Bazzle v. State

45 A.3d 166 (2012)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D got drunk with his friends. D claims he consumed at least three 40-ounce containers of beer in an apartment complex, went to a mall in Columbia, and drank more alcohol. He left the mall and was walking to meet his friend Lakita Butler when he was attacked and stabbed six or seven times. He ran to Butler's house, arriving around 11 p.m. Butler testified that D was 'bleeding' and 'almost about to pass out' when he arrived. She called 911, and Petitioner was taken to a hospital, where his blood alcohol content was measured at .157, and then again at .137. At the hospital, Petitioner spoke with Detective Donald Guevara, telling him that he had been attacked by one man and one woman 'on the footbridge that goes across Little Patuxent Parkway from the waterfront towards the mall.' D was asleep in a hospital bed when Kohlya Eggleston, who was also being treated for stab wounds suffered that evening, recognized D as his attacker. Eggleston had been sitting in a truck in a gas station when a man approached, opened the door, and said, 'Get out of the motherfucking car.' The man then stabbed him multiple times with a weapon before he could exit. He could not tell what kind of weapon was used because the man had wrapped a shirt around his hand to conceal it. The man had also been wearing a bandana to cover his face, but it slipped down during the encounter, allowing Eggleston to recognize him. Eggleston already knew D as an acquaintance. Asked how certain he was that D was his attacker, Eggleston testified: 'very certain.' D denied the attack and claimed he was unable to recall some of his own behavior on the night he was attacked. He objected to the question about Eggleston's certainty but was overruled. D requested a jury instruction on voluntary intoxication, but his request was denied. A jury found D guilty of attempted second-degree murder, attempted armed carjacking, and first-degree assault. D appealed, arguing, among other things, that the trial court erred by denying his request for an instruction on voluntary intoxication and admitting Eggleston's testimony about his certainty. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed, and D appealed.