Leslie Small found guilty on all counts

A Sussex County jury found Leslie Small guilty on all counts about 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Small faces seven felony charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, in the death of June McCarson, 78, whom he met as a client while working Comfort Ride Express.  Prosecutors say Small, 53, entered McCarson’s Lewes home, Nov. 11, 2009, after driving her on three errands.  According to his own testimony, Small tried to choke McCarson and then stabbed her repeatedly with a pair of scissors.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Small said he did not intend to hurt McCarson; he just wanted to steal her money. “All I could think about was getting her pocketbook to keep getting high,” Small said.

In giving instructions before deliberations began, Judge Richard F. Stokes told the jury, “The defendant’s state of mind is at issue here.”

Retiring for deliberation shortly before noon, the jury returned to the courtroom three times.  The first time, around 1 p.m., jurors requested a second viewing of a video of Small being interviewed by a detective after his arrest, about a day-and-a-half after the murder.  In the video, Small admits to murdering McCarson but says he was too intoxicated on crack cocaine to control his actions.

The second time, around 2:30 p.m., jurors asked Stokes to clarify the term “state of mind.”  Stokes told jurors to review instructions he had given them prior to deliberation to determine the definition relating to Small’s indictment.  In one of the two first-degree murder charges, Small is accused of acting intentionally.  In the second murder charge, he is accused of acting recklessly.

The second question concerned the charge of second-degree burglary.  Stokes told jurors Small could be found guilty if he entered or remained unlawfully in McCarson’s home.

The third time jurors faced Stokes was to request a recess for the day.  Stokes granted the request and chose not to sequester the jury.

Closing statements from Prosecutors Peggy Marshall and David Hume asserted Small is guilty of intentionally and consciously murdering McCarson.  Marshall told jurors that Small knew McCarson was elderly and frail.  Small also knew McCarson had cash because he had accompanied her to the bank earlier the day of the murder, Marshall said.

Small wants the jury to think he was not in his right mind, she said.  “But he acted with calculation that day.”  Marshall said Small made a conscious decision to take McCarson’s purse by force, to choke her and to stab her to death.  “He continued to stab her over and over again,” Marshall said.  “He was not going to leave that house until she was dead.”

Defense attorney Stephen Callaway showed jurors a transcript of the video interview with police.  In the interview, Small tells Detective William Porter he did not know what he was doing at the time of the murder.

“Was it his intent to commit homicide? No,” Callaway said.  “Nothing occurred when he picked her up from Happy Harry’s; nothing occurred on the way home.”

Callaway said Small’s heavy use of crack cocaine prior to the crime caused Small to act recklessly and unreasonably.  Driving becomes a subconscious act after years of experience, Callaway said; that is how Small was able to drive while intoxicated the day of the murder without causing a traffic accident.

His ability to drive does not mean it was his conscious intent to murder McCarson, Callaway said.  “This horrible event occurred because of his consumption of cocaine; his need and desire to keep that high,” he said.

Callaway said Small does not deny responsibility for the murder, but testimony and evidence show his actions were reckless, not intentional.

During the state’s rebuttal, Hume said voluntary intoxication is not a valid defense for a criminal charge.  “That’s the law, and that’s common sense,” Hume said.

Small could have chosen to rob McCarson and leave, Hume said, but he did not.  Instead, Small bypassed using blunt force on McCarson and chose to locate a sharp object to stab her with, Hume said.

“His intent was to kill her,” he said.  “He is raining blows down on her with these scissors.”  Throughout closing statements, prosecutors displayed graphic images from McCarson’s autopsy and the crime scene to jurors.

“Calculating.  Intentional.  He knew exactly what he was doing and tried to get away with it,” Hume said.