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Patterson v. Commonwealth

Court: Supreme Court of Virginia
Date filed: 2001-09-14
Citations: 551 S.E.2d 332, 262 Va. 301
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11 Citing Cases

Present:      All the Justices

JAMES EARL PATTERSON

v.   Record No. 001798       OPINION BY JUSTICE ELIZABETH B. LACY
                                       September 14, 2001
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

           FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY
                    James F. D'Alton, Jr., Judge

      James Earl Patterson received a death sentence upon a

plea of guilty to a charge of capital murder in the commission

of a rape, Code § 18.2-31(5), in the death of Joyce Sneed

Aldridge. 1    Although Patterson has waived his right of appeal,

Code § 17.1-313 mandates that we review the imposition of the

death sentence.     We must consider and determine whether the

sentence of death was imposed "under the influence of passion,

prejudice or any other arbitrary factor," and whether the

sentence is "excessive or disproportionate to the penalty

imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the

defendant."     Code § 17.1-313(C)(1) and (C)(2).

                                 BACKGROUND

      On October 11, 1987, the Prince George County Police

Department received a telephone call at approximately 11:35


      1
       Patterson also pled guilty to charges of abduction with
intent to defile, Code § 18.2-48, and rape, Code § 18.2-61,
and entered an "Alford plea," North Carolina v. Alford, 400
U.S. 25 (1970), to a charge of forcible sodomy, Code § 18.2-
67.1. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of life
imprisonment for the abduction and sodomy convictions.
Patterson has not appealed those convictions.
p.m. from a person identifying herself as Joyce Aldridge.     Ms.

Aldridge stated that she had been raped and stabbed.   When the

police arrived at Ms. Aldridge's home, they found the front

door ajar and a screen "knocked out" of the bathroom window at

the rear of the house.   The officers announced themselves and,

when there was no reply, they entered the house.   They found

Ms. Aldridge's partially clothed body on the floor of the

bathroom.   Her dress had been ripped from the neck, and cloth

ligatures, cut from bedding in the room, remained tied to her

right wrist.   She had been stabbed multiple times and could

not be resuscitated by the emergency medical crew.

     The police discovered signs of a struggle in the kitchen

of the home with a chair knocked over, a drawer containing

knives left open, and Ms. Aldridge's eyeglasses on the floor.

The door to Ms. Aldridge's bedroom had been kicked open and

footprints were found on the door.   Footprints of the same

type were found in the blood on the floor of the bedroom.     The

contents of Ms. Aldridge's purse had been dumped on the floor,

dresser drawers were open and ransacked, and the nightstand

had been knocked over.   There was a large amount of blood on

the bed and pillows and "[c]ast-off" blood spatters were on

the wall next to the bathroom.   The telephone cord had been

pulled from the wall and the doorknob to the bathroom door had

been pulled off the door.   Ms. Aldridge's blood was found on


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the telephone, the bathroom doorknob, and the latch on the

window screen found in the backyard.    These conditions

indicated that she had attempted to flee her attacker by

escaping through the window in the bathroom.

        The medical examiner found seventeen stab wounds.   Eight

of the wounds were to Ms. Aldridge's neck, four to her upper

back, one in her chest and several clustered in her abdominal

area.    The wounds ranged in depth from two to six inches.    Two

stab wounds to her aorta were fatal.    The medical examiner

also found a number of defensive wounds.

        Seminal fluid was recovered from the victim's rectum and

vagina and a semen stain was found on the bed.    This evidence

was preserved for testing.    However, the perpetrator of the

crime was not identified until over ten years later, when in

1998, the evidence was resubmitted to the Virginia DNA

Laboratory.    The subsequent testing yielded a "cold hit" – a

match with a DNA profile maintained by the Virginia DNA Data

Bank.    The tested DNA matched that of James Earl Patterson who

was serving a twenty-five year sentence at the Greensville

Correctional Center for a rape unrelated to the rape of Ms.

Aldridge.

