1. Constitutional Law--effective assistance of counsel-_untimely motion to suppress
Although defendant contends he received ineffective assistance of counsel in a second-
degree kidnapping case based on defense counsel's untimely motion to suppress an alleged
impermissibly suggestive identification procedure resulting from a show-up, this assignment of
error is overruled because: (1) if a reviewing court can determine at the outset that there is no
reasonable probability that in the absence of counsel's alleged errors the result of the proceeding
would have been different, then the court need not determine whether counsel's performance
was actually deficient; and (2) in the instant case even if defense counsel's actions were
deficient, defendant is not entitled to relief when there was no meritorious basis to support the
suppression of the victim's identification of defendant in light of the totality of circumstances.
2. Kidnapping--second-degree--motion to dismiss--sufficiency of evidence--terrorizing
victim
The trial court did not err by denying defendant's motion to dismiss the charge of
second-degree kidnapping based on alleged insufficient evidence of defendant's intent to
terrorize the victim, because the evidence tended to show that: (1) defendant restrained the
victim against her will and attempted to drag her across the street and toward nearby bushes; (2)
defendant grabbed the victim from behind and choked her, repeatedly telling her she better shut
up; (3) at one point during the incident, defendant pushed the victim to the ground, dove on top
of her, and fondled and put his hands all over her chest; (4) the victim pleaded for defendant to
let her go and screamed repeatedly for help from nearby residents, and defendant let her go only
after being alerted that law enforcement officers were on their way to the scene; (5) an officer
testified that the victim was very emotional and distraught after the incident; and (6) a witness
stated that the victim was hysterical following the incident and that she was struggling to get free
while she was being dragged from her head while being hugged around her neck.
3. Kidnapping--second-degree--instruction--false imprisonment
The trial court did not err in a second-degree kidnapping case by denying defendant's
motion to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of false imprisonment, because: (1) the
record tends to show that defendant restrained the victim for the purpose of terrorizing her; and
(2) even though defendant contends the evidence also tends to show that he intended to sexually
assault the victim, the superseding indictment charged defendant with kidnapping the victim for
the purpose of terrorizing her and the State is only required to prove the alleged purpose in order
to sustain a conviction of kidnapping.
Judge STEELMAN dissenting.
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General M.
Lynne Weaver, for the State.
MILES & MONTGOMERY, by Lisa Miles, for defendant-appellant.
TIMMONS-GOODSON, Judge.
Defendant appeals his conviction for second-degree kidnapping
and obtaining habitual felon status. For the reasons discussed
herein, we hold that defendant received a trial free of prejudicial
error.
The State's evidence presented at trial tends to show the
following: On 4 August 2002, Karen Denise Robinson (Robinson)
was walking in High Point when she was approached by defendant, who
asked Robinson if the street back there was Centennial Street.
Robinson replied that it was, and continued walking down the
street. Defendant initially walked away from Robinson, but soon
turned around and ran and caught up with her. Upon approaching
Robinson for the second time, defendant asked Robinson where the
shelter was located. Robinson provided defendant with directions
to a place where they house men and then turned around from
[defendant] to walk off[.] However, defendant grabbed Robinson
around her shoulder area and then attempted to drag her to the
opposite side of the street. Robinson began screaming, and after
defendant dragged her across the street, Robinson dropped to her
knees to prevent defendant from further dragging her. Defendant
then pushed Robinson to the ground and dived on top of [her].
Robinson testified that, after pushing her to the ground, defendant
reached his hand inside Robinson's shirt and fondled and put his
hands all over me up here, and everywhere.
Marcie Ruth Craig (Craig), who lived in a nearby residence,
heard Robinson's screams and yelled out of her window, Ma'am, I'mcalling the police right now. A few minutes later, Craig returned
to the window and yelled, Ma'am, the police are on their way. At
this point, defendant jumped up and ran . . . straight on out
toward Centennial.
High Point Police Department Officer Christy Gambill (Officer
Gambill) was the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the
scene. When Officer Gambill arrived, Robinson was distraught,
crying, upset and talking to Craig and Craig's husband. Robinson
told Officer Gambill which direction her assailant had run, and
Robinson stated that the individual was wearing a white shirt and
white pants. Approximately thirty minutes after Officer Gambill
arrived at the scene, High Point Police Department Officer Otis
Hamilton (Officer Hamilton) radioed Officer Gambill and informed
her that he had located an individual fitting the description of
Robinson's assailant. High Point Police Department Lieutenant
Lawrence L. Casterline, Jr. (Lieutenant Casterline), directed
Officer Gambill to drive Robinson to Officer Hamilton's location
to do a show-up to see if that was the person.
