In the Matter of K.W., No. COA19-108 (August 20, 2019)
Held:
Vacated and Remanded
- Facts: K.W. and three other juveniles approached the victim while she was sitting in her car waiting to pick her son up from a bus stop. The victim believed that the youth were requesting a ride and rolled down her window and told them that she could not help them. A few minutes later the juveniles unlocked and opened the driver’s-side door, grabbed the victim by her hair and blouse, and pulled her out of the car. The juveniles were not able to release the brake on the car and they fled after the car alarm went off. K.W. was adjudicated delinquent for conspiracy to commit common law robbery, attempted common law robbery, and second-degree kidnapping.
- Opinion: The evidence was insufficient to show that the victim’s removal from the car or her subsequent restraint exposed her to greater danger than was inherent in the attempted common law robbery of her vehicle or that it subjected her to the kind of danger and abuse the kidnapping statute was designed to prevent. The victim’s helplessness and vulnerability were not beyond what was necessary to complete the robbery. Therefore, there is not sufficient evidence of the confinement, removal, or restraint element necessary for kidnapping beyond what was inherent in the underlying felony of attempted common law robbery. The court erred by finding that the juvenile committed second-degree kidnapping. The kidnapping adjudication and the resulting dispositional order are vacated. Remanded for a new dispositional hearing without considering the kidnapping offense.
Category:
AdjudicationStage:
Criminal OffensesTopic: