Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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This compendium includes significant criminal cases by the U.S. Supreme Court & N.C. appellate courts, Nov. 2008 – Present. Selected 4th Circuit cases also are included.
Jessica Smith prepared case summaries Nov. 2008-June 4, 2019; later summaries are prepared by other School staff.
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The defendant’s husband sexually abused the defendant’s daughter. (The husband was not the daughter’s biological father, but he had adopted her after he married her mother.) The daughter told an aunt about the abuse. This led to law enforcement and DSS investigations. However, the defendant initially did not believe her daughter and instead pressured her to recant her allegations. Even after walking in on the abuse in progress, the defendant sought to prevent her daughter from cooperating with authorities. The defendant was charged with (a) being an accessory after the fact to sexual activity by a substitute parent, based on her failure to report the abuse that she personally observed; (b) felony obstruction of justice for pressuring her daughter to recant; and (c) felony obstruction of justice for denying law enforcement and DSS access to her daughter during the investigation. She was convicted on all counts and appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support each conviction. The case eventually reached the state supreme court, which ruled: (1) There was insufficient evidence to support the accessory after the fact conviction. “[T]he indictment alleged that [the defendant] did not report [her husband’s] sexual abuse of [her daughter, and] a mere failure to report is not sufficient to make someone an accessory after the fact under North Carolina law.” The court distinguished failure to report a crime from affirmative concealment of a crime. The court also “decline[d] to consider any of defendant’s other acts not alleged in this indictment” that might have supported the accessory after the fact charge. (2) There was sufficient evidence to support the defendant’s conviction of obstruction of justice for denying the authorities access to the daughter during the investigation. The court noted that the defendant interrupted one interview of the daughter by investigators, was present and “talked over” the daughter in several others, and generally “successfully induced [the daughter] to refuse to speak with investigating officers and social workers.” The court remanded the matter to the court of appeals for further consideration of whether there was sufficient evidence that the obstruction was felonious by virtue of an intent to deceive or defraud. (The other count of obstruction of justice, for pressuring the daughter to recant, had been affirmed by the court of appeals and was not before the supreme court.) Two dissenting Justices would have found sufficient evidence of accessory after the fact.
In this Yadkin County case, defendant appealed his convictions for accessory after the fact to robbery with a dangerous weapon and felonious breaking or entering, and felonious possession of stolen goods, arguing error in (1) denying his motion to dismiss the accessory after the fact charges for insufficient evidence, and (2) ordering restitution unsupported by competent evidence. The Court of Appeals found no error in (1), but in (2) vacated the restitution award and remanded to the trial court for a new hearing on the appropriate amount of restitution.
In July of 2020, defendant discussed a potential robbery with three other individuals. Although defendant did not participate in the robbery, he did participate in discussions before the act, and helped discover two backpacks filled with gold and silver coins and bars hidden after the robbery by the principal. At trial, defendant moved to dismiss the charges, but the trial court denied the motion. Defendant was subsequently ordered to pay $12,264.70 in restitution in addition to his sentence.
Taking up (1), defendant argued that the State did not present evidence showing he personally assisted the principal “in escaping or attempting to escape detection, arrest, or punishment.” Slip Op. at 8. The Court of Appeals disagreed, noting that defendant helped search for the backpacks hidden by the principal, and after successfully locating them, “put the backpacks in his car, drove them to the home he shared with his mother, and hid them there for some time before handing them off.” Id. at 9. The State also presented evidence that defendant knew of the plans to rob the victims and hide the stolen goods, including being present for discussions about the plans and discussing the hiding place of the backpacks after the robbery. The court determined that this evidence was sufficient to support the elements of accessory after the fact for defendant’s convictions.
Moving to (2), the court noted that G.S. 15A-1340.34 permitted ordering restitution, but that evidence at trial must support the award. The court looked to State v. Moore, 365 N.C. 283 (2011), for the guideline that when there is “some evidence” but not evidence “specific enough to support the award,” the appropriate course of action is to remand to the trial court for a determination of the correct amount. Id. at 12. Here, the worksheet outlining restitution was not itemized and did not represent sufficient evidence to support the award, justifying remand for further proceedings.
The defendant was convicted of accessory after the fact to a felony and felony obstruction of justice in Cleveland County relating to her efforts to assist a murder suspect (later convicted of second-degree murder) evade capture. (1) The defendant argued the statutory offense of accessory after the fact abrogated the common law offense of obstruction of justice in part, such that she could not be convicted of both. The North Carolina Supreme Court previously rejected this argument inIn re Kivett, 309 N.C. 635, 670 (1983), which defeated this claim. The defendant also argued that the two offenses were the same for purposes of double jeopardy, in that they are greater- and lesser-included offenses of each other. This argument has also been rejected by the prior decisions of the Court of Appeals, as the offenses have different elements: “This Court has expressly held that accessory after the fact and obstruction of justice do not constitute the same offense, and that neither is a lesser-included offense of the other.” Cruz Slip op. at 9 (citation omitted). Substantial evidence supported each instruction as well. As to the accessory conviction, the evidence showed the defendant provided personal assistance to the suspect while knowing he was wanted for murder. As to the obstruction conviction, the defendant lied to detectives about seeing or communicating with the suspect and deleted information from her phone showing she was in communication with him after police expressed an interest in her phone. This evidence was sufficient to support the instructions for each offense and the trial court did not err by so instructing the jury.
(2) The trial court did not commit plain error by failing to instruct the jury that if the defendant believed the killing was done in self-defense, she could not be convicted of accessory after the fact. Even if the defendant believed the killing was justified, the evidence here was sufficient to raise “a reasonable inference that the [D]efendant knew precisely what had taken place,” as she had notice of the suspect’s outstanding arrest warrant for murder at the time of her assistance to the defendant and her deceptions to law enforcement. The convictions were therefore unanimously affirmed.
(1) The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss a charge of accessory after the fact to murder where the defendant gave eight different written statements to authorities providing a wide array of scenarios surrounding the victim’s death. In his statements the defendant identified four different individuals as being the perpetrator. He also admitted that he had not been truthful to investigators. The court concluded: “The jury could rationally have concluded that his false statements were made in an effort to shield the identity of the actual shooter.” The court noted that competent evidence suggested that the defendant knew the identity of the shooter and was protecting that person, including knowledge of the scene that could only have been obtained by someone who had been there and statements made by the defendant to his former girlfriend. Additionally, the defendant admitted to officers that he named one person “as a block” and acknowledged that his false statement made the police waste time. (2) No double jeopardy violation occurred when the trial court sentenced the defendant for obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact arising out of the same conduct. Comparing the elements of the offenses, the court noted that each contains an element not in the other and thus no double jeopardy violation occurred.
In an accessory after the fact case the evidence was sufficient to establish that the defendant knew that a gun he had hidden was used to commit a murder.
