STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v. Wake County
Nos. 00 CRS 16123-24
ANTHONY DEMARCUS LANGSTON
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General
Alexandra M. Hightower, for the State.
James M. Bell for defendant-appellant.
TYSON, Judge.
Anthony Demarcus Langston (“defendant”) was found guilty of
two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and was sentenced to
consecutive prison terms of a minimum of sixty months and a maximum
of eighty-one months.
His sole assignment of error concerns the denial of his motion
at the close of all the evidence to dismiss the charges for
insufficient evidence.
A motion to dismiss requires the court to determine whether
substantial evidence is presented to establish every element of the
offense charged and to identify the defendant as a perpetrator.
State v. Powell, 299 N.C. 95, 98, 261 S.E.2d 114, 117 (1980). In
deciding the motion, the court must examine the evidence in thelight most favorable to the State and give the State the benefit of
every reasonable inference that may be drawn from the evidence.
State v. Benson, 331 N.C. 537, 544, 417 S.E.2d 756, 761 (1992).
Contradictions and discrepancies in the evidence are to be
disregarded and left for resolution by the jury. Id. The test is
the same whether the evidence is direct, circumstantial or both.
State v. Earnhardt, 307 N.C. 62, 68, 296 S.E.2d 649, 653 (1982).
If the evidence supports a reasonable inference of guilt, then the
court must deny the motion and allow the jurors to determine
whether the evidence satisfies them beyond a reasonable doubt of
the defendant's guilt. State v. Jones, 303 N.C. 500, 504, 279
S.E.2d 835, 838 (1981).
The evidence tends to show that three men armed with a sawed-
off shotgun and pistols took wallets and cellular telephones from
two men chatting in the parking lot of Blinco's, a sports bar in
Raleigh, at approximately 2:30 a.m. on 21 June 1999. One of the
perpetrators made a call on one of the stolen cellular telephones
shortly after taking the telephone. The recipient of the call
identified Brian Darden (“Darden”) as the person making the call.
Darden subsequently confessed to robbing the two men. Raleigh
Police Department officers seized from Darden's residence a
cellular telephone identified as one of those taken from the
victims. Darden identified one accomplice by name, Rico Merritt
(“Merritt”), and the other accomplice in court as defendant. The
victims identified defendant as one of the three perpetrators. One
victim also identified Merritt and Darden from photographs as twoof the robbers. Merritt also testified and identified Darden and
defendant as his accomplices in robbing the two men.
Defendant argues the evidence is insufficient to identify him
as one of the perpetrators. In support of his argument, he cites
evidence that no victim identified defendant as a perpetrator until
nine months after the crime, that one victim expressed lack of
positiveness in making identifications from photograph lineups, and
that the other victim gave vague descriptions of the perpetrators
to the police. We reject defendant's argument.
When a witness has “a reasonable possibility of observation
sufficient to permit subsequent identification,” the credibility of
the identification testimony is for the jury to resolve. State v.
Miller, 270 N.C. 726, 732, 154 S.E.2d 902, 906 (1967). Any doubt
as to the identification does not justify the granting of a motion
to dismiss unless the identification is inherently incredible given
the physical conditions under which the observation is made. Id.
Here, the evidence shows that the victims viewed the perpetrators,
whose faces were visible, in a well-lighted parking lot for
approximately five minutes. They had a reasonable opportunity of
observation sufficient to make an identification. The victims'
identifications of defendant are corroborated by the testimony of
Darden and Merritt, two confessed perpetrators.
We hold the trial court properly denied the motion to dismiss.
We find no error.
No error.
Judges GREENE and HUDSON concur. Report per Rule 30(e).
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