STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v. Wake County
No. 01 CRS 100830-38
01 CRS 111431
KEVIN ANTONIO HUTCHINSON
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General
Tina A. Krasner, for the State.
Glover & Petersen, P.A., by Ann B. Petersen for defendant-
appellant.
STEELMAN, Judge.
Defendant was convicted of three counts of robbery with a
dangerous weapon, four counts of second degree kidnapping, and one
count of first degree sexual offense. He was sentenced to prison
terms of a minimum of 288 months and a maximum of 355 months for
first degree sexual offense, a minimum of 77 months and a maximum
of 102 months for each count of robbery with a dangerous weapon,
and a minimum of 29 months and a maximum of 44 months for each
count of second degree kidnapping, all sentences to run
consecutively.
The State presented evidence tending to show that on 15
October 2001, three men entered the Pizza Hut restaurant located at4450 Creedmoor Road in Raleigh. Paris Nicole Washington, who was
working as the shift leader, testified that one of the men, whom
she identified as defendant, pointed a silver gun to her face and
asked where the money was kept. Washington pointed to the cash
register and safe and threw the register keys to him. Defendant
took Washington to the back of the restaurant, threw her on the
floor, and bound her with duct tape. Two other employees and two
customers were also threatened, assaulted and restrained with duct
tape. From the back room Washington heard the voice of her
brother.
Washington initially lied to the police about knowing the
identities of the perpetrators, some of whom had been her
houseguests from Philadelphia since Sunday morning, 14 October
2001. She eventually identified them as the defendant, her brother
Eric Wright, Darrell Smith (known to Washington as “Dees”), and
Sterling Jones. After the incident the perpetrators returned to
her apartment and stayed until Wednesday morning, October 17, when
they departed for Philadelphia because defendant's father had died.
Defendant wore a football jersey the entire time he stayed at her
apartment. Washington could not remember the number on the jersey.
Ginger Smith Wendt testified that on the evening of 15 October
2001 she accompanied Paul Pagano to the Pizza Hut to pick up a
pizza. As she waited outside in the car, Pagano came running out
of the restaurant followed by a man holding a gun. The gunman,
whom she identified as defendant, pulled her out of the car and
forced her and Pagano to go into the restaurant. Defendant removedher jewelry and proceeded to assault her by placing his hand into
her pants and penetrating her private parts. Defendant bound her
with duct tape and placed her in a room with Washington.
Pagano testified that he drove to the Pizza Hut with Wendt to
pick up a pizza he had ordered. As he stood at the counter he
noticed a female employee laying on the floor and a man binding
her. He realized a crime was in progress and he attempted to flee.
He ran out the door, followed by a man holding a gun. Both Pagano
and Wendt were then forced to go back into the restaurant. The man
struck him with the gun and forced him to the back of the
restaurant, where he saw an employee bound with duct tape. The man
knocked him to the floor, kicked him, and bound him with duct tape.
A few minutes later he was ordered to spread his legs. Pagano
complied and one of the men kicked him in the groin. Pagano
identified the man who had the gun as defendant. The men took his
wallet.
Greg Tobierre, an employee of Pizza Hut, testified that he was
vacuuming the floor when a man pointing a gun approached him and
pulled him to the back of the restaurant. The man hit him and
knocked him to the floor. Another man held him down and beat him.
The men took his ring and the tip money he had earned that night,
about $12.00. They bound his hands, feet and face with duct tape
and threw him in the freezer.
Sterling Jones was called as a witness for the State and
testified that he was involved in a romantic relationship with
Washington in early October 2001. He went to Washington'sapartment and met her brother, who was visiting from Philadelphia,
together with three other men, including defendant. As he
socialized with Washington's visitors on 15 October 2001, the men
talked about robbing the Pizza Hut restaurant where Washington
worked in order to obtain money to finance their trip back to
Philadelphia. Jones drove defendant and two other men, including
Washington's brother, to the Pizza Hut. Jones waited in the car
while the other three men entered the restaurant. About five
minutes after the men entered the restaurant, a couple arrived in
a car and entered the restaurant. Shortly thereafter the couple
exited the restaurant followed by defendant, who had a gun in his
hand and forced them back into the restaurant. About fifteen
minutes later, his passengers returned to the vehicle. As they
rode back to Washington's apartment defendant made a statement
indicating he had digitally penetrated one of the female victims.
