State v. Miles, 222 N.C. App. 593 (Aug. 21, 2012)

In a case in which the defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, the trial court did not err by failing to instruct the jury on second-degree murder. The court found that the record supported the inference that the defendant murdered the victim after premeditation and deliberation. The defendant harassed the victim over the telephone at least 94 times and visited the victim’s home at least twice; the defendant threatened the victim’s life by voicemail on the day of the murder; the defendant stated his intention to murder the victim to a confidant; the defendant and the victim had a heated relationship and argued over money; the defendant anticipated a confrontation whereby he would use deadly force; the defendant crafted a false alibi; the defendant fled the scene leaving the victim to die; and the defendant sold his wife’s R.V., which the jury could infer was the vehicle the defendant drove on the night of the murder, less than two months after the crime. “Most notably,” the victim died as a result of a gunshot wound to the center back of the head, discharged at close range, indicating that the defendant not only inflicted a brutal, fatal wound with a deadly weapon, but that even if the defendant and the victim were fighting at the time, the victim’s back was to defendant and the victim was fleeing or turning away at the time of his death. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that certain facts suggested that a fight precipitated the murder and thus warranted an instruction on the lesser offense. It noted that even evidence of an argument, “without more, is insufficient to show that defendant’s anger was strong enough to disturb his ability to reason and hinder his ability to premeditate and deliberate the killing.”