Braswell v. Braswell, No. 225A90

• Citation: 330 N.C. 363,410 S.E.2d 897
• Decision Date: 06 December 1991
• Docket Number: No. 225A90
• Parties: Michael Keith BRASWELL, Administrator of the Estate of Lillie Stancil Braswell, Deceased v. Billy R. BRASWELL and Ralph L. Tyson, Sheriff of Pitt County.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina

Page 897

410 S.E.2d 897

330 N.C. 363

Michael Keith BRASWELL, Administrator of the Estate of Lillie Stancil Braswell, Deceased v. Billy R. BRASWELL and Ralph L. Tyson, Sheriff of Pitt County.

No. 225A90.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Dec. 6, 1991.

Law Offices of Marvin Blount, Jr. by Marvin Blount, Jr., and Joseph T. Edwards, Greenville, for plaintiff-appellant and -appellee.

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice by Richard T. Rice and J. Daniel McNatt, Winston-Salem, for defendant-appellant and appellee Tyson.

MEYER, Justice.

This lawsuit arose out of the murder of Lillie Stancil Braswell by her estranged husband, Deputy Sheriff Billy R. Braswell. On the morning of 27 September 1982, a passing motorist found the body of Lillie Braswell on Chinquapin Road near Farmville, North Carolina. The parties stipulated that Lillie, age thirty-nine, died as a result of gunshot wounds inflicted by Billy Braswell, who had served for thirteen years as a deputy sheriff for defendant, Pitt County Sheriff Ralph Tyson. Plaintiff, the son of Lillie and Billy Braswell and the administrator of Lillie's estate, sued both his father and Sheriff Tyson. A voluntary dismissal was taken with respect to defendant Billy Braswell. Plaintiff proceeded to trial on two negligence claims against Sheriff Tyson, negligent failure to protect and negligent supervision and retention of Deputy Braswell, but directed verdict was granted in defendant Tyson's favor at the close of plaintiff's evidence.

Plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeals, which found no error with respect to the dismissal of the negligent supervision and retention claim but held that the trial court erred in dismissing the claim against defendant Tyson on the issue of negligent failure to protect. Judge Greene dissented from that portion of the majority's opinion affirming the trial court's directed verdict for defendant on the negligent supervision and retention claim. Plaintiff appeals to this Court as of right by reason of the dissenting opinion. Additionally, defendant Tyson filed a petition for discretionary review, requesting review of whether the Court of Appeals was correct in its determination that the trial court erred in directing verdict for defendant as to the failure to protect claim and further requesting that we review whether the trial court erred in admitting hearsay statements not covered by any hearsay exception. This petition was allowed 27 July 1990.

In reviewing the grant of directed verdict for defendant, we must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, resolving contradictions and discrepancies in his favor. Sharp v. Wyse, 317 N.C. 694, 346 S.E.2d 485 (1986). Moreover, plaintiff's evidence must be taken as true, and he is entitled to every reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence. Id. The question presented on appeal is whether the evidence, taken in the light most favorable to plaintiff, was sufficient to take the case to the jury. Hitchcock v. Cullerton, 82 N.C.App. 296, 297, 346 S.E.2d 215, 217 (1986). Erroneously admitted evidence must be considered in ruling upon a motion for directed verdict. Koury v. Follo, 272 N.C. 366, 158 S.E.2d 548 (1968). Where the evidence is sufficient to support all the elements of plaintiff's claim, defendant's motion for directed verdict should be denied.

In the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the evidence tends to show the following. On Wednesday evening, 22 September 1982, Lillie Braswell moved out of the home that she shared with her husband. That morning she met with Sheriff Tyson and related her fears that Billy would kill her if she remained in the home. His behavior had become more irregular, and he had recently spent much time staring at her while tapping three envelopes on his knee. When Lillie told Billy she was leaving, he told her that neither of them was going anywhere and that if he could not have her, nobody could. Sheriff Tyson related to Lillie that if she discovered the contents of the envelopes, she should let him know. That afternoon, Lillie called Tyson from her place of work to inform him that she had located the envelopes. She informed Sheriff Tyson of the "gist" of the letters. At about this time, Tyson also dispatched two deputies to check on Billy. Both reported that Billy appeared neither homicidal nor suicidal.

While moving out of her house, Lillie discovered the three letters Billy had been tapping on his knee; one was addressed to their son, Mike. The letter read, in pertinent part, as follows:

Well Mike by now you already know what has happen[ed]....

