State Carolina v. Leonard

• Decision Date: 19 July 2011
• Docket Number: No. COA10–1387.,COA10–1387.
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of North Carolinav.Toby LEONARD, Defendant.

711 S.E.2d 867

STATE of North Carolina

v.Toby LEONARD, Defendant.

No. COA10–1387.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

July 19, 2011.

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Appeal by defendant from judgments entered 11 June 2010 by Judge Donald W. Stephens in Wake County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 11 April 2011.

Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by Kimberley A. D'Arruda, Assistant Attorney General, for the State.

Robert W. Ewing, Clemmons, for defendant-appellant.

MARTIN, Chief Judge.

Defendant was indicted for one count of Driving While Impaired, one count of Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury, one count of Felonious Serious Injury By Motor Vehicle, one count of Felonious Operation of a Motor Vehicle to Elude Arrest, one count of Misdemeanor Hit and Run, and having attained habitual felon status.

The evidence at trial tended to show that at approximately 10:00 p.m. on 16 January 2009, defendant was at his home drinking alcohol. At some point during the evening, he went to his girlfriend's mother's apartment and a physical altercation occurred between defendant and his girlfriend's family. Police were called and the family attempted to hold defendant down until they arrived. Defendant, however, broke loose, got into his vehicle, and ran his vehicle into his girlfriend's vehicle before he “zoomed” out of the parking lot.

Raleigh Police Officer A.B. Smith was responding to the 911 call about the altercation, when he observed a vehicle, later determined to be driven by defendant, coming through an intersection dragging its bumper. Having heard that the incident to which he was responding involved two vehicles “ramming” each other, Officer Smith suspected that the vehicle might have been involved in the altercation and he began to follow it. Officer Smith activated his blue lights and defendant slowed and began to pull to the right. However, defendant then pulled back to the left and maintained a consistent speed. Officer Smith activated his siren. Defendant then accelerated rapidly and proceeded through a red traffic light at an intersection at approximately 55 miles per hour. The posted speed limit was 35 miles per hour.

At the same time, David Jones was driving north through the same intersection with passengers Danielle Bowder and Mario Smith. Defendant crashed his vehicle into the driver's side back seat of Mr. Jones' vehicle. After the vehicles came to a rest, defendant fled the scene of the accident on foot. Officer Smith pursued defendant and took him into custody at a Food Lion grocery store approximately 35 yards away from the accident.

Officer T.D. Hurst responded to Officer Smith's radio call after the collision. At the scene, he observed that defendant was having difficulty standing, was unsteady on his feet, and smelled strongly of alcohol. Defendant also vomited on the side of the police vehicle and the vomit smelled strongly of alcohol. Once placed inside the backseat of the police vehicle, defendant fell asleep. Officer Hurst testified to his opinion that defendant “had consumed a sufficient quantity of an impairing substance so as to appreciably inhibit his mental and physical capacities.” Defendant's blood alcohol concentration was measured at .10, to which he later stipulated at trial.

Both defendant's and Mr. Jones' vehicles were badly damaged in the collision. Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith, and defendant were transported to the hospital. Mr. Jones was diagnosed with a contusion to his face, laceration on his left forearm, and a left shoulder sprain. He was discharged with pain medication, anti-inflammatory medication, and muscle relaxants. Mr. Smith was diagnosed with a left clavicle fracture, a left C–7 transverse process fracture, and a small renal contusion. He spent one day at the hospital and was prescribed pain medication and ongoing physical therapy.

At trial, the State introduced, over objection, letters sent from the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles to defendant notifying him that his license was revoked. The State also introduced an affidavit written by an employee at the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) stating that the originals of the notification letters were “deposited by [her] in the United States mail on the mail date of the attached order in an envelope, postage paid, addressed as appears thereon, which address is shown by the records of the Division as the address of the person named on the document.”

At the close of the State's evidence, defendant moved to dismiss all charges. The trial court allowed the motion to dismiss the charges of Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury, but denied the motion as to the remaining charges. Defendant did not present any evidence and renewed his motions to dismiss. The motions were denied. The jury returned verdicts finding defendant guilty of one count of Driving While Impaired, one count of Felonious Serious Injury By Motor Vehicle, one count of Felonious Operation of a Motor Vehicle to Elude Arrest, and one count of Misdemeanor Hit and Run. Defendant then entered a plea of guilty to having attained habitual felon status. The trial court arrested judgment on the Driving While Impaired conviction due to defendant's conviction of Felonious Serious Injury by Motor Vehicle. The court consolidated all of the offenses for judgment and sentenced defendant to a minimum of 136 months and a maximum of 173 months in the custody of the North Carolina Department of Correction. Defendant appeals.