The trial court erred in failing to arrest judgment on the defendant’s conviction for accessory after the fact to second-degree burglary. A defendant cannot be both a principal and an accessory to the same crime.
(1) The State presented sufficient evidence of accessory after the fact to a second-degree murder perpetrated by Stevons. After Stevons shot the victim, the defendant drove Stevons away from the scene. The victim later died. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that because he gave aid after the victim had been wounded but before the victim died, he did not know that Stevons had committed murder. It concluded that because the defendant knew that Stevons shot the victim at close range, a jury could reasonably infer that the defendant knew that the shot was fatal. (2) The State presented sufficient evidence of accessory after the fact to armed robbery when it showed both that an armed robbery occurred and that the defendant rendered aid after the crime was completed. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the robbery was not complete until the defendant arrived at a safe place, concluding that a taking is complete once the thief succeeds in removing the stolen property from the victim’s possession. (3) Although a mere presence instruction may be appropriate for aiding and abetting or accessory before the fact, such an instruction is not proper for accessory after the fact and thus the trial judge did not err by declining to give this instruction.
A defendant may not be convicted of second-degree murder and accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. The offenses are mutually exclusive.
The defendant could be convicted of accessory after the fact to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury even if the principal pled guilty to a lesser offense of that assault.
Double jeopardy prohibited convictions of both accessory after fact to first-degree murder and accessory after the fact to first-degree kidnapping when the jury could have found that accessory after fact of first-degree murder was based solely on kidnapping under the felony murder rule. The jury’s verdict did not indicate whether it found first-degree murder based on premeditation and deliberation or felony murder based on first-degree kidnapping, or both. The court arrested judgment on the defendant’s convictions of accessory after the fact to first-degree kidnapping, reasoning that if a defendant cannot be convicted of felony murder and the underlying felony, a defendant could not be convicted of accessory after the fact to felony murder and accessory after the fact to the underlying felony.
On discretionary review of a unanimous, unpublished decision of the Court of Appeals, ___ N.C. App. ___, 801 S.E.2d 392 (2017), the court reversed, holding that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction for attempted murder. The evidence showed that the defendant solicited an undercover officer—who he thought to be a hired killer--to kill his former wife. He gave the officer $2,500 as an initial payment, provided the officer details necessary to complete the killing, and helped the officer plan how to get his former wife alone and how to kill her out of the presence of their daughter. The defendant was arrested after he left his meeting with the officer; he was charged—and later convicted—of attempted murder and solicitation to commit murder.
The court concluded that while the evidence was sufficient to show solicitation, it “fell short of showing the required overt acts for attempted first-degree murder.” Specifically, none of the defendant’s preparatory acts “amount to proof of overt acts amounting to attempt under our law.” In so ruling, the court determined that the Court of Appeals inappropriately looked to decisions from other jurisdictions to conclude that “although mere solicitation is insufficient to constitute attempt, specific acts taken to complete a murder-for-hire, such as those taken by [defendant] here, can satisfy the elements of attempted murder,” where the law regarding attempt in each of those jurisdictions is materially different from North Carolina law. Justice Morgan dissented, joined by Chief Justice Martin and Justice Newby.
Reversing the Court of Appeals, the court held that the evidence was sufficient to support the defendant’s conviction for attempted first-degree rape of a child. The Court of Appeals had reversed the defendant’s conviction finding, in part, that the evidence supported only a conviction for completed rape, not an attempted rape. Citing precedent, the Supreme Court held that evidence of a completed rape is sufficient to support an attempted rape conviction.
In this Randolph County case, defendant appealed his convictions for attempted first-degree murder, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a firearm by a felon, arguing error in denying his motions to dismiss for insufficient evidence, and error by the trial court in calculating his prior record level. The Court of Appeals found no error.
In October of 2018, defendant approached the victim at a convenience store and attempted to pull open the victim’s driver’s side door. The door was locked, so defendant tapped on the glass with a revolver while telling the victim to open the door. The victim opened the door and exited the vehicle, but then attempted to grab the gun from defendant. After a scuffle defendant fell to the ground, causing the gun to fire. As the victim fled, defendant fired two more shots at him, missing both times.
On appeal, defendant argued that since he made no express appeal for money or property, there was insufficient evidence to support his attempted robbery conviction. The Court of Appeals disagreed, noting that defendant “displayed a gun, threatened its use, and made an obvious implied demand.” Slip Op. at 7. The court rejected defendant’s argument that since the events did not occur in a retail setting his words could not be interpreted as an implied demand.
The court also rejected defendant’s argument that intent for attempted murder could not be inferred by the multiple gunshots because his first shot was accidental, and his second and third shots were wide misses. Defendant also argued his intent could have been to scare or warn the victim, not kill him. The court explained that where multiple shots were fired and at least one was aimed at the victim, sufficient evidence existed to infer intent under State v. Allen, 233 N.C. App. 507 (2014). Likewise, the court held that defendant’s poor aim did not negate the intent or support his argument of scaring or warning the victim, as the victim saw the gun pointed at him before the shots and other factors such as poor lighting likely influenced the accuracy.
Finally, the court rejected defendant’s argument that the trial court did not properly find substantial similarity between the out-of-state offenses and in-state offenses. The court explained that defendant admitted no evidence to show improper calculation, and “[g]iven the [trial court’s] indication of review in open court and its full execution of the sentencing worksheet finding substantial similarity, this Court presumes the trial court reached this finding properly.” Id. at 12.
The defendant was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit attempted first-degree murder. (1) The defendant argued that the latter charge is invalid because it alleges a non-existent crime. The defendant argued that an attempt requires that the act fail; therefore, it is an illogical impossibility and a legal absurdity to criminalize an agreement to commit a failed act, which in this case would be an agreement not to commit murder. The Court of Appeals rejected the argument, holding that under North Carolina law “failure” is not an element of attempted first-degree murder and that conspiracy to commit that offense is a cognizable charge. (2) The defendant argued that the evidence was insufficient to support attempted first-degree murder or conspiracy because the evidence showed only that he fired a pellet gun to try scare away the officer who was in pursuit. The Court found that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that the defendant fired a gun at the officer, not merely a pellet gun, with the intent to kill.