When Officer Gambill and Robinson arrived at Officer
Hamilton's location, defendant was sitting in the rear seat of
Officer Hamilton's patrol car. Immediately upon seeing defendant,
Robinson told Officer Gambill, 'That's him, that's him,' and
[Robinson] became very emotional and distraught. Officer Gambill
asked Robinson if she was absolutely sure that defendant was the
individual who attacked her, and Robinson replied, yes.
Defendant was then placed under arrest and transported to the High
Point Police Department.
Upon arrival at the High Point Police Department, defendantwas placed in a holding cell. While Officer Hamilton spoke with
Lieutenant Casterline, defendant knocked on the door of the holding
cell and told Officer Hamilton and Lieutenant Casterline that he
would like to speak to them about what had took place and what he
was involved in. Defendant then voluntarily made several
statements to Officer Hamilton and Lieutenant Casterline,
including telling the officers, I'm your man, I'm your man.
According to Officer Hamilton, defendant told the officers he
approached a female after seeing her in the area of Kivett and
North Centennial[,] . . . did follow her, and . . . approached
[her] to ask her for directions. Defendant told the officers that
as the female gave him directions, he grabbed her by the throat
and began choking her. Defendant stated that it was important
for him to be honest and to be accountable for his involvement in
this incident[,] . . . [and] that he would just deal with the
consequences of his actions. He also explained that the female
was wearing a very short skirt[,] . . . that women in short skirts
have always turned him on sexually[,] . . . that he had recently
just gotten out of jail, and that he also had a girlfriend that was
also locked up, and he missed her very dearly. Defendant then
provided the officers with the following written statement:
I asked this lady for direction[s], and when I
got up close to her I attacked her by grabbing
her around the neck and choking her for no
reason at all.
On 22 November 2002, defendant was indicted for misdemeanor
assault on a female and second-degree kidnapping for the purpose of
facilitating the commission of a felony. On 8 May 2003, a
superceding indictment was filed, by which defendant was againcharged with misdemeanor assault on a female and second-degree
kidnapping. However, the superceding indictment alleged that
defendant kidnapped Robinson for the purpose of terrorizing her
rather than for the purpose of facilitating the commission of a
felony. On 4 June 2003, defendant was indicted for obtaining
habitual felon status.
On 29 September 2003, defendant filed a motion to suppress the
evidence of Robinson's identification of him. The trial court
denied defendant's motion, and defendant's trial began the same
day. At the close of the State's evidence, defendant moved the
trial court to dismiss the charge of second-degree kidnapping and
to instruct the jury on false imprisonment. The trial court denied
both motions and instructed the jury on second-degree kidnapping as
well as misdemeanor assault on a female. On 30 September 2003, the
jury found defendant guilty of second-degree kidnapping and
misdemeanor assault on a female, and defendant pled guilty to
obtaining habitual felon status. The trial court arrested judgment
on the misdemeanor assault conviction and subsequently sentenced
defendant to a total of 151 to 191 months incarceration. Defendant
appeals.
STEELMAN, Judge, dissenting.
Because I believe the trial court erred in refusing to submit
the lesser included offense of false imprisonment to the jury, I am
compelled to respectfully dissent.
The defendant was indicted for second-degree kidnapping
pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-39(a)(3). The original indictment
alleged that the kidnapping was for the purpose of facilitating the
felony of rape. The superceding indictment upon which the State
proceeded at trial stated that the defendant unlawfully,
willfully, and feloniously did kidnap Karen Robinson, a person who
had attained the age of 16 years, by unlawfully removing the victim
from one place to another, without her consent, for the purpose of
terrorizing the said person so removed.
In order for the State to prove second-degree kidnapping in
the instant case, it had to prove that the defendant's intent was
to terrorize Robinson when he unlawfully removed her from one place
to another. In State v. Whitaker, 316 N.C. 515, 342 S.E.2d 514
(1986), the State proceeded on a theory that the kidnapping was
perpetrated in order to facilitate a felony, specifically rape. In
discussing whether it was error for the trial court to have failed
to instruct on the lesser included offense of false imprisonment
the Whitaker Court stated:
The crime of false imprisonment is a lesser
included offense of kidnapping. When any
evidence presented at trial would permit the
jury to convict defendant of the lesserincluded offense, the trial court must
instruct the jury regarding that lesser
included offense. Failure to so instruct the
jury constitutes reversible error not cured by
a verdict of guilty of the offense charged.
So, whether a defendant who confines,
restrains, or removes another is guilty of
kidnapping or false imprisonment depends upon
whether the act was committed to accomplish
one of the purposes enumerated in our
kidnapping statute. The crux of this
question, then, concerns whether there was
evidence from which the jury could have
concluded that the defendant, although
restraining, confining and removing the
victim, [did so] for some purpose other than .