_________________________

Defendant challenges his convictions on a number of grounds. He first argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion to dismiss the charge of Felonious Serious Injury by Motor Vehicle. He also challenges the enhancement of his conviction for Operation of a Motor Vehicle to Elude Arrest from a misdemeanor to a Class H felony. We find no error.

I.

Defendant first contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the charge of Felonious Serious Injury By Motor Vehicle. We disagree.

Upon a defendant's motion for dismissal, the trial court must determine whether there is substantial evidence of each essential element of the offense charged. State v. Powell, 299 N.C. 95, 98, 261 S.E.2d 114, 117 (1980). “Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” State v. Smith, 300 N.C. 71, 78–79, 265 S.E.2d 164, 169 (1980). If substantial evidence is present, the motion to dismiss is properly denied. State v. Bullard, 312 N.C. 129, 160, 322 S.E.2d 370, 387 (1984). “The evidence is to be considered in the light most favorable to the State and the State is entitled to every reasonable inference that might be drawn therefrom.” State v. Jackson, 75 N.C.App. 294, 297, 330 S.E.2d 668, 669 (1985) (citing State v. Witherspoon, 293 N.C. 321, 237 S.E.2d 822 (1977)).

To establish the offense of Felonious Serious Injury by Motor Vehicle, the State must prove that the defendant (1) unintentionally caused serious injury to another, (2) was engaged in the offense of impaired driving under N.C.G.S. § 20–138.1 or N.C.G.S. § 20–138.2, and (3) the commission of the offense under subdivision (2) was the proximate cause of the serious injury. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 20–141.4(a3) (2009).

Defendant does not challenge that he unintentionally caused serious injury to Mr. Smith or that he violated N.C.G.S. § 20–138.1. Rather, defendant contends there was insufficient evidence as to the third element. He argues that his own willful action in attempting to elude arrest was the proximate cause of Mr. Smith's injuries and not his impaired driving. We disagree.

Proximate cause is a cause that produced the result in continuous sequence and without which it would not have occurred, and one from which any man of ordinary prudence could have foreseen that such a result was probable under all the facts as they existed. Foreseeability is an essential element of proximate cause. This does not mean that the defendant must have foreseen the injury in the exact form in which it occurred, but that, in the exercise of reasonable care, the defendant might have foreseen that some injury would result from his act or omission, or that consequences of a generally injurious nature might have been expected.

State v. Powell, 336 N.C. 762, 771–72, 446 S.E.2d 26, 31 (1994) (citations omitted) (quoting Williams v. Boulerice, 268 N.C. 62, 68, 149 S.E.2d 590, 594 (1966)).

Defendant's violation of N.C.G.S. § 20–138.1, which prohibits drivers from operating motor vehicles while under the influence of impairing substances, need not be the only proximate cause of a victim's injury in order for defendant to be found criminally liable; a showing that defendant's action of driving while under the influence was one of the proximate causes is sufficient. See State v. Hollingsworth, 77 N.C.App. 36, 39, 334 S.E.2d 463, 465 (1985). Therefore, even if defendant's willful attempt to elude arrest was a cause of Mr. Smith's injury, defendant's driving under the influence could also be a proximate cause.

Here, looking at the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, with all reasonable inferences drawn in the State's favor, see Jackson, 75 N.C.App. at 297, 330 S.E.2d at 669, there was substantial evidence to support a finding that defendant's impaired state was a proximate cause of Mr. Smith's serious injury. A man of ordinary prudence could have foreseen an accident resulting from drinking and driving. The jury could reasonably find from the evidence that defendant was consuming alcohol on the evening of 16 January 2009, that he then got into an altercation with his girlfriend and her family, got into his vehicle, drove it into his girlfriend's car, refused to pull over for the police, drove the car faster than the speed limit, and proceeded through a red traffic light and collided with the victim's vehicle. Both Officers Smith and Hurst testified that defendant...