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1. Identification of Defendants--spontaneous in-court identification--motion to
suppress denied
The trial court did not err in a first-degree murder prosecution by denying defendant's
motion to suppress an identification made by a witness who immediately said That's the guy...
when defendant was brought into court. The trial court's conclusions were supported by its
findings: the witness had seen the shooter before the crime, she had ample opportunity to see him
at the crime, and no one had suggested to her that she should identify anyone in court.
2. Criminal Law--continuance denied--preparation for cross-examination
The trial court did not err in a first-degree murder prosecution by denying defendant's
motion for a continuance to prepare for cross-examination of a witness who identified defendant
as he was brought into the courtroom. Defendant had almost three years to prepare for the
possibility that this person, the only eyewitness, might identify him. Also, defendant vigorously
cross-examined the witness.
3. Criminal Law--continuance denied--preparation for cross-examination
The trial court did not err in a first-degree murder prosecution by denying a defendant's
motion for a continuance to prepare for the cross-examination of a witness who had participated
in the crime. The trial took place three years after the shooting and defense counsel conceded
that the witness list included this person. Moreover, the testimony was largely cumulative.
4. Evidence--mental health records sealed by trial court--reviewed on appeal
Mental health, substance abuse, or treatment records concerning a witness in a first-
degree murder prosecution which had been sealed by the trial court were reviewed on appeal and
found to contain no material evidence favorable for the defense.
5. Appeal and Error_preservation of issues_discovery--material not included in
record_report not in State's possession
Defendant did not preserve for appeal the issue of his right to discoverable material from
jail records and the results of a psychological evaluation conducted privately at the request of a
witness's attorney. The record does not include the jail records or a request for them, and the
psychological report concerning the witness was not in the State's possession.
ARROWOOD, Judge.
Defendant, Torriano Thompson, appeals from judgment entered on
his conviction of first degree murder and armed robbery. We find
no error.
In the early morning hours of 24 May 2003, law enforcement
officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were
summoned to the Howard Johnson hotel on Tuckaseegee Road in
Charlotte, North Carolina (the Howard Johnson). There they found
Arthur Reyes (Reyes) lying on the floor of his room, having died
from gunshot wounds to his knee and chest. On 29 May 2003,
Defendant was arrested and charged with armed robbery and first
degree murder of Reyes. In April 2006, almost three years after
his arrest, Defendant was tried before a Mecklenburg County jury.
The State's trial evidence tended to show, in pertinent part,
the following: In May 2003 Reyes was employed in the construction
industry. On Friday 23 May 2003, Reyes received his salary in cash
and checked into Room 147 at the Howard Johnson. Pankaj Patel
(Patel), the owner of the Howard Johnson, testified that he noticed
a number of visitors to Reyes' room, including Virgil Young
(Young), a man whom Patel had previously banned from the hotel.
Around midnight on 23 May, Patel and his assistant, Aakush Joshi
(Joshi), left the hotel to run some errands. On their return,
Patel and Joshi heard gunshots and saw Reyes lying on the floor ofRoom 147. Patel immediately called 911, and law enforcement
officers arrived shortly thereafter. Joshi corroborated Patel's
testimony, and added that the Howard Johnson was frequented by drug
users and prostitutes, and that he had seen an African-American man
leaving Room 147 just after the gunshots.
The most important testimony came from three of the State's
witnesses: Paula Greene (Greene), Shari Queen (Queen), and Catrina
Coates Clarty (Clarty). Greene provided the only eyewitness
testimony about the shooting. She testified that on 23 May 2003
she was staying in Room 106 of the Howard Johnson. At that time
Greene was a prostitute and frequent user of crack cocaine, with a
criminal record that included drug charges. When shown a
photograph of Russell Calfee, Greene identified him as a man who
was known to give drug users and prostitutes rides in his car in
exchange for drugs or money.
On 23 May Calfee gave Greene a ride to the Guest House hotel,
located next to the Howard Johnson. The Guest House, like the
Howard Johnson, was frequented by drug users and prostitutes. At
the Guest House, Greene visited a woman named Jody. Several others
were visiting Jody, including Queen, another drug user and
prostitute. Queen told the group at Jody's room that she'd been
smoking crack with Reyes, and that he had a lot of money. Queen
tried to get someone to help her rob Reyes.
Greene did not want to participate in the robbery. Instead
she returned to the Howard Johnson, hoping to negotiate a sex-for-
money transaction with Reyes before Queen did, in order to stealher trick. Sometime after midnight, Greene went to Reyes' room,
where she and Reyes decided to smoke crack and have sex. A little
while later, they heard someone knock on the door and ask to come
in. Reyes did not open the door because Greene recognized Queen's
voice and threatened to leave if Reyes let Queen in the room.