In this child sexual assault case, trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss two charges of attempted statutory sex offense of a child by an adult. On appeal, the defendant argued that there was insufficient evidence of his intent to engage in a sexual act with the victim and of an overt act. The court disagreed. The case involved a scenario where the victim’s mother engaged in sexual acts with the victim to entice the defendant into a relationship with her. The first conviction related to the defendant’s attempted statutory sex offense with the victim in a vehicle, which occurred on or prior to 19 July 2013. While the victim sat between the defendant and her mother, the defendant tried to put his hands up the victim’s skirt, between her legs. The victim pushed the defendant away and moved closer to her mother. The defendant asserted that an intention to perform a sexual act cannot be inferred from this action. The court disagreed, noting, among other things, evidence that the defendant’s phone contained a video and photograph depicting the victim nude; both items were created prior to the incident in question. Additionally, the defendant admitted that the photo aroused him. Moreover, conversations of a sexual nature involving the victim occurred between the defendant and the victim’s mother on 9 July 2013. Messages of a sexual nature were also sent on 15 July 2013, including the defendant’s inquiries about sexual acts between the victim’s mother and the victim, and a request for explicit pictures of the victim. Additional communications indicated that the defendant wanted to see the victim in person. In a conversation on 19 July 2013, the defendant indicated that he had feelings for the victim and expressed the desire to “try something” sexual with the victim. In his interview with law enforcement, the defendant stated he would not have engaged in intercourse with the victim but would have played with her vagina by licking and rubbing it. This evidence supports a reasonable inference that the defendant attempted to engage in a sexual act with the victim when he placed his hands between her legs and tried to put his hand up her skirt. The evidence also supports the conclusion that his act was an overt act that exceeded mere preparation.
The second conviction related to the defendant’s attempted statutory sex offense with the victim in a home. The court upheld this conviction, over a dissent. This incident occurred on 27 July 2013 when the defendant instructed the victim’s mother to have the victim wear a dress without underwear because he was coming over to visit. The defendant argued that the evidence was insufficient to show his intent to engage in a sexual act with the victim or an overt act in furtherance of that intention. The court disagreed. The evidence showed that the victim’s mother and the defendant had an ongoing agreement and plan for the victim’s mother to teach the victim to be sexually active so that the defendant could perform sexual acts with her. Evidence showed that the victim’s mother sent the defendant numerous photos and at least one video of the victim, including one that showed the victim’s mother performing cunnilingus on the victim on 26 July 2013. An exchange took place on 27 July 2013 in which the defendant indicated his desire to engage in that activity with the victim, and her mother’s desire to facilitate it. Specifically the defendant asked the victim’s mother whether she could get the victim to put on a dress without underwear because he was coming over to their home. Based on the context in which the defendant instructed the victim’s mother to have the victim wear a dress without underwear, there was substantial evidence of his intent to commit a sex offense against the victim. Furthermore, the defendant took overt actions to achieve his intention. The victim’s mother admitted that she and the defendant planned to train the victim for sexual acts with the defendant, and the defendant’s Facebook messages to the victim’s mother and his interview with law enforcement show that he agreed to, encouraged, and participated in that plan. The defendant’s instruction to dress the victim without underwear was more than “mere words” because it was a step in his scheme to groom the victim for sexual activity, as was other activity noted by the court.
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss a charge of attempting to obtain property by false pretenses. After an officer learned about larcenies of Michael Kors items from a local store, he found an online posting for similar items in an online flea market. Using a fake name and address, the officer created a social media account and started a conversation with the seller, later determined to be the defendant, to discuss purchase of the items. The two agreed to meet. Unbeknownst to the defendant, the officer decided to set up an undercover purchase for one of the items to determine if it in fact was stolen from the local store or whether it was counterfeit merchandise. The undercover purchase occurred and the item in question was determined to be counterfeit. Noting that actual deceit is not an element of attempting to obtain property by false pretenses, the court held that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that because he did not actually represent the item as an authentic Michael Kors item, there was no evidence of a false pretense or intent to deceive. The court noted that the defendant advertised the items as Michael Kors bags and described them as such to the undercover officer. Additionally, the defendant purchased the bags from a warehouse in Atlanta that sold them for only a fraction of their worth, suggesting that the defendant knew the merchandise was counterfeit. The court also rejected the defendant’s argument that because the offense was completed, a conviction for attempt was improper. The offense only occurs if the property actually is obtained in consequence of the victim’s reliance on the false pretense. Here, because of the undercover operation, the officer was never deceived by the defendant’s misrepresentation.
The evidence was sufficient to convict the defendant of both attempted sex offense and attempted rape. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the evidence was sufficient to permit the jury to infer the intent to commit only one of these offenses. During a home invasion, the defendant and his brother isolated the victim from her husband. One of the perpetrators said, “Maybe we should,” to which the other responded, “Yeah.” The defendant’s accomplice then forced the victim to remove her clothes and perform fellatio on him at gunpoint. The defendant later groped the victim’s breast and buttocks and said, “Nice.” At this point, the victim’s husband, who had been confined elsewhere, fought back to protect his wife and was shot. This evidence is sufficient for a reasonable jury to infer that the defendant intended to engage in a continuous sexual assault involving both fellatio (like his accomplice) and ultimately rape, and that this assault was thwarted only because the victim’s husband sacrificed himself so that his wife could escape.
Because attempted first-degree felony murder does not exist under the laws of North Carolina, the court vacated the defendant’s conviction with respect to this charge.
In a child sex case, the court held that the evidence was sufficient to support a charge of attempted first-degree statutory sexual offense. On the issue of intent to commit the crime, the court stated: “The act of placing one’s penis on a child’s buttocks provides substantive evidence of intent to commit a first degree sexual offense, specifically anal intercourse.”
Where the evidence showed that the defendant committed the completed crime of felony larceny, the evidence was sufficient to support a conviction of the lesser charged offense of attempted felony larceny.
Because evidence of vaginal penetration was clear and positive, the trial court did not err by failing to instruct the jury on attempted rape.
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss a charge of attempted first-degree murder where the defendant shot the victim in the abdomen. The defendant removed the victim’s cell phone from her reach, left the room, returned with a .45 caliber pistol, and shot her in the abdomen with a hollow point bullet. He then denied her medical assistance for approximately twelve hours.
(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.
In a case involving federal drug and RICO conspiracy charges the Court held that allocating to the defendant the burden of proving withdrawal from the conspiracy does not violate the Due Process Clause. This rule remains intact even when withdrawal is the basis of a statute of limitations defense.
In this Watauga County case, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals majority decision vacating defendant’s conviction for conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, reinstating his conviction.
In April of 2017, defendant and two associates planned to rob a drug dealer in Boone. After texting to set up a plan, one of defendant’s associates agreed to go to the apartment of the drug dealer. The associate went to the apartment in question, but initially did not leave his car in the parking lot; after leaving for about 24 minutes, he returned and then entered the apartment. Meanwhile, defendant and the other associate waited, and broke in to the apartment after the meeting was underway. Defendant was indicted for robbery with a dangerous weapon, felonious breaking or entering, and conspiracy to commit both felonies. Defendant moved to dismiss, arguing the State did not present sufficient evidence of multiple conspiracies, but the trial court denied the motion. The jury found defendant guilty of all four charges. On appeal, the Court of Appeals vacated defendant’s conspiracy to commit robbery charge, reasoning that “the State’s evidence established one single conspiracy that continued from on or around 18 April 2017 through the date of the breaking or entering and armed robbery on 27 April 2017.” Slip Op. at 4. The State appealed based upon the dissenting judge’s opinion.