        The police obtained a search warrant for a fresh sample

of Patterson's blood and additional testing confirmed that the

DNA material found at Ms. Aldridge's house and that of the


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defendant were consistent.    The probability of finding someone

else with the same DNA profile was less than 1 in 5.5 billion.

When confronted with this information by the police, Patterson

denied knowing Ms. Aldridge or ever being in her house.

     In March 2000, Patterson agreed to discuss the crime with

one of the police officers who had been involved in the

Aldridge investigation if an agreement could be reached

regarding his ability to see his family at the prison.     After

the family visit was arranged, Patterson confessed to raping

and murdering Ms. Aldridge.   Patterson said he knew Ms.

Aldridge and went to her home on October 11, 1987 to steal

money for drugs.   He had planned to enter through a basement

window but the window was locked.    While he was looking for a

utility knife he had dropped in the yard, Ms. Aldridge let her

dog out in the yard.   Patterson went to the door and asked Ms.

Aldridge if he could borrow a flashlight on the pretext of

needing it to search for lost car keys.   When Ms. Aldridge

opened the door, he forced his way into the house, kicked the

door shut and demanded her pocketbook.    He pushed her to the

bedroom to get the purse.    When the purse contained only

coins, Patterson became "even more violent."   After tying her

hands behind her back with strips cut from the bed linen, he

raped her.




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     Patterson went to the kitchen looking for a knife because

he "wasn't going to leave any witnesses behind."      He found a

knife and stabbed Ms. Aldridge three times in the abdomen.

     Patterson went back outside to find the lost utility

knife, but reentered the house to make sure "she's gone."       He

kicked in the bedroom door which was shut and saw a telephone

cord leading to the bathroom.    He forced the bathroom door

open and Ms. Aldridge came out.       Patterson "hit[] her with the

knife 4 or 5 times."   After she "went down the wall," he left

by way of the front door.

     Prior to the entry of the guilty pleas, Patterson was

examined by two psychologists, both of whom determined that

Patterson was competent to tender a guilty plea and to make

his own decisions in the case.    Against the advice of counsel,

Patterson entered the guilty plea.      The trial court found

Patterson guilty of capital murder and ordered a pre-sentence

report.

     At the sentencing hearing, the Commonwealth asserted that

the killing of Ms. Aldridge was vile in that it involved

torture, depravity of mind, and aggravated battery.      In

support of this contention, the Commonwealth relied on the

testimony given at the guilt phase, that the victim did not

die instantaneously, that the knife attack was carried out in

a "savage[,] methodical manner," and that many more stab


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wounds were inflicted than necessary to accomplish the murder

of the victim.    Chabrol v. Commonwealth, 245 Va. 327, 335, 427

S.E.2d 374, 378 (1993); Hoke v. Commonwealth, 237 Va. 303,

316, 377 S.E.2d 595, 603, cert. denied, 491 U.S. 910 (1989).

       The Commonwealth also asserted that Patterson would be a

future danger to society.   In support of this position, the

Commonwealth presented evidence of felony convictions for rape

and grand larceny based on a 1988 incident in which Patterson

asked two women for a ride home from a party.   When the driver

exited the car, Patterson shoved her to the ground, got back

in the car, and broke the handle of the passenger door to trap

the other woman in the car.   Patterson "punched" the passenger

in the face, drove the car to another location, and then raped

her.   According to the Commonwealth, these crimes, committed

after the rape and murder of Ms. Aldridge, along with the

defendant's extensive juvenile record and fourteen instances

of institutional offenses, including fighting, assault, and

possession of drugs and intoxicants, support the conclusion

that Patterson is a continuing danger to society.

       Patterson refused to present evidence in mitigation of

his sentence and instructed his attorney not to do so.   In

exercising his right of elocution, Patterson expressed his

sorrow and remorse for his actions and requested a sentence of

death, stating that if he received a life sentence he could


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not promise that "sometime that I may not spark out and ruin

more lives."   In imposing the death sentence, the trial court

found that the aggravating factors of vileness in the

commission of the crime and of future dangerousness to society

were both supported by the evidence.

