Hester v. State

Given the overwhelming evidence that the defendant killed the victim, wrapped his body in bags and duct tape and dumped it in the woods, any error in the trial court's failure to sequester the victim's sisters was harmless.

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The appellant, Harold Hester, appeals from his conviction for the malice murder of William Charnock.1 On appeal, he contends, among other things, that the trial court erred in failing to sequester the victim’s sisters during the trial, that the trial court erred in admitting certain testimony under the necessity exception to the hearsay rule, and that the trial court erred in permitting a state’s witness to testify as an expert on “blood spatter.” For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Several friends and relatives of Charnock’s testified that they last saw or spoke with him on April 4, 1994. At that time, Charnock was living with the appellant, Harold Hester. On the evening of April 4, Hester went to the home of Nathan Page, a friend that Hester had known for many years, and told him that he had killed Charnock. Although Page testified that Hester previously had talked about killing Charnock, Page stated that he did not believe Hester when he stated he had done so. Page also testified that Hester told him that he had waited for Charnock to come home that day, and had twice hit him over the head with a hammer. Page added that Hester asked him to help move Charnock’s body and dump it in some woods, but that Page refused to do so. In addition, Hester’s girlfriend testified that Hester asked her to tell police that she had been with Hester on the evening of April 4, but that she would not do so. She also testified that after Charnock disappeared, she was riding in Hester’s car, and found Charnock’s wallet, including his credit cards and license. There was evidence that Charnock had previously loaned about $8,000 to $10,000 to Hester; that a large portion of that loan remained unpaid; that Charnock was angry that Hester had not repaid him; and that at some point before his death, Charnock had discovered that Hester had forged a few of Charnock’s checks. An FBI agent testified that when he searched Hester’s belongings, he found that Hester had three checks of Charnock’s that had been made payable to Hester.

Hester v. State

Given the overwhelming evidence that the defendant killed the victim, wrapped his body in bags and duct tape and dumped it in the woods, any error in the trial court's failure to sequester the victim's sisters was harmless.

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