. . to commit [attempted second degree] rape.
Id. at 520-21, 342 S.E.2d at 518 (internal citations
omitted)(brackets in original). The trial court may refrain from
submitting the lesser offense to the jury only where the 'evidence
is clear and positive as to each element of the offense charged'
and no evidence supports a lesser-included offense. State v.
Lawrence, 352 N.C. 1, 19, 530 S.E.2d 807, 819 (2000). 'The
determining factor is the presence of evidence to support a
conviction of the lesser included offense.'
State v. Kyle, 333
N.C. 687, 703, 430 S.E.2d 412, 421 (1993)
, quoting State v. Boykin,
310 N.C. 118, 121, 310 S.E.2d 315, 317 (1984).
Robinson testified at trial that after defendant had grabbed
her and dragged her some distance, he pushed her to the ground,
reached inside her shirt, and fondled and put his hands all over
me up here, and everywhere. Defendant made a statement to two
officers that the victim was wearing a short skirt, that her attire
turned him on sexually[,] and that he missed his girlfriend.
Defendant contends that this evidence demonstrates that his
intent was to commit some form of sexual assault, and not to
terrorize Robinson. The majority is correct in stating that thetwo purposes are not mutually exclusive; the defendant may have
intended to both terrorize and sexually assault the victim. The
State could have indicted defendant based on N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-
39(a)(2), removal for the purpose of facilitating the commission of
a felony (in this instance, sexual assault), as well as on N.C.
Gen. Stat. § 14-39(a)(3), removal for the purpose of terrorizing
the victim. The State did not proceed under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-
39(a)(2), however, and thus if the defendant's sole intent was to
commit a sexual assault, he could not be convicted of second-degree
kidnapping as indicted.
In the instant case, I assume arguendo that the evidence was
. . . sufficient to convict defendant of kidnapping for the purpose
of [terrorizing the victim]. That, however, is not the issue.
State v. Lang, 58 N.C. App. 117, 122, 293 S.E.2d 255, 258 (1982).
Only when the evidence of intent to commit [one of the enumerated
purposes under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-39(a)] is overwhelming or
uncontradicted should that factual issue of intent, which separates
the greater offense from the lesser, be taken from the jury. State
v. Little, 51 N.C. App. 64, 71, 275 S.E.2d 249, 253 (1981). The
issue is whether there was any evidence from which the jury could
conclude that the defendant removed the victim not for the purpose
of terrorizing her, but for some other purpose.
The evidence in the instant case is neither overwhelming nor
uncontradicted that the defendant removed the victim for the
purpose of terrorizing her. All of the defendant's actions and
statements are consistent with a purpose to sexually assault the
victim in some fashion. The evidence that the defendant acted for
the purpose of sexual gratification permits a reasonable inferencethat his purpose was not to terrorize. See
Lang, 58 N.C. App. at
122, 293 S.E.2d at 258.
'Evidence giving rise to a reasonable
inference to dispute the State's contention,' is sufficient to
support an instruction on a lesser offense. State v. Hargett, 148
N.C. App. 688, 692, 559 S.E.2d 282, 286 (2002).
In Whitaker, 316 N.C. at 517, 342 S.E.2d at 516, a female taxi
driver was directed by the defendant to a dead end street whereupon
he grabbed her by the throat, directed her to drive to a church
parking lot, told her I want to eat you, and told her to pull her
pants down to her knees. The victim managed to get away from
defendant before any sexual assault occurred. The defendant was
convicted of second-degree kidnapping, based on a theory that he
restrained and removed her for the purpose of facilitating the
commission of a felony (attempted rape). On these facts, our
Supreme Court held that because the evidence could reasonably allow
the jury to infer that the purpose of the restraint and removal was
a sexual assault not amounting to rape (that the defendant did not
intend to have forced vaginal intercourse with the victim), it was
error for the trial court to refuse to instruct the jury on false
imprisonment. The question of defendant's purpose in abducting
the victim, being a question of his state of mind, should have been
for the jury to decide, as the evidence did not point unerringly to
a conclusion that defendant did or did not intend to attempt to
rape the victim. Id. at 521, 342 S.E.2d at 518; see also State v.
Banks, 295 N.C. 399, 245 S.E.2d 743 (1978).
Therefore, though the State's evidence may have been
sufficient to go to the jury on the charge of kidnapping based on
an intent to terrorize, the State's evidence of that intent was notoverwhelming, and the State's own evidence was sufficient to
support a jury finding that the defendant's intent was to commit a
sexual assault, and not to terrorize the victim.
This is a terrible case where an innocent victim was brutally
assaulted by a stranger. As much as I would like to join in the
majority opinion, the Supreme Court holding in Whitaker mandates a
new trial in this matter.
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