     Pursuant to Code § 17.1-313(C), we must consider "any

errors in the trial enumerated by appeal" in any case where a

sentence of death is imposed.   Accordingly, the trial court is

required to forward the trial record of such a case to this

Court where an appeal of right will be heard.    Code § 17.1-

313(B).    On October 16, 2000, Patterson through counsel filed

a Motion Not to Pursue Appeal with this Court.   By order dated

November 15, 2000, this Court ordered the matter returned to

the trial court for a determination whether Patterson's

decision not to appeal was made voluntarily and intelligently.

     At a competency hearing held on January 4, 2001 in

accordance with this Court's order, Patterson signed a waiver

under oath, stating he did not want his case reviewed for "any

alleged errors of the trial" and waived his right "to file an

opening brief and to have my attorney present any oral

arguments or to otherwise in any manner pursue appellate

review."   The trial court entered an order finding that

Patterson knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waived his

right to appeal.


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                           DISCUSSION

     While a defendant may waive his rights of appellate

review and instruct his attorneys to refrain from seeking a

commutation of his death sentence, a defendant may not waive

the review process mandated by Code § 17.1-313(C).   "[T]he

purpose of the review process is to assure the fair and proper

application of the death penalty statutes in this Commonwealth

and to instill public confidence in the administration of

justice."   Akers v. Commonwealth, 260 Va. 358, 364, 535 S.E.2d

674, 677 (2000).   Accordingly, pursuant to our order of

November 15, 2000, Patterson's counsel has filed a brief

limited to the issues we must consider pursuant to Code

§ 17.1-313(C) and participates in this process as an officer

of the Court.   Id.

     We first consider whether the death sentence in this case

"was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice or any

other arbitrary factor."   Code § 17.1-313(C)(1).   This crime

was brutally executed.   The victim was bound, raped, and then

repeatedly stabbed so that there would be no witness to the

crime.   The evidence shows that the victim apparently

attempted to survive her attack by hiding in the bathroom,

placing a call to the police, and then, when her attacker

returned, trying to escape out a rear window in the bathroom.

We find no indication in the record that, in imposing the


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death sentence for these acts, the trial court's sentencing

decision was influenced by passion, prejudice, or any

arbitrary factor, but rather we find that it was based

entirely upon a reasonable evaluation of the evidence.

     We next focus our evaluation on whether the sentence of

death in this case is "excessive or disproportionate to the

penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime

and the defendant."    Code § 17.1-313(C)(2).   We have

accumulated the records of all capital murder cases reviewed

by this Court.   Code § 17.1-313(E).   The records include not

only those capital murder cases in which the death penalty was

imposed, but also those in which the trial court or jury

imposed a life sentence and the defendant petitioned this

Court for an appeal.

     In making this proportionality review, we have focused

specifically on cases in which the facts are similar to those

of this case – where the predicate offense is rape and the

death sentence was imposed upon a finding that both

aggravating factors, vileness and future dangerousness, were

present.   We conclude that, in considering both the crime and

the defendant, Patterson's sentence is neither excessive nor

disproportionate to the penalties imposed by other sentencing

bodies in the Commonwealth for comparable acts.     See, e.g.,

Payne v. Commonwealth, 257 Va. 216, 509 S.E.2d 293


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(1999) (forced entry into victim's home; robbery, rape, and

murder of excessive beating with a hammer); Beck v.

Commonwealth, 253 Va. 373, 484 S.E.2d 898 (1997) (beat, raped,

and murdered victim in her home; sentence imposed upon a plea

of guilty); Williams v. Commonwealth, 248 Va. 528, 450 S.E.2d

365 (1994) (forced entry into victim's home and committed

robbery, rape, murder, and arson); Hoke, 237 Va. 303, 377

S.E.2d 595 (1989) (victim bound, stabbed, raped, and murdered

in home); Mason v. Commonwealth, 219 Va. 1091, 254 S.E.2d 116

(1979) (beat, tortured, raped, and murdered victim in her

home; sentence imposed upon a guilty plea).

     Having found no error below and perceiving no other

reason to commute or set aside the sentence of death, we will

affirm the judgment of the trial court.

                                                      Affirmed.




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