Taking up the State’s appeal, the Supreme Court first noted “the Court of Appeals erred in determining the charge of conspiracy to commit breaking or entering would be the conspiracy charge to remain if there had been sufficient evidence of only one conspiracy.” Id., note 1. The Court then explained that “in the course of completing the target crime of an original conspiracy, a defendant may enter into an additional and separate conspiracy to commit a different crime not conspired to originally.” Id. at 6. Here, the State had the burden of showing that defendant and at least one other person entered into conspiracies for both of the crimes charged. Looking to the record, the Court found adequate evidence of a conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. Additionally, the Court explained that “[i]mportantly, no evidence was produced that the original plan included breaking or entering the apartment.” Id. at 8. Instead, it appeared that defendant and at least one of his associates reevaluated their plan when it became clear that the meeting would occur inside the drug dealer’s apartment, and formed an additional conspiracy to break and enter the apartment on the fly. The Court explained the outcome:
When viewed in the light most favorable to the State, a rational juror could conclude that the original plan was to rob [the drug dealer] in the parking lot. When viewed in the light most favorable to the State, a rational juror could also conclude that, in those twenty-four minutes between [the associate’s] first and second appearances at the apartment complex, defendant and at least one other person formed an additional and separate conspiracy—a new plan. In the new plan, [the associate] would enter [the drug dealer’s] apartment for the meeting, and defendant and [another associate] would feloniously break into the apartment.
Id. at 9.
Justice Riggs, joined by Justice Earls, dissented and would have affirmed the vacatur of the conspiracy to commit felonious breaking or entering conviction (see note 1 of the Slip Opinion), along with remand for resentencing based on the single conspiracy charge. Id. at 11.
The defendant was the twin brother of another criminal defendant and was attending his brother’s trial for assault on a government official in Watauga County (itself the subject of a published opinion, here). Following the guilty verdict in his brother’s case, the defendant made comments to several jurors as they exited the courthouse. These included statements that the jurors “got it wrong,” that his brother was innocent, that the jurors had “ruined his [brother’s] life,” that he “hoped they slept well,” and similar remarks. Before those comments, the defendant’s brother’s girlfriend exited the courtroom visibly upset, and courthouse video footage showed the defendant briefly comforting her before approaching the jurors. The defendant was charged with six counts of intimating jurors and conspiracy to intimidate jurors with his brother and his brother’s girlfriend under G.S. 14-225.2(a)(2). That subsection provides that a defendant is guilty of juror harassment when he “threatens . . . or intimidates [a] former juror or spouse [of a juror] . . . as a result of the prior official action of [the] juror in a grand jury proceeding or trial.”
The trial court denied pretrial motions challenging the jury intimidation statute as unconstitutional under the First Amendment, denied the motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence, and declined to instruct the jury on the definition of “intimidate.” The defendant was convicted of conspiracy to intimidate jurors at trial and acquitted on the other counts. A majority of the Court of Appeals rejected the defendant’s First Amendment arguments, finding the statute constitutional. The majority also found that the conviction was supported by sufficient evidence, and that the trial court did not err in failing to give the requested jury instructions (here). Chief Judge McGee dissented on each point. The Supreme Court agreed that the evidence was insufficient to support a conspiracy and reversed.
A criminal conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime with intent to carry out the agreement. While such agreement may be proven by circumstantial evidence, the evidence must show either an express agreement between the conspirators, or facts warranting an inference of the agreement. On the other hand, “[c]onspiracies cannot be established by mere suspicion, nor [by] evidence of mere relationship between the parties . . .” Slip op. at 8. The State’s evidence here raised no more than a conjecture of guilt, and the motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence should have been granted. “The record is almost entirely devoid of any interactions between defendant and [his brother] or defendant and [the girlfriend] from which the formation of any agreement can be inferred.” Id. at 13. The court acknowledged that “synchronized, parallel conduct” among defendants can support an inference of criminal agreement but rejected the State’s argument that such circumstances existed here. According to the court:
. . . [S]uch an inference would be far stronger where the conduct at issue is more synchronized, more parallel, and more clearly in furtherance of a crime. . .Moreover, while defendant was acquitted of the charges of harassment of a juror by threats or intimidation and we express no opinion on the sufficiency of the evidence with respect to those charges, the evidence was far from overwhelming. Put simply, this is not a situation like a drug transaction or bank robbery where it is evident that an unlawful act has occurred, and where the degree of coordination associated with those unlawful acts renders an inference of ‘mutual, implied understanding’ between participants far more reasonable. Id. 13-14 (citations omitted).
The matter was therefore reversed and remanded for the conviction to be vacated. In light of its holding, the court declined to consider the First Amendment challenges to the statute.
Justice Ervin dissented, joined by Justices Davis and Newby. According to the dissent, the majority failed to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, and the trial court should have been affirmed as to the sufficiency of evidence. Without expressing an opinion on the merits of the issue, the dissenters would have therefore proceeded to examine the defendant’s First Amendment challenges.
In a per curiam opinion, the court affirmed the decision of a divided panel of the Court of Appeals, ___ N.C. App. ___, 807 S.E.2d 603 (2017). The defendant was charged with five indictments alleging five separate offenses of conspiracy to commit robbery arising from five separate incidents. The Court of Appeals held, over a dissent, that the trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss four of the charges. On appeal, the defendant argued that there was only one agreement and thus only one conspiracy charge was proper. The majority disagreed, concluding, in part, that the random nature and happenstance of the robberies did not indicate a one-time, pre-planned conspiracy. It noted that the victims and crimes committed arose at random and by pure opportunity.
On appeal in this drug case from an unpublished opinion by the court of appeals, the supreme court held that there was sufficient evidence to support a conviction for conspiracy to traffic in opium. Specifically, the court pointed to evidence, detailed in the opinion, that the defendant agreed with another individual to traffic in opium by transportation. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the evidence showed only a “the mere existence of a relationship between two individuals” and not an unlawful conspiracy.
In this McDowell County case, defendant appealed his convictions for conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine and aiding and abetting a continuing criminal enterprise (“CCE”), arguing (1) the CCE indictment was fatally flawed as it did not specify each of the acts committed under the CCE, and (2) the conspiracy verdict was fatally ambiguous, as it was impossible to determine if the jury unanimously found trafficking by possession or by transportation. The Court of Appeals majority agreed regarding (1), vacating defendant’s CCE conviction, but upheld the conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine conviction in (2).
