Rosalynn White Spruill v. Commonwealth

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Chief Judge Fitzpatrick, Judges Bumgardner and Felton
Argued at Salem, Virginia
ROSALYNN WHITE SPRUILL
MEMORANDUM OPINION * BY
v. Record No. 3054-01-3 JUDGE WALTER S. FELTON, JR.
NOVEMBER 26, 2002
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF DANVILLE
Joseph W. Milam, Jr., Judge
Robert W. Williams, Jr., Assistant Public
Defender (Office of the Public Defender, on
brief), for appellant.
Steven A. Witmer, Assistant Attorney General
(Jerry W. Kilgore, Attorney General, on
brief), for appellee.
Rosalynn Spruill was convicted in a bench trial of (1) aiding
and abetting forgery, in violation of Code § 18.2-172; (2) aiding
and abetting uttering, in violation of Code § 18.2-172; and (3)
aiding and abetting petit larceny, in violation of Code
§ 18.2-96(2). On appeal, she contends the evidence was
insufficient to support a conviction on all three counts because
she did not commit an overt act or share the criminal intent of
the actual perpetrator. We affirm the judgment of the trial
court.
* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not
designated for publication.
I. BACKGROUND
A. OFFENSES AND INVESTIGATION
On the afternoon of January 31, 2001, Rosalynn Spruill,
Pamela Wright, and Audrey Johnson entered a Toys-R-Us in the
city of Danville as part of a daylong shopping trip. Ms. Wright
is Spruill's niece and lives with her in Greensboro, North
Carolina. Ms. Johnson, also a Greensboro resident, is their
friend and closely resembled Spruill.
At 1:42 p.m., Doricia Eanes, a cashier at the Toys-R-Us,
was presented with a counterfeit American Express traveler's
check in the amount of one hundred dollars. A black woman with
reddish-orange hair tendered the traveler's check as payment for
some store merchandise. To complete the transaction, the woman
presented a driver's license identifying her as "Bridgett Hayes"
and signed the check using that name.
During the transaction, Ms. Eanes observed two other black
women standing at the register with the customer who presented
the counterfeit check. She saw neither of these two women
handle the merchandise nor participate in the transaction. Ms.
Eanes did not observe any interaction between the three women
other than their standing together at the cash register. When
the transaction was complete, the women left the store together.
At approximately 7:10 p.m. that evening, a 2001 Chevy
Blazer, traveling eighty miles per hour in a posted fifty-five
miles per hour zone, sped past Virginia State Trooper Steve
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Shelton, Sr. on Route 29 near Gretna, in Pittsylvania County.
Before he could activate his blue emergency lights, the vehicle
pulled over. When the vehicle stopped, Trooper Shelton saw
Spruill get out of the rear passenger side door and get into the
driver's seat, switching places with the driver, Pamela Wright.
Trooper Shelton approached the vehicle, and Spruill gave
him her North Carolina driver's license. Despite Spruill's
insistence that she was the one driving, Trooper Shelton also
asked to see Ms. Wright's license. Ms. Wright admitted that she
had been driving and that her license was suspended. She gave
Trooper Shelton her social security number, which he used to run
a criminal background check. The background check reflected
that Ms. Wright had an outstanding warrant and that the vehicle
had been reported stolen from the Greensboro, North Carolina
area. Trooper Shelton placed all of the vehicle's occupants
under arrest.
Incident to the arrest, Trooper Shelton impounded the
vehicle and conducted an inventory search. The search yielded
twenty-seven, $100 denomination, blank counterfeit American
Express traveler's checks. The counterfeit traveler's checks
were discovered in a pouch located on the back of the front
passenger seat, directly in front of where Spruill was sitting
immediately before the vehicle was stopped by Trooper Shelton.
