Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
State v. Lawrence, 210 N.C. App. 73 (Mar. 1, 2011)
(1) The evidence was sufficient to prove attempted kidnapping. To prove an overt act for that crime, the State need not prove that the defendant was in the presence of his intended victim. In this case, the defendant and his accomplices stole get-away cars and acquired cell phones, jump suits, masks, zip ties, gasoline, and guns. Additionally, the defendant hid in the woods behind the home of his intended victim, waiting for her to appear, fleeing only upon the arrival of officers and armed neighbors. (2) The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the evidence of attempted kidnapping was insufficient because the restraint he intended to use on his victim was inherent to his intended robbery of her. The defendant planned to intercept the victim outside of her home and force her back into the house at gunpoint, bind her hands so that she could not move, and threaten to douse her with gasoline if she did not cooperate. These additional acts of restraint by force and threat provided substantial evidence that the defendant’s intended actions would have exposed the victim to greater danger than that inherent in the armed robbery itself. (3) The court rejected the defendant’s argument that to prove an overt act for attempted robbery the State had to prove that the defendant was in the presence of his intended victim. For the reasons stated in (1), above, the court found that there was sufficient evidence of an overt act. (4) The court rejected the defendant’s argument that because the evidence failed to show that he and his co-conspirators entered the property in question, they could not have attempted to enter her residence.