STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v. Forsyth County
Nos. 00 CRS 54126-27
01 CRS 58
TAURUS ANTHONY DAVIS
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General
Marvin R. Waters, for the State.
Haakon Thorsen, for defendant-appellant.
BIGGS, Judge.
Defendant appeals from his conviction of possession with
intent to sell and deliver cocaine, delivery of cocaine, and
conspiracy to sell and deliver cocaine. He also pled guilty to
habitual felon status. The trial court sentenced defendant to two
consecutive prison terms of 90 to 117 months. We find no error.
The State presented evidence tending to show the following:
on 8 August 2000, Officers J.E. Bowman and L.L. Sims of the
Winston-Salem Police Department engaged in an undercover “buy bust”
operation in the city. The two officers approached a woman sitting
in a chair at the curb in front of a duplex apartment building
located at 314 East 14th Street. The officers asked the woman
whether she had anything for sale. She responded by asking themwhat they needed. The officers replied, “a twenty,” meaning a rock
of crack cocaine worth twenty dollars. The woman then motioned to
a man standing on the porch of the duplex apartment building. The
man, whom the officers identified as defendant, walked down and
joined the lady at the curb. A second lady, subsequently
identified as Doris Ford, joined them. Defendant pulled out a
small tissue from his waistband and handed it to Ms. Ford. Ms.
Ford then handed Officer Bowman a piece of a substance subsequently
identified as crack cocaine. Officer Bowman gave Ms. Ford a twenty
dollar bill. Ms. Ford then handed the money and the remainder of
the substance to defendant.
Defendant did not present any evidence and brings forward two
assignments of error. First, he contends the trial court erred by
refusing his request for an instruction on entrapment. He argues
the instruction is supported by the following testimony of Ms.
Ford: “My true opinion _ my true opinion was [the lady in the
chair] was setting us up. That's my true opinion, for real.”
"[A] defendant must first present credible evidence tending to
support a defense of entrapment before a trial court may submit the
question to a jury." State v. Thompson, 141 N.C. App. 698, 706,
543 S.E.2d 160, 165 (2001) (quoting State v. Walker, 295 N.C. 510,
513, 246 S.E.2d 748, 749-50 (1978)). "Entrapment is the inducement
of a person to commit a criminal offense not contemplated by that
person for the mere purpose of instituting a criminal action
against him." State v. Davis, 126 N.C. App. 415, 417-18, 485
S.E.2d 329, 331 (1997). "To establish the defense of entrapment,two elements must be shown: 1) law enforcement officers or their
agents engaged in acts of persuasion, trickery or fraud to induce
the defendant to commit the crime; and (2) the criminal design
originated in the minds of those officials, rather than with the
defendant." Id.
In the present case, there is no evidence that the law
enforcement officers employed acts of persuasion, trickery or fraud
to induce defendant to commit a crime which he was not otherwise
disposed to commit. The evidence is uncontradicted that the
officers simply asked to purchase cocaine from the lady seated at
the curb. This assignment of error is overruled.
Secondly, defendant contends the trial court erred by denying
his motion to sequester the State's witnesses. A motion to
sequester witnesses is addressed to the discretion of the trial
judge, whose ruling will not be disturbed in the absence of a
showing that the decision was so arbitrary it could not have been
the result of a reasoned decision. State v. Call, 349 N.C. 382,
508 S.E.2d 496 (1998). This showing is not made. This assignment
of error is also overruled.
We hold defendant received a fair trial, free of error.
No error.
Judges WALKER and THOMAS concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).
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