Tichnell V. Maryland

On August 23, 1979, Richard Danny Tichnell was found guilty by a jury of the wilful, deliberate and premeditated first degree murder of Deputy Sheriff David Livengood. The State sought imposition of the death penalty under Maryland's capital punishment statute, Maryland Code (1957, 1982 Repl. Vol.), Article 27, §§ 412-414, inclusive. Tichnell waived his statutory right to have the jury determine whether the death penalty should be imposed upon him; he elected instead to have the trial judge decide the issue. The court sentenced him to death. On appeal, we affirmed the murder conviction but vacated the death sentence on the ground that it had been imposed under the influence of an "arbitrary factor" in violation of Art. 27, § 414 (e) (1). We remanded for a new sentencing hearing. Tichnell v. State, 287 Md. 695, 415 A.2d 830 (1980) (Tichnell I). Thereafter, Tichnell elected to have a jury determine whether the death penalty should be imposed upon him. The jury concluded that death was the appropriate penalty. On appeal, we again vacated the death sentence and remanded for a new sentencing hearing; we concluded that the trial judge had committed reversible error in admitting certain prior recorded trial testimony in evidence over Tichnell's objection. Tichnell v. State, 290 Md. 43, 427 A.2d 991 (1981) (Tichnell II). At his third capital sentencing hearing, Tichnell again elected to be sentenced by a jury. The jury imposed the death penalty and this appeal followed.