In addition to the counterfeit traveler's checks, Trooper
Shelton found numerous packages from Toys-R-Us and Wal-Mart as
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well as sales receipts from Toys-R-Us, Wal-Mart, Footlocker, and
Target. Trooper Shelton contacted Detective J.T. Henderson of
the Danville Police Department and gave the traveler's checks to
him.
During his investigation, Detective Henderson determined
the traveler's checks to be counterfeit and that one of them was
presented on January 31, 2001, to Toys-R-Us in Danville in
exchange for merchandise. In addition, he obtained photographs
of the three women arrested by Trooper Shelton. Detective
Henderson created three photo arrays with each woman's photo
shown in a different array and in a different location within
the array. On February 6, 2001, Detective Henderson showed each
of the arrays to Ms. Eanes. She identified the photo of Spruill
as the woman who signed and presented her with the traveler's
check.
B. TRIAL
Spruill was charged with (1) forgery, in violation of Code
§ 18.2-172; (2) uttering, in violation of Code § 18.2-172; and
(3) petit larceny, in violation of Code § 18.2-96(2). During
the bench trial, a certificate of analysis, prepared by Richard
Horton of the Virginia Division of Forensic Science, was
admitted into evidence. The certificate of analysis provided
the results of a comparative handwriting analysis performed on
the counterfeit traveler's check and twenty-one known writings
by Spruill. The forensic analysis determined that "[t]here are
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indications the author of Item 1, Rosalynn Spruill, did not
write the questioned entries on the front of [the American
Express traveler's check]."
Baron Daniel, director of the security division for
American Express, was called to testify regarding the
counterfeit checks.
Q [Mr. Reynolds, Commonwealth's attorney]:
Without revealing any trade secrets or
anything, can you tell us whether or not
that particular Item #2 is an authentic
American Express Traveler's Check?
A [Baron Daniel]: The most obvious feature
is the Centurion in the lower left center of
the front of the check, in the center. This
is supposed to be a silver holographic foil
that illuminates in different shades when
you turn the check. That's the most
obvious. We don't duplicate our serial
numbers and there have been several
replications of this serial number on the
night of this incident that we are already
aware of.
Q: In addition to the twenty-seven checks
that were recovered by the police in this
particular incident?
A: Yes.
Q: Had there been other instances where
checks of that same serial number had been
passed?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Where?
A: Initially in the Winston Salem [sic],
Greensboro area. That started around the
18th of January.
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Q: Where else?
A: Then to this area of Virginia,
Martinsville, Danville, Roanoke and that's
most of my recollection, around the
Greensboro area.
Q: How about Lynchburg?
A: Lynchburg, that's right.
Q: All right. Is that an authentic
traveler's check?
A: No, sir, it's an ink jet photocopy of a
traveler's check.
At trial, Spruill testified in her own defense. She
admitted she was with Ms. Wright and Ms. Johnson at the
Toys-R-Us on January 31, 2001. She further testified that she
and Ms. Johnson looked similar in appearance and that on the day
of the offense, Ms. Johnson's hair color was burnt orange.
However, she claimed she had no knowledge of the transaction
between Ms. Johnson and Ms. Eanes at the Danville Toys-R-Us.
Spruill testified that at the time of the transaction between
Ms. Johnson and Ms. Eanes, she was not at the cash register, but
sitting down on a bench near the door. She further testified
that when she got into the vehicle with her roommate-niece that
morning in Greensboro, North Carolina, she did not know where
they were going, and was just along for the ride. She denied
knowing why they traveled to Virginia to shop at Wal-Mart,
Toys-R-Us, or Footlocker. Spruill was found guilty of aiding
and abetting forgery, uttering, and petit larceny.
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II. ANALYSIS
Spruill contends on appeal that the evidence was insufficient
to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she aided and abetted
forgery, uttering, and petit larceny. We disagree.
When the sufficiency of the evidence is
challenged on appeal, it is well established
that we must view the evidence in the light
most favorable to the Commonwealth, granting
to it all reasonable inferences fairly
deducible therefrom. The conviction will be
disturbed only if plainly wrong or without
evidence to support it.
