State v. Smullen

844 A.2d 429 (2004)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Bruno Smullen (D), wearing latex gloves in order to maintain a sure grip, snuck up behind his adoptive father, Warren, as Warren sat on the living room couch reading a newspaper and drinking his morning coffee, and killed him by stabbing and cutting him repeatedly with a butcher knife. There were six stab wounds and sixteen cut wounds inflicted on Warren's head and chest. D then went after his adoptive sister, Portia, and his nieces, Erica and Ashley, who also resided in the home, and stabbed or cut them as well. They survived the attacks. Bruno was born in 1983 and was 17 at the time of the attack. He was removed from his home when he was five months old, and, after living with a great aunt for about five years, he was placed in foster care with Warren and Anna Smullen. They eventually adopted him. They also either adopted or were foster parents to other children as well. In May 2000, the household consisted of Warren, D, Warren's daughters Portia and June, and two of Warren's granddaughters, Erica (14) and Ashley (17). D got grounded for lying about being with a friend who might have been selling drugs. There was no evidence of physical punishment. D lost telephone privileges and was restricted to the home and outside yard. D was allowed to go to school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. D decided to kill Warren. Warren drove June to work, and D went to the kitchen and got the gloves and a knife and sat and waited for Warren to return. Warren returned and was sitting on a sofa drinking coffee and reading a newspaper when D crept up and began his assault. Portia, Erica, and Ashley were awakened by the noise and went downstairs and saw d standing in the living room with a large kitchen knife. D chased them with the knife. D hit Portia on the head with the blade of the knife, knocked her down, got on top of her, and tried to stab her in the abdomen. After a tussle as Portia attempted to grab the knife, D got up and ran back into the living room. Portia ran to a neighbor's house and called 911. D chased Erica and stabbed her in the shoulder. D kicked in a door and cut her throat and face. D left. Erica grabbed a phone and retreated to a closet to call 911. D returned and opened the closet door and stabbed her some more. She kicked him, and he dropped the knife, and she picked it up and pointed at him and ran out the door. Ashley was also chased into Warren’s room upstairs and the door was broken down with her face and throat being cut. Police arrived. D was given Miranda and the lied stating Erica had done the attacks. The Officer bluffed him saying Warren was still alive and that it was D who did the attacks. D then made a partial confession with half-truths and claimed that Warren beat him on a regular basis with wood as a weapon. D was tried for premeditated first-degree murder of his adoptive father, attempted first-degree murder of his nieces, and first-degree assault of his adoptive sister. D made clear at trial, he would be arguing perfect and imperfect self-defense. P argued that there was no evidence that Warren was an aggressor and D could only claim imperfect self-defense. An attempt was then made to produce evidence of abuse on the part of Warren, but there was no evidence Warren was an aggressor in this incident. There was significant evidence that Warren was in some ways, abusive and physical. There was evidence that D was extremely emotional when he knew he was in trouble and was scared at school that Warrant would kill him. D’s expert tried to testify as to D’s psychological profile, and the court refused. D was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder of his adoptive father, attempted first-degree murder of his nieces, and first-degree assault of his adoptive sister. D appealed. D appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed the convictions. Both parties appealed.