State Carolina v. Sargeant
| Decision Date | 11 March 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 355A10.,355A10. |
| Citation | 707 S.E.2d 192,365 N.C. 58 |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolinav.Neil Matthew SARGEANT. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A–30(2) from the decision of a divided panel of the Court of Appeals, ––– N.C.App. ––––, 696 S.E.2d 786 (2010), ordering a new trial following a judgment imposing a sentence of life imprisonment without parole upon a jury verdict finding defendant guilty of first-degree murder and judgments imposing additional terms of imprisonment for other convictions, all entered by Judge Ronald K. Payne on 24 April 2008 in Superior Court, Watauga County. Heard in the Supreme Court 16 November 2010.
Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by John G. Barnwell, Assistant Attorney General, for the State-appellant.
Staples S. Hughes, Appellate Defender, by Benjamin Dowling–Sendor, Assistant Appellate Defender, for defendant-appellee.
In this case, we consider whether the trial court correctly excluded the hearsay statement made by one of the participants in a murder. The excluded statement implicated the State's only eyewitness, not defendant, as the instigator of the crime. Because we find that the trial court's findings of fact are not based upon competent evidence and that the record in its entirety does not support its conclusions of law, we determine that the trial court erred. We further conclude that defendant Neil Matthew Sargeant was prejudiced by the error. Accordingly, we modify and affirm the Court of Appeals opinion reversing defendant's convictions and remanding for a new trial.
On the morning of 8 November 2005, two people walking near a covered bridge on Sleepy Hollow Lane in a rural part of Watauga County noticed a Subaru automobile parked nearby. Seeing smoke issuing from the car, they went to a friend's house and asked him to call 911. Deputy Kelly Redmond of the Watauga County Sheriff's Department responded and observed smoke rising through the vehicle's partially opened sunroof. No one was near the car or in its passenger area, but when Deputy Redmond opened the trunk, he found that it was filled with smoke and contained the body of the victim, Stephen Harrington. The victim's hands were bound with duct tape and his head was “completely covered” with duct tape “similar to the way that a mummy's head would [be] wrapped up.” Although the body was partially burned, Deborah Radisch, M.D., Associate Chief Medical Examiner for North Carolina, testified that she performed the autopsy and determined the cause of death was asphyxia from smothering. She added that because the duct tape covered the victim's mouth and nose, he probably would have lost consciousness in “sixty to ninety seconds” and died within “five to ten minutes.” The absence of carbon monoxide in the victim's blood indicated that he was not breathing when the fire reached him.
During the investigation of the crime, Watauga County Sheriff's Detective Dee Dee Rominger took a statement from Matthew Brandon Dalrymple (Dalrymple) on 10 September 2007. In his statement, Dalrymple related that he and defendant Neil Matthew Sargeant (defendant) were at defendant's house in Boone on the evening of 7 November 2005, where they smoked marijuana and snorted cocaine while playing video games. Dalrymple stated that he fell asleep on a couch about 7:00 p.m. but awoke around 11:00 p.m. and went into the kitchen, where he saw Kyle Triplett (Triplett) choking “a guy.” As Dalrymple watched, Triplett hit the victim in the temple with the butt of a pistol, knocking him down. After kicking the victim in the side and stomping on the back of his head, Triplett used duct tape first to secure the victim's hands behind his back and then to tape the victim's head “from chin to his for[e]head.”
Dalrymple continued that Triplett pointed the pistol at Dalrymple and ordered him to drive. As Dalrymple prepared to follow Triplett's instructions, he passed defendant in the hallway. Defendant asked what was going on, but Dalrymple did not respond. Dalrymple said he heard defendant repeat, “What the f[–––] is going on,” then add, “Get this s[–––] out of my house.” Dalrymple dressed and went outside, where he observed drag marks on the ground and saw Triplett putting the victim into the trunk of the victim's car and closing the lid. Dalrymple stated that he saw the victim's leg move. As Triplett drove away in the victim's car, Dalrymple entered the car belonging to defendant's girlfriend and asked defendant to come with him. Dalrymple drove defendant as they followed Triplett to a covered bridge where Dalrymple saw Triplett moving around inside the victim's car, which subsequently began to burn. Triplett then walked to the trunk of that car, which also began to burn. Triplett left the trunk open and joined Dalrymple and defendant in the other car, after which they left at high speed.