....

... All I can say is son I loved your mother, and I just couldn't stand to see her leave me....

I just hope Mike that you didn't have to see this mess. But if you did, please put it out of your mind. And please don't ever go back to this house again, it'll only hurt you more.

Mike get Jimmy to help you with the property settlement, he knows what to do....

....

Please, Mike don't hold this against me. I know it's the worst thing any one can do, but I feel there is a reason for doing this. I just need the rest, and I couldn't go alone....

....

Mike there is one thing I would like for you to make sure it is done. I would like very much for me and Lillie [to] be placed side by side, along with Granddaddy in Wilson. There might be some talk about that, but please be sure that we are placed beside each other....

....

... And Mike I'm sorry for doing this to you, but I just can't see any other way. I just love Lillie to [sic] much to see her leave me.

The other envelopes, unopened at Lillie's death, were addressed to Billy's brother and to Deputy Sheriff Brooks Oakley, Billy's friend and co-worker.

Lillie spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights with a friend, Marguerite Taylor, in Greenville. Taylor called Sheriff Tyson on Wednesday because she was concerned about being involved in a domestic dispute. Tyson told her that he believed it would be a good idea for Lillie to stay with her, that he would keep Lillie's whereabouts confidential, and that Taylor should call if she needed him.

Lillie spent Saturday night with her best friend, Lila Joyner. Lila helped Lillie remove more of her clothes from the house. Lillie told her that she showed the letters she found to Sheriff Tyson, and he told her that Billy would not harm her.

On Sunday, the day before her death, Lillie spent the night with another friend, Hilda Joyner. Hilda testified that Lillie talked about moving to another part of the country but thought that Billy had sources and could track her down wherever she went. According to Hilda Joyner, Sheriff Tyson told Lillie that "he would see she got back and forth to work safely ... [and] that his men would be keeping an eye on her." Hilda testified that the promise was as much a promise to keep an eye on Billy as a promise to watch Lillie, "that he was to ... watch out for her ... [and] make sure Billy ... didn't bother Lillie." When Lillie left for work on Monday morning she said that she was going to be all right and that she was going to get things straightened out.

When Lillie arrived at work in Greenville on Monday, 27 September 1982, she telephoned her attorney, who agreed to meet with her at his office in Farmville. She took with her the three letters and a copy of the separation agreement Billy's attorney had written. Lillie never arrived in Farmville. After her body was discovered at approximately 11:30 a.m., deputies began searching for Billy. They located him at his house in Farmville, sitting in a recliner with two gunshot wounds to his chest. Billy asked the officers at the scene to let him die. Parked in the carport outside the home was the silver sheriff's department vehicle Billy had been driving while his regularly assigned brown sheriff's vehicle was being repaired. The driver's door of the car was open. One revolver was in the car, and another revolver was inside the house. Billy Braswell survived the attempted suicide and was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife.

At trial, Sheriff Tyson testified that Lillie told him that Billy had beaten her five years earlier and had threatened her with a firearm, and that he had heard about the incidents shortly after they happened. Lillie also told him that Billy had put a gun to her head several years earlier. There were no records in Billy's personnel file concerning these incidents. Sheriff Tyson testified that Lillie never actually showed him the contents of the letter from Billy to his son Mike, but only told him the gist of it. She also related Billy's statement, "If I can't have you, nobody is going to have you." He sent Deputy Harris to talk with Billy, and Harris told Sheriff Tyson that, in his opinion, Lillie and Billy were just having marital problems. Sheriff Tyson denied making any promises to protect Lillie and testified that he told Lillie she would have to file the appropriate legal papers before he could take steps to protect her.

A criminologist testified that Sheriff Tyson's inaction violated the standards and procedures of the law enforcement profession; that where there is any hint that an officer might abuse the vast amount of power with which he or she is vested, for example, the power to carry concealed weapons, the supervisor should undertake a thorough investigation and talk with the individual personally; and that should the investigation reveal the necessity of suspension or dismissal, the supervisor should take such action immediately. A clinical psychologist testified that Billy's letter to Mike indicated both suicidal and homicidal intentions and that Billy was clearly a danger to himself and others prior to Lillie's death.

The first issue for review involves Sheriff Tyson's alleged negligent failure to protect Lillie Braswell. Defendant argues that the Court of Appeals erroneously reversed the trial court's order of directed...