Jones v. Commonwealth, 13 Va. App. 566, 572, 414 S.E.2d 193, 196
(1992). The credibility of the witnesses and the weight
accorded their testimony are matters solely within the province
of the fact finder. Long v. Commonwealth, 8 Va. App. 194, 199,
379 S.E.2d 473, 476 (1989).
"The law is settled that mere presence is not sufficient to
establish that one is a principal in the second degree, an aider
and abettor to the commission of a crime." Hall v.
Commonwealth, 225 Va. 533, 536, 303 S.E.2d 903, 904 (1983).
However:
it is certain that proof that a person is
present at the commission of a crime without
disapproving or opposing it, is evidence
from which, in connection with other
circumstances, it is competent for the
[judge or] jury to infer that he assented
thereto, lent to it his countenance and
approval, and was thereby aiding and
abetting the same.
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Hampton v. Commonwealth, 32 Va. App. 644, 648-49, 529 S.E.2d 843,
845 (2000) (quoting Foster v. Commonwealth, 179 Va. 96, 100, 18
S.E.2d 314, 316 (1942)).
In considering the totality of the circumstances, the
evidence in this case establishes that Spruill and her companions
undertook a scheme to present counterfeit traveler's checks to
stores in Virginia. As part of that larger scheme, a counterfeit
traveler's check was passed at the Danville Toys-R-Us. Mr.
Daniel, the security division director for American Express,
testified that beginning around January 18, 2001, counterfeit
checks of the same serial number as the Toys-R-Us check were
initially passed in the Greensboro and Winston-Salem, North
Carolina area where Spruill and Ms. Wright were residents.
Approximately a week and a half later the counterfeit checks began
showing up in Martinsville, Danville, Lynchburg, and Roanoke.
On January 31, 2001, Spruill got into a stolen vehicle with
her niece and housemate, Pamela Wright, and another friend,
Audrey Johnson, whom she resembled in appearance. The trio left
Greensboro, North Carolina for an all-day shopping spree in
Virginia. Once in Virginia, the women made stops at common
retailers, including Wal-Mart, Footlocker, and Toys-R-Us, in the
Danville and Lynchburg areas.
At the Danville Toys-R-Us, Ms. Johnson presented a
counterfeit traveler's check in exchange for merchandise while
Spruill and Ms. Wright stood by. Twenty-seven additional blank
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counterfeit traveler's checks, bearing the same serial number as
the counterfeit check passed by Ms. Johnson at the Danville
Toys-R-Us, were discovered in a pouch on the back of the seat
immediately in front of where Spruill was sitting when Trooper
Shelton first stopped their stolen vehicle.
The trial judge was not required to believe Spruill's
testimony that she was unaware of the purpose and destination of
their trip when she lived with Ms. Wright and was good friends
with Ms. Johnson, whom she resembled. The trial judge also was
not required to believe that she possessed no knowledge of the
counterfeit traveler's checks or knowledge of the transaction at
the Toys-R-Us when twenty-seven counterfeit traveler's checks
were discovered in a pouch immediately in front of where she was
sitting when Trooper Shelton stopped their vehicle. Finally,
the trial judge was not required to believe that, at the
Toys-R-Us, she was sitting on a bench near the door when Ms.
Johnson presented the counterfeit check when the cashier placed
her at the cash register with the other two women during the
transaction. Finding Spruill's testimony to be incredible, the
trial judge may infer that she was attempting to conceal her
guilt. Black v. Commonwealth, 222 Va. 838, 842, 284 S.E.2d 608,
610 (1981).
Viewing the totality of the circumstances, the trial judge
could reasonably conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Spruill
assented to, lent her countenance and approval, encouraged, and
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was thereby aiding and abetting a common plan and scheme to
commit forgery, uttering, and petit larceny, using counterfeit
American Express traveler's checks.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Affirmed.
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