However, when they heard a second knock a few minutes later, Reyes
opened the door.
Greene testified that as soon as the door was open, the
Defendant burst into the room holding a gun and shouting at Reyes
to Give me your G--d--- money! Greene urged Reyes to comply with
Defendant's demand. When Reyes did not heed Greene's advice, the
Defendant shot Reyes several times, and Greene saw Reyes fall on
the ground. The Defendant took Reyes' wallet, which Greene
described as having a Harley Davidson . logo and an attached chain,
and then ran out of the room.
Queen's testimony placed Defendant in Reyes' room at the time
Reyes was shot, with a plan to rob Reyes. Queen testified that in
2003 she was a drug addict and prostitute. She first met Defendant
in Jody's room a few days before Reyes was shot. On 23 May 2003
Queen spent time at Jody's with Defendant and his cousin Eric Sloan
(Sloan), before going to the Howard Johnson to engage in
prostitution. At the Howard Johnson, Queen introduced herself to
Reyes and visited with him in his room for several hours. Reyes
told Queen that he wanted crack cocaine and sex, and Queen promised
to provide both. She called drug dealers of her acquaintance, and
a man she knew as Duck came to Room 147 and sold Reyes a smallamount of crack cocaine. Queen and Reyes smoked it, and agreed to
postpone their sexual activity. A few minutes later, Young joined
them and the three smoked crack cocaine and talked. Queen called
another drug dealer she knew as D'Lo, who sold Reyes a larger
quantity of crack cocaine. Queen testified that she and Young
noticed that Reyes had a lot of money.
After several hours, Queen excused herself and returned to
Jody's room at the Guest House. Jody was entertaining guests that
night, including Greene, Calfee, Defendant, and Sloan. Queen told
the assembled friends about Reyes, stressing how much money he
appeared to have and tried to recruit someone to help her rob him.
Jody was disinclined to help, as she and Reyes were friends. As
previously discussed, Greene took the opportunity to sneak away and
arrange a paid date with Reyes before Queen did. Queen judged
Calfee to be insufficiently stalwart for a robbery. However, when
Defendant agreed to help Queen steal Reyes' money, she accepted his
offer. Sloan drove Calfee's car back to the Howard Johnson,
accompanied by Defendant, Queen, and Calfee. Queen testified that
she and Defendant went to Reyes' room in the early morning hours of
24 May, with the intention of robbing Reyes. Their plan was for
Queen to knock on the door and gain admittance to Reyes' room.
When Reyes opened the door, Queen would leave. Defendant would
then pretend to be a drug dealer and when Reyes took out money to
pay for drugs, Defendant would grab the money and leave.
At the Howard Johnson, Queen and Defendant disembarked and
went to Reyes' room. Queen corroborated Greene's testimony thatthe first time she knocked Reyes refused to open the door. When
she knocked again and Reyes opened the door to admit her, Queen
immediately turned and went back to the car. A few minutes after
she got back to Calfee's car, Defendant returned, holding a black
wallet with a chain. Defendant told Sloan I had to shoot him.
They returned to Jody's room at the Guest House, and Queen and
Calfee received $60.00 and $40.00, respectively, for their part in
the robbery.
Queen was questioned several times by law enforcement
officers, gave recorded statements, and identified photographs of
Young, Defendant, Greene, and the drug dealers she knew as Duck and
D'Lo. After her third interview, Queen was arrested and charged
with first degree murder, armed robbery, and attaining the status
of a habitual felon. Shortly before trial, Queen accepted a plea
arrangement in which the State agreed to drop the charges of first
degree murder and attaining the status of a habitual felon, in
exchange for Queen's truthful testimony at Defendant's trial and
her plea of guilty to one count of armed robbery and one count of
common law robbery. On cross-examination, Queen admitted that: she
was a long-time drug user and prostitute; she had an extensive
criminal record; she initially lied to the police about her role in
the shooting; she had been diagnosed with serious psychological and
emotional problems; and she was motivated to testify in part to
shorten her own prison sentence.
Catrina Coates Clarty testified that she and Defendant dated
for about a year and had broken up several months before Reyes wasshot but remained good friends. On 24 or 25 May 2003 Defendant
called Clarty and said he needed to talk to her. When they met the
next day, Defendant told Clarty that he had shot Reyes. Clarty's
recitation of what Defendant told her generally corroborated the
testimony of other witnesses. Defendant told Clarty that Queen had
described Reyes as an easy target for robbery; that Defendant,
Queen, and others drove from the Guest House to the Howard Johnson;
and that after Queen knocked on Reyes' door and got him to open it,
Defendant went in and told Reyes to give up his money. Defendant
also admitted to Clarty that he had shot Reyes, although he
described the shooting as the accidental result of a tussle over
Defendant's gun.