Defendant was an admitted participant in a drug trafficking enterprise, but was not an organizer or employee of the principal operation, instead being a routine purchaser of drugs for resale. Considering (1), the Court of Appeals noted that G.S. 90-95.1 defines the offense of CCE, and that the federal crime in 21 U.S.C. § 848 has nearly identical wording. This led the court to consult applicable precedent in Richardson v. United States, 526 U.S. 813 (1999), for the idea that specificity of illegal conduct is essential in a CCE indictment. The court found no such specificity here, explaining:
The indictment does not allege that the enterprise engaged in any specific conduct, only defining the CCE as “a continuing series of violations of Article 5 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes” and generally naming the participants and their positions in the trafficking scheme’s hierarchy. A juror would have no way of knowing how many criminal acts were committed within the organization or how Defendant’s acts advanced them; while the indictment specifies that Defendant aided and abetted the CCE “by trafficking in methamphetamine[,]” it says nothing of why the enterprise with which Defendant dealt constituted a CCE.
Slip Op. at 8-9. This led the court to hold that “each underlying act alleged under N.C.G.S. § 90-95.1 constitutes an essential element of the offense” and that “a valid indictment under N.C.G.S. § 90-95.1 requires the state to specifically enumerate the acts alleged.” Id. at 9. Because the State did not do so in the current case, the indictment was fatally defective and the court vacated defendant’s CCE conviction.
Moving to (2), the court explained that the core of defendant’s argument was that failing to distinguish between trafficking by possession and by transportation rendered the jury’s verdict fatally ambiguous. The court drew a distinction between disjunctive jury instructions that (a) would allow a jury to find defendant guilty of any one of multiple underlying offenses, or (b) various alternative acts that establish elements of the single offense being charged. Here, the court found (b), as “[w]here a conspiracy charge disjunctively lists multiple offenses . . . each underlying offense does not create a separate conspiracy, but is instead an alternative act by which a Defendant may be found guilty of the singular conspiracy alleged.” Id. at 11. This led the court to find no fatal ambiguity for defendant’s conspiracy conviction.
Judge Stroud concurred in part and dissented in part by separate opinion, and would have found no fatal ambiguity (1), allowing the CCE conviction to stand. Id. at 13.
In this Randolph County case, the Court of Appeals upheld defendant’s conviction for solicitation to commit first-degree murder, finding no prejudicial error by the trial court.
In 2018, defendant, a high school student, confessed to his girlfriend that he had homicidal thoughts towards several of his fellow students, and attempted to recruit his girlfriend to help him act on them. His girlfriend showed the messages they exchanged to her mother and the school resource officer, leading to further investigation that found defendant had a cache of guns and knives, as well as a detailed list of persons he wished to kill and methods he would use. When the matter came to trial, the state offered testimony from 11 of the 13 persons on the kill list, and during closing arguments made reference to the “current events” that were presumably mass shootings at high schools. Defendant was subsequently convicted in 2020.
Reviewing the appeal, the court first considered (a) defendant’s motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence, reviewing whether defendant solicited his girlfriend for the crime. The court found sufficient evidence of solicitation, explaining that solicitation is an “attempt to conspire,” and the offense does not require fully communicating the details of the plan. Instead, once defendant proposed the killings he had planned to his girlfriend, and attempted to recruit her to assist, the offense was complete, despite the fact that he did not fully share his detailed plans. Slip Op. at 12-13.
The court next considered (b), dismissing defendant’s argument that the indictment fatally varied from the jury instruction; the court found that this was actually an attempt to present an instructional error “within the Trojan horse of a fatal variance.” Id. at 15. Considering (c), the court disagreed with defendant’s allegation that Rules of Evidence 401 and 402 barred admission of defendant’s drawings and notes of the Joker and weapons, and testimony from 11 of the potential victims. The drawings were relevant to show defendant’s state of mind and evaluate the nature of the potential crime, and the testimony was relevant to show the potential victims were real people and that defendant had the specific intent to commit the crime. Id. at 17-18. The court also considered (d) whether Rule of Evidence 403 barred admission of this evidence as prejudicial, finding no abuse of discretion as “the evidence served a probative function arguably above and beyond inflaming [the jury’s passions].” Id. at 20.
Considering the final issue (e), whether the trial court should have intervened ex mero moto during the state’s closing argument, the court found error but not prejudicial error. The court found error in the state’s closing argument when the prosecutor “appealed to the jury’s sympathies by describing the nature of the Joker and insinuating that [d]efendant was planning a mass shooting.” Id. at 25. The court presumed that these statements were intended to suggest that defendant’s conviction would assist in preventing another mass shooting, but noted that they did not rise to the level of prejudicial error due to the other factual details in the argument, and the “multiple items of physical evidence and segments of testimony evidencing [d]efendant’s intent.” Id. at 28.
In this Hoke County case, defendant Stanley Draughon was found guilty by a jury of assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill inflicting serious injury (AWDWIKISI) and conspiracy to commit AWDWIKISI, and defendant Phyllis Mull was found guilty of conspiracy to commit AWDWIKISI. The charges arose from an incident in which Draughon and an unidentified man beat a victim, McBryde, with an object and tased him, breaking several bones in his arms and legs, among other injuries. At trial, Draughon’s lawyer objected to the State’s questioning related to Draughon’s cell phone, which had been seized from the vehicle of the person who drove Draughon to the sheriff’s office to turn himself in. Evidence from the phone indicated that Draughon and Mull had exchanged many text messages and calls. Additional testimony indicated that Mull wound up in possession of a box cutter that McBryde typically carried and had used in self-defense when he was assaulted.
(1) On appeal, Draughon argued that the evidence related to his cell phone should have been suppressed. The Court of Appeals disagreed, concluding that Draughon’s lawyer made only a general objection to the evidence at trial without specifying that he was making a motion to suppress or requesting a voir dire, as required by G.S. 15A-977. As a result, the defendant waived appellate review of the issue.
(2) Defendant Draughon also challenged the trial court’s denial of his motion to dismiss the conspiracy to commit AWDWIKISI charge at the close of the State’s evidence and at the close of all evidence. The Court of Appeals disagreed, concluding that, viewed in the light most favorable to the State, there was sufficient evidence of each element of the conspiracy charge. The numerous calls and texts between Draughon and Mull reflected that they had a relationship, and the facts that Mull was standing behind Draughon when he assaulted McBryde and that Mull wound up with McBryde’s box cutter constituted substantial evidence that Draughon had conspired to assault McBryde. Defendant Mull likewise argued that the trial court erred by denying her motion to dismiss. Again, the Court of Appeals disagreed, citing evidence indicating that Mull had agreed to invite Draughon and the other assailant into her house so they could wait for McBryde to assault him.
(3) Finally, the Court of Appeals concluded that Defendant Mull’s argument regarding the trial court’s denial of her motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict was not preserved for appeal, because her trial lawyer did not state the basis for the motion. The Court went on to decline Mull’s request to invoke Rule 2 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure to consider the issue, reasoning that Mull’s not guilty verdict on her AWDWIKISI charge was neither contradictory to nor mutually exclusive with her conviction for conspiracy to commit AWDWIKISI, as the conspiracy was complete when there was a meeting of minds between the conspirators, without any requirement for an overt act.