Jones also testified that on Wednesday, 17 October 2001, he
accompanied defendant, Eric Wright, and “Dees” to The Finish Line
store located in Tower Shopping Center in Raleigh for the purpose
of robbing the store. The men tried on clothes and shoes until
Eric Wright gave the signal to begin the robbery. Defendant and
Jones followed a store employee into a back room. Defendant
ordered the employee to get on the floor. Jones bound the
employee with duct tape. Either defendant or “Dees” brought the
other store employee to the back and Jones also bound him with duct
tape. As they exited the store, Jones took a coat and boots.
Jones entered the car with the rest of the men and rode with themto Philadelphia. Jones subsequently viewed a videotape recorded by
a surveillance camera of a neighboring store around noon on 17
October 2001. He identified four men leaving The Finish Line store
and walking to a car as defendant, Eric Wright, “Dees”, and
himself. He specifically identified defendant as the person
depicted in the videotape wearing a football jersey bearing the
number “27.”
Dustin Anderson, general manager of The Finish Line store in
Tower Shopping Center in Raleigh, testified that about noon on 17
October 2001, a group of four men came into the store asking to try
on shoes and clothing. The other employee working in the store
went to the back room to get shoes for one of the men. The men
brought clothing to the register. As Anderson rang up the sale, he
felt a gun against the side of his head. After forcing Anderson to
open the cash register and to give them his wallet and checkbook,
the men took him into the back room, where he saw the other
employee was being bound with duct tape. The men bound Anderson
with duct tape and then left the store. The business card of a
parole officer in Philadelphia was found on the floor. It was
later determined that this was the card of “Dees'” probation
officer. Defendant was subsequently arrested in Philadelphia.
Defendant presented evidence of an alibi that he was in
Philadelphia from 11 October 2001 through 19 October 2001 grieving
over the death of his father, who passed away on 11 October 2001.
Defendant's aunt and grandmother testified that they saw defendantin Philadelphia on the date of the robbery of the Pizza Hut in Raleigh.
Defendant first contends that the court erred by admitting
evidence of the robbery of The Finish Line store. He argues
evidence of this robbery was not relevant to any issue in the
robbery of the Pizza Hut. We disagree.
Evidence is relevant if it has a tendency to make the
existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination
of the action more or less probable than it would be without the
evidence. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 401 (2003). Evidence of
other crimes, wrongs or acts is relevant and admissible under N.C.
Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 404(b)(2003) if it is offered to show
intent, preparation, plan, scheme or identity. For evidence of
other crimes to be admissible for these purposes under Rule 404(b),
it is not necessary that the crimes share unique or bizarre
similarities; the evidence is admissible if the similarities
between the incidents are such as to support a reasonable inference
that the same person committed both the earlier and later acts.
State v. Stager, 329 N.C. 278, 304, 406 S.E.2d 876, 891 (1991).
The decision whether or not to admit the evidence is within the
discretion of the trial judge, whose decision will not be disturbed
unless it is manifestly unsupported by reason. State v. Syriani,
333 N.C. 350, 379, 428 S.E.2d 118, 133, cert. denied, 510 U.S. 948,
126 L. Ed. 2d 341 (1993).
In admitting the evidence, the trial judge found that the two
incidents were temporally proximate and sufficiently similar such
that its probative value outweighed its prejudicial effect. Theincidents occurred within two days of each other and involved the
same four perpetrators. In each incident, the robbers forced the
victims into a back room and bound them with duct tape. One man,
holding a gun, robbed a person at the cash register in each
incident. Since defendant contended at trial that he was in
Philadelphia at the time of the robbery in question, evidence
suggesting he was present at a similar robbery in North Carolina
two days later is evidence that supports the State's identification
of defendant as a perpetrator in the instant case. We find no
abuse of discretion.
In his second assignment of error, defendant contends that the
court erred by instructing the jury that it could consider evidence
of flight as an admission or consciousness of guilt on the part of
the defendant. We disagree.
Defendant has not shown us where he objected to the
instruction at trial and the record in this case is devoid of such
an objection. Moreover, defendant has not alleged in this
assignment of error that the court committed plain error.
Appellate review of this issue is therefore unavailable to
defendant. State v. Truesdale, 340 N.C. 229, 232-33, 456 S.E.2d
299, 301 (1995). This assignment of error is without merit.
Defendant fails to argue his remaining assignments of error in
his brief, and they are thus deemed abandoned. N.C.R. App. P. 28
(2003).
NO ERROR.
Judges HUDSON and THORNBURG concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).
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