Clarty was upset by Defendant's confession and feared that she
could face criminal charges unless she shared the information with
law enforcement officers. A few days later, Clarty met with
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Homicide Detective Valencia
Rivera and gave a statement detailing Defendant's admissions to
her. Clarty also worked with law enforcement officers to lure
Defendant into meeting her at a prearranged location, where
Defendant was arrested without incident.
Other State's witnesses corroborated the testimony of Queen,
Greene, and Clarty. Calfee testified that he was socially
acquainted with both Defendant and Sloan, and that in May 2003 he
was a crack cocaine user who earned money for drugs by giving
people rides in his car. In the early morning hours of 24 May
2003, Calfee, Sloan, Defendant, Greene, and Queen visited Jody inher hotel room and then used Calfee's car to drive next door to the
Howard Johnson. Queen and Defendant got out of the car, while
Calfee stayed behind and smoked crack cocaine. Queen came back
first, followed by Defendant, who said I shot him in the leg as
he got in the car.
Sloan testified that he was a good friend of Defendant, and
that on 24 May 2003 Sloan drove Calfee's car from the Guest House
to the Howard Johnson. Sloan understood their purpose was to pick
up some money, but heard nothing about a robbery. Before leaving
Jody's room, Defendant obtained Sloan's gun which he still had
several hours later, when Sloan dropped Defendant off at his house.
Chantell Hill testified that in May 2003 she was Defendant's
girlfriend, and that she had seen him with a gun several times
during their relationship. Hill recalled that on the evening of 23
May 2003 Defendant went out with Calfee. She also identified cell
phone accounts corresponding to calls that may have been made by
Defendant.
Young testified that he had spent time in Reyes' room with
Queen, and that the three had been drinking and smoking crack
cocaine. He corroborated Queen's testimony that she had left
before he did. At around midnight, Reyes asked Young to go next
door to a gas station and buy more beer and cigarettes. However,
when he got back to the hotel, Young saw law enforcement officers
there, so he did not go to Reyes' room.
The State also presented testimony from law enforcement
officers who had investigated the case and taken statements fromState's witnesses. Their testimony generally corroborated that of
the other witnesses. Additional State's evidence will be discussed
as necessary to the issues on appeal.
The Defendant did not present evidence. Following the
presentation of evidence, the jury found the Defendant guilty of
first degree murder on the theory of felony murder, but found him
not guilty of murder on the theory of premeditation and
deliberation. He was also convicted of armed robbery. Defendant
was sentenced to life in prison without parole for first degree
murder, and judgment was arrested on his conviction of armed
robbery. From this judgment, Defendant timely appealed.
12. That in the hearing before the undersigned
. . . Paula Greene identified the Defendant as
the man that came into the victim's room,
demanded money, shot the victim and then fled
from the room.
13. That Ms. Greene testified she had seen the
Defendant on prior occasions around the area
where the shooting occurred, but did not know
his name.
14. That Ms. Greene had good opportunity to
see and hear the person that shot the victim.
On a motion to suppress evidence, the trial court's findings
of fact are conclusive on appeal if supported by competent
evidence. State v. Campbell, 359 N.C. 644, 661, 617 S.E.2d 1, 12
(2005) (citations omitted). We conclude that the trial court's
findings, as announced in court and implied from its admission of
Greene's identification of Defendant, were supported by Greene's
testimony. Therefore, the scope of our inquiry is limited to the
superior court's conclusions of law, which 'are fully reviewable on
appeal.' State v. Sinapi, 359 N.C. 394, 398, 610 S.E.2d 362, 365
(2005) (quoting State v. Smith, 346 N.C. 794, 797, 488 S.E.2d 210,
212 (1997)). Based on its findings, the trial court dictated its
conclusions: 1. That the witness Paula Greene's in-court
identification of the Defendant is based on
her observations of the shooting at the time
that the victim was shot in May of 2003.
2. That Ms. Greene had ample opportunity to
see the shooter and reason to closely observe
that person.
3. That Ms. Greene had seen the shooter
before, and recognized him at the time of the
shooting.
4. That no pretrial identification procedure
with Ms. Greene involving the Defendant or
Defendant's photograph, was conducted prior to
Paula Greene recognizing the Defendant in the
courtroom.
5. That no law enforcement officer,
prosecutor, or other representative of the
State, did anything to suggest Paula Greene
should identify the Defendant.
6. That Paula Greene's in-court identification
of the Defendant is based on having seen the
shooting of the victim in May of 2003. And is
not based on any improperly suggestive action
by any representative of the State.
We conclude that the trial court's conclusions were supported by
its findings of fact, and that the trial court did not err by
denying Defendant's suppression motion. This assignment of error
is overruled.
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