The defendant was convicted of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, felony breaking or entering, and conspiracy to commit breaking or entering in Watauga County. The offenses related to the attempted robbery of a drug dealer in an apartment in Boone. The jury convicted on all counts, and each conspiracy count was consolidated with the related substantive count for judgment.
(1) The defendant argued that the trial court erred in failing to dismiss one of the conspiracy counts. The Court of Appeals agreed. To convict on separate conspiracies, the State has the burden to show separate agreements. A single agreement to commit multiple offenses constitutes only one conspiracy. Factors relevant in determining the existence of multiple conspiracies include “the “nature of the agreement or agreements, the objectives of the conspiracies, the time interval between them, the number of participants, and the number of meetings . . .” Beck Slip op. at 11 (citation omitted). Here, the evidence showed only one agreement to rob drug dealers and thus only supported one conspiracy.
Where multiple conspiracy convictions are vacated, the court must identify the first substantive crime in determining which conviction to vacate. Here, the felony breaking or entering was the first substantive offense committed by the conspirators. The conviction for conspiracy to commit armed robbery was therefore vacated. According to the court:
As the felony breaking and entering was the first substantive crime committed by defendant (i.e., the ‘operative’ crime), because the conspiracy to commit felony breaking and entering was the ‘earlier of the conspiracy convictions’ insofar as defendant is concerned, and because the State failed to prove that defendant conspired with [the co-conspirators] in the weeks leading up to the crimes, we vacate defendant’s conviction for conspiracy to commit armed robbery . . . Id. at 14.
No resentencing was required, however, since the conspiracy to commit armed robbery was consolidated with the substantive robbery offense and the defendant was sentenced within the presumptive range for that crime.
(2) The trial court did not abuse its discretion in failing to provide the jury with a transcript of a witness’s testimony. No party objected to the trial court’s refusal in response to the jury’s request. Under G.S. 15A-1233(a), it is within the trial court’s discretion to allow reexamination of the evidence. Prejudice from the denial of a jury request to reexamine evidence will only be considered where the trial court fails to acknowledge its discretion in responding to the request. The trial court here recognized the matter as within its discretion. Consequently, the denial of the request for a transcript was neither an abuse of discretion nor prejudicial error.
Judge Inman concurred without separate opinion. Judge Tyson concurred in part and dissented in part. He would have found no error with the conviction for conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
A longstanding feud and several prior altercations culminated in the defendant and an accomplice ambushing two victims as they were driving away from the home of a woman who helped set the victims up. As the victims’ vehicle left the woman’s home and approached an intersection, the accomplice was standing in the middle of the road and began shooting at the driver’s side of the victims’ car. The defendant was also present and shot at the passenger side of the car. The diver of the vehicle was killed, but the passenger survived unharmed. The defendant was identified as a suspect, interviewed, and arrested. In the defendant’s first interview with police, he claimed that he had been at home all day when the murder occurred. In his second interview, the defendant admitted he lied in his first interview and admitted that he was present at the scene and fired at the car, but maintained that he was firing in self-defense and not aiming at the vehicle.
The defendant was charged with first-degree murder of the driver, attempted murder of the passenger, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of the passenger, and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle in operation. Following a jury trial, the defendant was convicted of all charges. The jury found the defendant guilty of murder based on both lying in wait and felony murder, but acquitted as to malice, premeditation, and deliberation. Judgment on the discharging a firearm offense was arrested, and the defendant was sentenced to life in prison.
On appeal, the defendant argued that the evidence at trial was insufficient to support his convictions for murder, attempted murder, or conspiracy. The Court of Appeals disagreed, and held that there was sufficient evidence to support all the charges. Even though the state offered the defendant’s initial exculpatory statement into evidence, that statement was inconsistent with other evidence of the defendant’s guilt, such as his admissions to being at the scene and firing a gun, and forensic evidence that showed he fired 13 shots at the passenger side of the vehicle. The bullet that killed the driver came from the other side of the car, but there was sufficient evidence to show that the defendant and the other shooter were acting in concert and engaged in the felony of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. Evidence cited by the court included the longstanding feud that led to the murder, the close friendship between the defendant and the other shooter, incriminating text messages regarding their plan, the coordinated nature of both the set-up to bring the victims to a specific location and the resulting ambush, and the assailants’ joint flight afterward. Based on all the evidence, a reasonable juror could conclude that the two shooters were lying in wait for the victims, and they were acting in concert when they opened fire on the occupied vehicle. Although the passenger in the vehicle survived, the court held that the evidence was likewise sufficient to find that the defendant and his accomplice intended to murder the passenger, made an agreement to do so, and performed an overt act to carry out that intent, thus supporting the convictions for both attempted murder and conspiracy.
The defendant was indicted for attempted first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, and other offenses. The State alleged that the defendant shot a man and his wife, Bruce and Joanne Parker, as they were getting into their car in a darkened Charlotte parking lot. After shooting Mr. Parker, the defendant, who was accompanied by a male and female companion, took Mr. Parker’s wallet and cell phone.
Off-duty officers arrived on the scene shortly after the couple was shot and saw the defendant and his two companions leaving the scene in the defendant’s car. Mr. Parker identified the defendant as the person who shot him. The officers gave chase, and the defendant’s male companion, who was driving, crashed the car. The defendant and his companions ran from the car. The driver was apprehended. The defendant and his female companion ran into a parking garage, where they were captured on surveillance footage, but were not apprehended by officers. On the driver’s seat floorboard of the crashed car, officers found the gun used to shoot the couple, the husband’s cell phone and wallet, and a purse and driver’s license belonging to the defendant’s female companion. Forty-five minutes later, the defendant called law enforcement officers to report that he had been carjacked earlier in the evening.
A few days after the shooting, an officer came to Mr. Parker’s hospital room and showed him a photographic lineup. The defendant’s picture was in the lineup, but Mr. Parker identified another person as the shooter. During trial, Mr. Parker testified that he was able to make out the shooter’s face during the attack. He then, without objection, identified the defendant in the courtroom, stating that the defendant was “pretty much the same man as he was that night,” only that he “appeared a little bit thinner.”
(1) On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial court erred by denying his motion to dismiss because there was insufficient evidence both that he was the perpetrator of the offenses and that there was a conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. The Court of Appeals rejected this argument, noting that Mr. Parker identified the car and the defendant as the shooter at the scene; that the officers saw the defendant leaving the scene and the car he was in; that Mr. Parker gave a description of the defendant that same night; that the description matched a person seen on surveillance after the car crashed; that the defendant was the owner of the car; and that Mr. Parker identified the defendant as the shooter in court. The Court also rejected the defendant’s insufficiency of the evidence argument regarding the conspiracy. The Court relied on State v. Lamb, 342 N.C. 151 (1995), and State v. Miles, 267 N.C. App. 78 (2019), in concluding that there was sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror could conclude that the defendant acted in coordination with the other occupants of the vehicle to rob the Parkers with a dangerous weapon.
