgment of that court, and with it the stalking conviction.

BACKGROUND Most of the te stimon ial evide nce in th is case c ame fr om the victim, Devora P., and petitioner Hackley. Some of it was in dispute. As the State obviously prevailed, we view the evidence, and all inference s fairly deducib le from the evidence , in a light most f avorable to the State. State v. Albrecht, 336 Md. 475, 649 A.2d 336 (1994), quoting Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560 (1979). We therefore accept the ver sion

testified to by Ms . P. Ms. P. had dated Hackley for an eight month period in 1991, during which she became pregnan t. Her daughter, Adriana, w as born in October, 1991. From the time they ended the relationship in 19 91, M s. P. h ad no contac t of a ny kin d with Hackl ey until November 17, 2001, when, about 7:30 in the morning, as she was sitting in her car in the driveway of her home about to go to work, Hackley appeared, walked over to the car and asked "W here is my daugh ter?" M s. P., surprised to see him, replied that Adriana was not there, whereupon he reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun, opened the car door, pulled Ms. P. out, and began hitting h er in the h ead w ith the gu n. Ms. P. called for her mother, who was in th e house. W hen the m other cam e out, Hackley stopped hitting Ms. P., who, bloodied from the attack, ran into the house. The mother called 9 11. The tape of th e cal l was adm itted into evid ence and playe d for the jury. Ms. P. went to the hospital and received at least eight stitches to close her wounds. An arrest warrant was issued two days later charging Hackley with attempted murder1 and first degree assault, although Hackley was not apprehended until December 28, 2001. At some point, after November 17 and before December 16, Ms. P., as she was leaving to go to work, observed what turned out to be two letters from Hackley under the windshie ld wiper of her car. With respect to the first incident

Download Hackley v. State.pdf

Maryland Law