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Fitzpatrick v. State

The defendant failed to show that the trial court exhibited bias in sentencing him.

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A jury convicted Michael Fitzpatrick of two counts of burglary1 and one count of possession of tools for the commission of a crime.2 The trial court denied his motion for a new trial, and he appeals, contending that he received ineffective assistance of counsel; that the trial court exhibited bias in sentencing him; and that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,3 the record shows that around midnight on November 7, 2008, a security guard saw Fitzpatrick pushing a baby stroller behind a shopping plaza containing a Metro PCS store. When the guard identified himself, Fitzpatrick ran away and jumped on top of a storage unit. The guard testified that he chased Fitzpatrick for about five minutes, never losing sight of him, then drew his weapon and apprehended him. In the stroller, the guard found cell phones, earpieces, and a radio. While the guard waited for the police, the owner of the Metro PCS store arrived because a silent alarm in his store had activated. He identified the baby stroller and its contents as having been taken from his store. When the police arrived, they searched Fitzpatrick and found screwdrivers and twelve cell phones in his pockets, as well as wire cutters and a flashlight in his duffel bag. The police also found that a hole had been chiseled through the cinder block and sheet rock into the back storage area of the store, and an additional hole from the storage area into the store itself. Fitzpatrick’s hair, clothing, and boots were covered in a white chalky substance consistent with dust near the holes. The guard testified that he first saw Fitzpatrick and the stroller about five feet from one of the holes. The holes were big enough for a person to crawl through, and hammers not belonging to the store owner were found inside the store.

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