(2) The defendant next argued that the trial court erred by sustaining the State’s objection to the defendant’s question concerning a civil lawsuit filed by the Parkers against the owner of the parking lot alleging inadequate security. The defendant contended that the civil lawsuit was relevant because it showed that the Parkers had an interest in the outcome of the criminal prosecution. The Court has previously held that “where a witness for the prosecution has filed a civil suit for damages against the criminal defendant himself, the pendency of the suit is admissible to impeach the witness by showing the witness’s interest in the outcome of the criminal prosecution.” State v. Dixon, 77 N.C. App. 27, 31– 32 (1985); State v. Grant, 57 N.C. App. 589, 591 (1982). The Court concluded that because the civil suit was not filed against the defendant and because it was not necessary for the Parkers to prove in the civil suit that the defendant was the assailant, the pendency of the civil suit did not show Mr. Parker’s interest in the outcome of the criminal prosecution and was therefore not admissible to impeach the witness.
(3) The defendant’s final argument was that the trial court plainly erred by failing to exclude Mr. Parker’s in-court identification, which the defendant did not object to at trial. The defendant contended that the in-court identification was tainted by Mr. Parker’s exposure to media coverage of the case, his filing of a civil lawsuit that named the defendant as the assailant, the lapse of time, and his identification of someone other than the defendant in the photo lineup. The Court of Appeals concluded that these factors alone did not trigger due process concerns and that the alleged defects of the in-court identification were issues of credibility for the jury to resolve. The Court explained that absent any indication that the in-court identification was tainted by an impermissibly suggestive pre-trial identification procedure, there was no error, let alone plain error, in admitting Mr. Parker’s in-court identification.
The defendant was convicted of first-degree murder based on felony murder, attempted first-degree murder, felonious discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle in operation, and two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The defendant’s brother was the shooter and was convicted in a separate case. (1) On appeal the defendant argued that the trial judge committed plain error by admitting the following evidence. (A) A witness testified that the defendant knew that the defendant’s brother intended to shoot the victims. The Court found that the testimony was inadmissible because a witness may not testify to another person’s mind or purpose without personal knowledge of the person’s mind or purpose, a foundation not laid by the State. The Court concluded, however, that erroneous admission of the testimony did not have a probable impact on the jury’s finding that the defendant counseled and knowingly aided the shooting by assisting in luring the victims to the place where the defendant’s brother shot them. (B) Two witnesses who were not called as experts, one of whom was a detective, testified that the defendant concealed evidence about the planned shooting by using a smartphone texting app. Applying Rule 701 of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence, which requires that opinion testimony by lay witnesses be rationally based on a witness’s perception and helpful to the jury, the Court found that the State failed to lay a foundation showing that the witnesses were familiar with how the use of such apps affects cell phone records. The Court concluded that the erroneous admission of the testimony was not plain error because other evidence showed that the defendant was communicating with her brother via cellphone, that her brother destroyed his cellphone, and there were no records of their communications, which the jury could have viewed in a manner disadvantageous to the defendant. (C) A witness testified to the good character of one of the victims— that he was kind, protective, and nonviolent, among other qualities. The Court held that this testimony was inadmissible under Rule 404(a)(2) because it was not offered to rebut any evidence by the defendant that the victim was the first aggressor in the altercation. The Court concluded that the erroneous admission of the testimony was not plain error given other evidence consistent with the defendant’s guilt. (2) The defendant argued, the State conceded, and the Court found that the trial judge erred in allowing the jury to convict her of two counts of conspiracy because the evidence showed a single conspiracy to shoot two people. The Court therefore vacated one of the conspiracy convictions and remanded for resentencing. One judge concurred in the result only.
The defendant was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit attempted first-degree murder. (1) The defendant argued that the latter charge is invalid because it alleges a non-existent crime. The defendant argued that an attempt requires that the act fail; therefore, it is an illogical impossibility and a legal absurdity to criminalize an agreement to commit a failed act, which in this case would be an agreement not to commit murder. The Court of Appeals rejected the argument, holding that under North Carolina law “failure” is not an element of attempted first-degree murder and that conspiracy to commit that offense is a cognizable charge. (2) The defendant argued that the evidence was insufficient to support attempted first-degree murder or conspiracy because the evidence showed only that he fired a pellet gun to try scare away the officer who was in pursuit. The Court found that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that the defendant fired a gun at the officer, not merely a pellet gun, with the intent to kill.
The evidence showed that the defendant was in a car with two other men that arrived in a church parking lot near the victim’s house at the same time as another car driven by a female. The female then drove to the victim’s home and beeped her car horn. Shortly after the victim came out of his house and told the woman to leave, the defendant approached the victim with a gun and said, “Don’t f**kin’ move.” After the victim and the defendant exchanged gunfire, the defendant and two other man ran from the victim’s house. The defendant got back into the car in the parking lot. This evidence was sufficient to show that the defendant agreed with at least one other person to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. Defendant’s actions were substantial evidence of his intent to rob the victim, and his arrival at the victim’s home with the weapon was an overt act to carry out his intentions.
The evidence was sufficient to support a charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. On appeal, the defendant argued that there was insufficient evidence of an agreement to commit the robbery. Here, the victim identified the defendant and others as the individuals who robbed him. Additionally, the defendant confirmed to a detective that his accomplice’s statement that the robbery was in retaliation for the victim’s robbery of another person was accurate. This was sufficient evidence of a conspiracy.
(1) The evidence was sufficient to support a conviction for conspiracy to traffic in opium by sale and delivery. The defendant was indicted on multiple drug offenses arising from three separate controlled buys. On appeal the defendant argued that the State failed to present evidence, aside from an accomplice’s mere presence at the second control buy, that the defendant conspired with the accomplice to traffic in opium. The court rejected this argument, noting, among other things that the defendant brought the accomplice to the drug transaction location for all three controlled buys. The location of the second exchange was one the defendant did not like and the sale took place at or near dark. The drugs were maintained in the same vehicle as the accomplice and the defendant exchanged the drugs and counted the money in front of him. From this evidence, it would be reasonable for the jury to infer that the accomplice was present at the defendant’s behest to provide safety and comfort to the defendant during the transaction. (2) The evidence supported multiple conspiracy charges. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the evidence showed only one agreement to engage in three separate transactions. It noted that the first two transactions were separated by one month and that approximately three months passed between the second and third buys. There was no evidence suggesting that the defendant planned the transactions as a series. Rather, the informant or the detective initiated each.
The evidence was sufficient to support a charge of conspiracy to possess stolen goods, a pistol. After the defendant took the pistol and other items from the victims’ purses, the pistol was found in the field near a residence. The defendant’s alleged accomplice was present at the residence and admitted to officers that he was working with the defendant. This occurred after the defendant called the alleged accomplice from jail. From this evidence a jury could reasonably infer that the accomplice conspired with the defendant to possess the pistol.
