STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v. Wayne County
No. 00 CRS 52024
MARCUS JAMAL ROUSE,
Defendant.
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General M.
Lynne Weaver, for the State.
Kevin F. MacQueen for defendant appellant.
ELMORE, Judge.
Defendant Marcus Jamal Rouse was charged with possessing a
firearm by a convicted felon and three counts of discharging a
firearm into occupied property. On 2 March 2001, a jury found
defendant guilty of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon, but
the trial court declared a mistrial with respect to the remaining
three charges. Defendant was retried on the three counts of
discharging a firearm into occupied property later that month. The
State's evidence tended to show that on 7 March 2000, Terry Graham
lived in a mobile home at Tanglewood Trailer Court with his fiancee
and daughter. Graham went to the front door at approximately 1:00
a.m. to make sure his screen door was latched before retiring forthe night. Graham opened the front door and his newly acquired dog
ran out of the home. Graham called to his dog, but the dog
continued down the road. Graham grabbed his car keys, entered his
vehicle and drove down the street toward the back of the trailer
park. When Graham reached the end of the road, he observed his dog
relieving itself on a tree near a vacant lot. Graham stopped his
vehicle, opened his door and called to the dog. The dog ran to
Graham and jumped into the vehicle.
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Graham began to back his car onto an asphalt slab located on
the empty lot. Defendant lived in a trailer next to the empty lot.
As Graham backed up, he heard defendant yell at him. Graham rolled
down his window and defendant, who was standing in the middle of
his front yard, said, “What you need?” Graham attempted to explain
to defendant that he had come to retrieve his dog, but defendant
became angrier and yelled, “Why you f---ing lying to me?” Graham
started to pull away, but stopped his vehicle when defendant
yelled, “Why you f---ing with me?” In his rearview mirror, Graham
saw defendant reach into his pocket, pull out a handgun and aim it
in Graham's direction. As soon as Graham ducked and pressed the
gas pedal, he heard gun shots.
Graham returned to his mobile home and asked his fiancee to
call the police. While she contacted the police, Graham saw two
vehicles, one of which was a Ford Explorer, race out of the trailer
park. Officer Dwayne Bevell of the Goldsboro Police Department
examined Graham's vehicle and found bullet holes in the trunk,
deck lid, a rear taillight, and bumper. He also observed a doginside the vehicle. Officer Bevell approached defendant's home and
he found three shell casings within close proximity of each other
in the front yard.
Defendant testified that in the early morning hours of 7 March
2000, he was unloading from a borrowed Ford Explorer a load of toys
he had bought for his daughter's birthday and taking them into his
home. From his bedroom window, defendant saw Graham's vehicle pull
up. Defendant was afraid Graham “was messing with the toys in the
back of [the Explorer],” so he rushed out the door and approached
Graham's vehicle. Graham told defendant that he was looking for
his dog; however, defendant did not see a dog in Graham's vehicle
or in the area. Defendant told Graham he was lying and to leave
the area. Graham then put the car in reverse and backed at a high
speed towards defendant. Thinking Graham was going to run him
over, defendant “let off three shots” at the rear of Graham's
vehicle. Defendant testified he “shot out of fear.”
A jury found defendant guilty of all three counts of
discharging a weapon into occupied property. The trial court
sentenced defendant to two consecutive terms of twenty-nine to
forty-four months imprisonment. Defendant appeals.
In his sole assignment of error, defendant contends the trial
court erred by denying his motion to dismiss based on insufficiency
of the evidence. The standard for ruling on a motion to dismiss
“is whether there is substantial evidence (1) of each essential
element of the offense charged and (2) that defendant is the
perpetrator of the offense.” State v. Lynch, 327 N.C. 210, 215,393 S.E.2d 811, 814 (1990). Substantial evidence is that relevant
evidence which a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to
support a conclusion. State v. Patterson, 335 N.C. 437, 449-50,
439 S.E.2d 578, 585 (1994). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the
trial court must consider all of the evidence in the light most
favorable to the State, and the State is entitled to all reasonable
inferences which may be drawn from the evidence. State v. Davis,
130 N.C. App. 675, 679, 505 S.E.2d 138, 141 (1998). “Any
contradictions or discrepancies arising from the evidence are
properly left for the jury to resolve and do not warrant
dismissal.” State v. King, 343 N.C. 29, 36, 468 S.E.2d 232, 237
(1996).
A person is guilty of discharging a firearm into occupied
property if he intentionally, without legal justification or
excuse, discharges a firearm into occupied property with knowledge
that the property is then occupied by one or more persons or when
he has reasonable grounds to believe that the property might be
occupied by one or more persons. State v. Hicks, 60 N.C. App. 718,
720, 300 S.E.2d 33, 35 (1983). The conduct proscribed by this
offense includes discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-34.1 (2001); see also State v. Martin, 131
N.C. App. 38, 47, 506 S.E.2d 260, 266, disc. review denied, 349
N.C. 532,526 S.E.2nd 473 (1998).
Defendant argues that the evidence showed that he was
justified in discharging the firearm. Defendant, however, relies
only on his self-serving trial testimony in support of thisassertion. The State's uncontroverted evidence tends to show that
defendant yelled obscenities at Graham while Graham was seated in
his vehicle, and that defendant fired at least three shots at
Graham's vehicle. Further, police observed bullet holes in the
trunk, deck lid, rear bumper, and a rear taillight of Graham's
vehicle, and found three shell casings in defendant's front yard.
We hold there was sufficient evidence to show that defendant
committed the crime of discharging a firearm into occupied
property, and this assignment of error is without merit.
No error.
Judges HUNTER and BRYANT concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).