At the time Dalrymple's statement was taken, the State was preparing to try Triplett for Harrington's murder. Accordingly, on 13 September 2007, the State entered into an agreement with Dalrymple, under which Dalrymple would give “truthful testimony concerning the events surrounding the death of Stephen Harrington if called upon by the [S]tate to do so.” The truthfulness of Dalrymple's trial testimony would be measured against his 10 September 2007 statement to investigators. The agreement also granted Dalrymple use immunity by providing that “the State will not use the statement against [Dalrymple] in any state criminal proceedings, and will not use any evidence derived from such statement against him in any state judicial proceeding.” However, Dalrymple never testified against Triplett. During his trial, Triplett pleaded guilty on 20 September 2007 to second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, burning personal property, and conspiracy to sell cocaine.
The State then proceeded to try defendant capitally for the murder of Harrington. Defendant was charged with first-degree murder, in violation of N.C.G.S. § 14–17; robbery with a dangerous weapon, in violation of N.C.G.S. § 14–87; first-degree kidnapping, in violation of N.C.G.S. § 14–39; and burning of personal property, in violation of N.C.G.S. § 14–66.
At defendant's trial, the State presented Triplett as a witness. Triplett had made two prior statements to investigators. In the first, a rather disjointed narration taken the day after the murder, Triplett told investigators he was awakened by sounds of a struggle and heard someone yell, “Why me,” but did not immediately come out of his room. When he emerged from his room a short time later to use the bathroom, he had his back turned to the commotion and covered his ears. Triplett told the investigators he did not see the victim's face, which had been covered with gray tape. Triplett related that he “had to pick [the victim] up” and, when doing so, noticed that the hands had been bound and had turned blue and that the body was lifeless. According to Triplett, defendant and Dalrymple said to him that it “could have been you.” Defendant had a pistol and made Triplett drive to a covered bridge while Dalrymple followed in another car. Triplett added that he lit the tape on the victim's arms. At defendant's trial, this statement was read to the jury by State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Wade Colvard.
Triplett made a second, more detailed statement the day before he testified against defendant. In his second statement, Triplett reported that defendant called him and told him to come to defendant's house, put on gloves, grab the victim when the victim came through the door, and put a gun to his head. Triplett stated that he complied with defendant's instructions when the victim arrived and that defendant afterwards wrapped the victim's head with duct tape. Triplett added that, once the victim was felled, Dalrymple kicked him in the face and took between four and six ounces of cocaine from the victim's pocket. Triplett said that he and defendant dragged the victim's body to the car and put it in the trunk and that they drove to the covered bridge, followed by Dalrymple, who was driving another car. Defendant sprayed lighter fluid on the body and Triplett ignited it. At defendant's trial, Triplett provided detailed testimony on behalf of the State that was consistent with his second statement. Under cross-examination, Triplett testified that he did not remember saying some of the things contained in his 8 November 2005 statement and that other things he had said then were not true. Although the State presented additional evidence of defendant's guilt, it did not call Dalrymple as a witness against defendant.
After the State rested its case-in-chief, defendant presented evidence that portrayed Triplett as the principal assailant in the attack upon the victim. However, when defendant called Dalrymple as a witness, Dalrymple refused to testify, invoking his rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Because Dalrymple's refusal rendered him unavailable to defendant, defendant moved to introduce Dalrymple's 10 September 2007 statement as a hearsay exception pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 8C–1, Rule 804 (b)(5). The State objected, arguing that the statement lacked indicia of reliability and was inadmissible because it was not trustworthy. After considering the arguments of counsel and conducting additional research, the trial court made oral findings of fact and conclusions of law on the record, then sustained the State's objection.
At the conclusion of all the evidence, the jury convicted defendant of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and burning personal property. Although the jury had been death-qualified, the State elected not to offer evidence of aggravating circumstances. Accordingly, the trial court sentenced defendant to a term of life imprisonment without parole for the murder. In addition, the...
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