There was sufficient evidence of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Although circumstantial, the evidence supported the inference that the defendant and his accomplices agreed to commit the robbery and other unlawful acts.
The State presented insufficient evidence to show that the defendant entered into an agreement to commit common law robbery. The mere fact that the crime the defendant allegedly conspired with others to commit took place does not, without more, prove the existence of a conspiracy. Lacking here was evidence that the defendant conspired to take the property by violence or fear. In fact, his accomplice’s use of violence or fear was unknown to the defendant until after the robbery was completed.
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss a charge of conspiracy to sell methamphetamine, given the substantial evidence of an implied understanding among the defendant, Fisher, and Adams to sell methamphetamine to the informants. The informants went to Fisher to buy the drugs. The group then drove to the defendant’s house where Fisher asked the defendant for methamphetamine. The defendant said that he didn’t have any but could get some. The defendant led Fisher and Adams to the trailer where the drugs were purchased.
The trial court properly determined that a charge of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine was a Class C felony. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that G.S. 14-2.4(a) required punishment as a Class D felony (“Unless a different classification is expressly stated, a person who is convicted of a conspiracy to commit a felony is guilty of a felony that is one class lower than the felony he or she conspired to commit[.]”). Here, G.S. 90-98 requires that conviction for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine is punished at the same level as manufacture of methamphetamine.
Finding State v. Euceda-Valle, 182 N.C. App. 268, 276 (2007), controlling, the court held that there was insufficient evidence that the defendant and another person named Hall conspired to sell and deliver cocaine. The evidence showed only that the drugs were found in a car driven by Hall in which the defendant was a passenger.
The evidence was sufficient to show a drug trafficking conspiracy where there was evidence of an implied agreement between the defendant and his accomplice. The defendant was present at the scene and aware that his accomplice was involved producing methamphetamine and there was sufficient evidence that the defendant himself was involved in the manufacturing process. The court concluded: “Where two subjects are involved together in the manufacture of methamphetamine and the methamphetamine recovered is enough to sustain trafficking charges, we hold the evidence sufficient to infer an implied agreement between the subjects to traffic in methamphetamine by manufacture and withstand a motion to dismiss.”
The evidence was insufficient to support trafficking by conspiracy convictions against both defendants. The drugs were found in secret compartments of a truck. Defendant Villalvavo was driving the vehicle, which was owned by a passenger, Velazquez-Perez, who hired Villalvavo to drive the truck. While evidence regarding the truck’s log books may have been incriminating as to Velazquez-Perez, it did not apply to Villalvavo, who had not been working for Velazquez-Perez long and had no stake in the company or control over Velazquez-Perez.
In a case in which the defendant was charged with conspiracy to commit felony larceny, the trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to submit a jury instruction on conspiracy to commit misdemeanor larceny. The court determined that evidence of the cumulative value of the goods taken is evidence of a conspiracy to steal goods of that value, even if the conspirators’ agreement is silent as to exact quantity. Here, the evidence showed that the value of the items taken was well in excess of $1,000.
There was sufficient evidence of a conspiracy to commit armed robbery. The victim was approached from behind by both defendants while walking alone. One defendant held the gun while the other reached for her cellphone. Although not showing an express agreement between defendants, these circumstances sufficiently establish an implied agreement to rob the victim with a firearm.
The evidence was sufficient to show a conspiracy to commit a robbery with a dangerous weapon. The defendant argued that there was no express agreement to use a dangerous weapon. The court held, in part, that there was an implied understanding to use such a weapon.
(1) The evidence was sufficient to support a charge of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine by possession. A detective arranged for a cocaine sale. The defendant and an individual named Blanco arrived at the preset location and both came over to the detective to look at the money. The defendant and Blanco left together, with the defendant telling Blanco to wait at a parking lot for delivery of the drugs. Later, the defendant told Blanco to come to the defendant’s house to get the drugs. Blanco complied and completed the sale. (2) The court rejected the defendant’s argument that verdicts finding him guilty of conspiracy to commit trafficking by possession but not guilty of trafficking by possession were legally inconsistent because both crimes required the defendant to have possession. Because conspiracy to traffic by possession does not include possession as an element, the fact that the defendant was convicted of that crime and not convicted of trafficking by possession does not present any inconsistency, legal or otherwise.
(1) The evidence was insufficient to support two charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Having failed to achieve the objective of the conspiracy on their first attempt, the defendant and his co-conspirators returned the next day to try again. When the State charges separate conspiracies, it must prove not only the existence of at least two agreements, but also that they were separate. There is no bright-line test for whether multiple conspiracies exist. The essential question is the nature of the agreement(s), but factors such as time intervals, participants, objectives, and number of meetings must be considered. Applying this analysis, the court concluded that only one agreement existed. In both attempts, the intended victim and participants were the same; the time interval between the two attempts was approximately 36 hours; on the second attempt the group did not agree to a new plan; and while the co-conspirators considered robbing a different victim, that only was a back-up plan. The court rejected the State’s argument that because the co-conspirators met after the first attempt, acquired additional materials, made slight modifications on how to execute their plan, and briefly considered robbing a different victim, they abandoned their first conspiracy and formed a second one. (2) The trial judge committed plain error by failing to instruct the jury on all elements of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. The judge instructed the jury that armed robbery involved a taking from the person or presence of another while using or in the possession of a firearm. The judge failed to instruct on the element of use of the weapon to threaten or endanger the life of the victim.
In a conspiracy to commit robbery case, the evidence was sufficient to establish a mutual, implied understanding between the defendant and another man to rob the victim. The other man drove the defendant to intercept the victim; the defendant wore a ski mask and had a gun; after the defendant hesitated to act, the other person assaulted the victim and took his money; and the two got into the car and departed.
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss a charge of conspiracy to discharge a firearm into occupied property. The defendant, Ray, Johnson, and Phelps left a high school basketball game because of the presence of rival gang members. As they left, the defendant suggested that he was going to kill someone. A gun was retrieved from underneath the driver’s side seat of Johnson’s vehicle and Johnson let Ray drive and the defendant to sit in the front because the two “were about to do something.” Ray and the defendant argued over who was going to shoot the victim but in the end Ray drove by the gym and the defendant fired twice at the victim, who was standing in front of the gym. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the evidence failed to show an agreement to discharge the firearm into occupied property, noting that the group understood and impliedly agreed that the defendant would shoot the victim as they drove by, the victim was standing by the gym doors, and there was a substantial likelihood that the bullets would enter or hit the gym.
Evidence of the words and actions of the defendant and others, when viewed collectively, provided sufficient evidence of an implied agreement to assault the victim. The court noted that the spontaneity of the plan did not defeat the conspiracy and that a meeting of the minds can occur when a party accepts an offer by actions.
There was sufficient evidence to support the defendant’s conviction of conspiracy to traffic in marijuana; the fact that the state took a voluntary dismissal of the conspiracy charge against the co-conspirator was irrelevant to that determination.