High court upholds murder conviction
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: February 5, 2010
MONTPELIER – The Vermont Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a South Reading man who killed his best friend during the friend's birthday party.
The court affirmed the second-degree murder conviction of Matthew Stevens, 50, who shot and killed Carl Ackley during Ackley's 44th birthday party Aug. 1, 2006. According to court documents, Stevens threw Ackley a birthday party at Stevens' mobile home, which he shared with his girlfriend.
Stevens' girlfriend stayed in the mobile home while Stevens and Ackley drank alcohol outside, records state, and around 9:30 p.m., Stevens entered the mobile home, told his girlfriend he was going to kill Ackley, and returned outside with pistol in hand.
The girlfriend heard three shots and called 911 and Stevens returned inside, telling her Ackley was going to attack him, records state, and the girlfriend relayed this information to the dispatcher.
During the trial, Judge Theresa S. DiMauro admitted the first 14 minutes of the 911 call — including the hearsay statements from Stevens that Ackley was going to attack him — under the "excited utterance exception" to the hearsay rule. Under the exception, hearsay is allowed during times of excitement or stress because the speaker's powers of reflection and fabrication have been temporarily suspended.
Stevens' appeal centered on DiMauro's ruling not to allow a portion of the 911 recording near the end of the hour-long call, in which the girlfriend again told the dispatcher that Ackley was going to attack Stevens.
"Whether the declarant (the girlfriend) in this case was still under the stress of the shooting at the end of the 911 call was obviously a close question, and we are therefore reluctant to find an abuse of discretion or second-guess the ruling of the trial court, who was obviously in a better position to evaluate the testimony and weigh the evidence," read the three-judge decision.
The court noted several statements from Stevens that Ackley was going to attack him had been admitted, including the beginning of the 911 call and from Stevens himself as he was being transported by police.
"What you say a moment after an event can be quite different than what you say an hour after an event and the defense didn't introduce evidence to show she was still in the throes of excitement," said Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand, who prosecuted the case.
Stevens is serving a life sentence in Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville, Ky.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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