Maurice Dontrell Boykins v. Commonwealth of Virginia
1487161
Va. Ct. App.Jun 6, 2017Background
- On Dec. 20, 2013, a gunfight occurred at a strip-mall; the victim was shot in the right arm after being rushed from behind and exchanging fire.
- Security video showed a shooter in a green hooded sweatshirt with white sleeve stripes firing at and chasing the victim.
- Shortly after the shooting, Boykins arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound to his left arm; primer (gunshot) residue was found on both his hands.
- A green hooded sweatshirt matching the video was recovered from Boykins’s stepmother’s apartment; it had a round hole in the sleeve corresponding to Boykins’s wound.
- At trial the victim initially identified Boykins but later recanted; Boykins denied involvement and offered an uncorroborated alternative explanation for his injury.
- Boykins was convicted of multiple offenses (including attempted murder, malicious wounding, and maliciously shooting into an occupied building). Post-sentencing, clerical errors in written orders swapped the oral sentences for two counts.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Boykins) | Defendant's Argument (Commonwealth) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency — identity/perpetration | Evidence did not prove Boykins was the shooter; victim recanted | Video, victim’s initial ID, Boykins’s wound and primer residue, sweatshirt, and statements link him to the attack | Affirmed — combined circumstantial and direct evidence was sufficient to conclude Boykins initiated the gunfight and shot the victim |
| Sufficiency — malicious shooting into occupied building | Commonwealth failed to prove Boykins actually fired into the restaurant; could have been victim’s shots | Boykins is liable for foreseeable consequences; victim’s defensive firing was foreseeable (proximate causation) | Affirmed, but Boykins waived challenge to proximate-causation theory by failing to object at trial; appellate relief denied |
| Preservation of issues | Preserved motion to strike as to restaurant damage | Argued proximate-causation theory in response; court relied on it | Court held Boykins waived appellate review of the proximate-causation theory because he did not challenge it below |
| Sentencing clerical error | November 6, 2015 order imposed excessive sentence for attempted murder | Trial court intended the sentences as in the October 6 orders; November 6 reference was clerical error | Remanded to correct clerical errors under Code § 8.01-428; oral intent and prior orders control |
Key Cases Cited
- Riner v. Commonwealth, 268 Va. 296 (appellate standard for viewing facts in light most favorable to the Commonwealth)
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency review: any rational trier of fact)
- Commonwealth v. Hudson, 265 Va. 505 (treatment and equal weight of circumstantial and direct evidence)
- Brown v. Commonwealth, 278 Va. 523 (proximate causation principles in criminal cases)
- Gallimore v. Commonwealth, 246 Va. 441 (use of proximate causation in involuntary manslaughter context)
- Parham v. Commonwealth, 64 Va. App. 560 (credibility determinations are for the factfinder)