State v. Abshire

• Decision Date: 18 June 2009
• Docket Number: No. 459A08.,459A08.
• Citation: 677 S.E.2d 444
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Patricia Dawn ABSHIRE.

677 S.E.2d 444

STATE of North Carolina v. Patricia Dawn ABSHIRE.

No. 459A08.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

June 18, 2009.

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. ___, 666 S.E.2d 657 (2008), vacating a judgment entered 28 February 2007 by Judge Nathaniel J. Poovey in Superior Court, Caldwell County, following a jury verdict finding defendant guilty of failing to comply with the sex offender registration law. On 11 December 2008, the Supreme Court allowed the State's petition for discretionary review of additional issues. Heard in the Supreme Court 31 March 2009.

Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by J. Joy Strickland, Assistant Attorney General, for the State-appellant.

James N. Freeman, Jr., Elkin, for defendant-appellee.

BRADY, Justice.

The sole issue before the Court is whether the State presented sufficient evidence that convicted sex offender Patricia Dawn Abshire (defendant) changed her address so as to trigger the reporting requirements of North Carolina's Sex Offender and Public Protection Registration Program (registration program). See N.C.G.S. §§ 14-208.7, -208.9, -208.11 (2005).¹ In response to the threat to public safety posed by the recidivist tendencies of convicted sex offenders, "North Carolina, like every other state in the nation, enacted a sex offender registration program to protect the public." State v. Bryant, 359 N.C. 554, 555, 614 S.E.2d 479, 480 (2005) (citations omitted); see also Standley v. Town of Woodfin, 362 N.C. 328, 333, 661 S.E.2d 728, 731 (2008) (discussing recidivism rates among sex offenders). The registration program contained in Part 2 of Article 27A, Chapter 14 of our General Statutes requires certain sex offenders with "reportable conviction[s]" to submit a registration form listing personal information, including the sex offender's "home address," to the sheriff of the county in which the "person resides" and to notify the sheriff of any subsequent change of address. N.C.G.S. §§ 14-208.7(a),(b), -208.9(a). In the case sub judice, we conclude that the State presented sufficient evidence that defendant changed her address and failed to comply with the requirements of the registration program.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant's Status as a Convicted Sex Offender Prior to the Case Sub Judice

On 19 January 1999, the Caldwell County Grand Jury returned true bills of indictment charging defendant with four counts of rape of a child at least six years younger than defendant under N.C.G.S. § 14-27.7A(a) and four counts of taking indecent liberties with a child under N.C.G.S. § 14-202.1. The indictments describe four acts of vaginal intercourse occurring in June 1998 between defendant, who was twenty years of age at the time, and a thirteen year old boy. Pursuant to a plea agreement, on 27 March 2000, defendant pleaded guilty to four counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and the four counts of rape were dismissed.

As a result of her guilty pleas and corresponding convictions, defendant was obligated to register as a sex offender. According to the North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry website, defendant first reported her home address to the sheriff of her county on 30 October 2001.² After her initial registration but before being indicted for the present charge, defendant reported thirteen changes of address under subsections 14-208.9(a) and 14-208.11(a)(2) of the registration program. Those subsections require under the threat of criminal liability that "[i]f a person required to register changes address, the person shall provide written notice of the new address not later than the tenth day after the change to the sheriff of the county with whom the person had last registered." Id. § 14-208.9(a).

Defendant's Actions Leading to the Case Sub Judice

At defendant's trial for failing to comply with the sex offender registration program, the State presented evidence that tended to show the following: On 19 July 2006, defendant notified the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office of a change of address. She listed her new address as 3410 Gragg Price Lane, Hudson, North Carolina, in Caldwell County, and showed her old address as 2155 White Pine Drive, number 9, Granite Falls, North Carolina, also in Caldwell County. In September 2006 officials at the school attended by defendant's two children became concerned about the number of times the children arrived late or missed the entire day. Consequently, in early September 2006, Gwen Laws, a social worker employed by the Caldwell County Schools, attempted to locate defendant at her Granite Falls address to discuss the children's tardiness. After failing to find defendant at that address, Laws searched the State-maintained website that informs the public of the addresses of convicted sex offenders. After learning that the address listed for defendant was 3410 Gragg Price Lane, Laws visited that address on 11 September 2006 and spoke with Ross Lee Price, who owned and resided at the property. Laws testified that when she inquired whether defendant lived there, Price said, "Hell no," and explained that although defendant was "in and out" of the residence and received United States Postal Service mail there, she had not "lived there in three weeks." Price told Laws that he was unsure where defendant was living at the time. After this futile attempt to locate defendant, Laws inquired of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office to determine whether law enforcement knew of a different address for defendant.

Detective Aaron Barlowe of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office learned of Laws's unsuccessful attempts to locate defendant in September 2006, and he began an investigation. At trial, Detective Barlowe testified that on 18 September 2006, he visited 3410 Gragg Price Lane and spoke with Price. Price told Detective Barlowe that defendant was in a dating relationship with his son at the time. Price informed Detective Barlowe that defendant "got mad a couple of weeks ago and went to go stay with her father." Price believed that defendant was planning on moving back to the residence, though he did not know when, and he indicated that defendant had been gone for two or three weeks, "but might have stayed a night" during that time. After speaking with Price, Detective Barlowe went to the residence of Robert and Ruth Abshire at 5739 Poovey Drive, Granite Falls, North Carolina. Mr. Abshire, defendant's father, indicated that defendant had been staying at his home for about two weeks. Based on his conversations with Price and defendant's father, Detective Barlowe obtained a warrant for defendant's arrest for violating the reporting requirements of the sex offender registration program.

Additionally on 18 September 2006, defendant filed a "Criminal Complaint and Request for Process" in Caldwell County against her brother. She alleged that on 13 September 2006, her brother began "punching" her "in the face" and elsewhere after she attempted to stop her brother from beating his ex-girlfriend. Defendant listed 5739 Poovey Drive, Granite Falls, North Carolina, as her address on the complaint. The State presented a copy of the complaint at trial as evidence that defendant had changed her address.

Pursuant to a warrant, defendant was arrested on 19 September 2006 for failure to register as a sex offender under N.C.G.S. § 14-208.11. After arrest, defendant submitted the following statement to law enforcement:

About 10 days after I filed the breaking and entering report when my house was broken into and my daughter's computer was stolen I went to stay with my father at 5739 Poovey Drive. I decided that if I went to stay with my dad for a week or two, I could get my emotions together. I told Ross that I was going to stay with my dad so I could get my self emotionally stable and I would come back home. I was planning on going back home this past weekend but I was attacked by my brother and I decided to stay with my dad for a little bit longer. I am moving back into the house on Friday after her [sic] girls are out of school. I still received my mail at 3410 Gragg Price Lane[.] I would pick the mail up or Ross would bring me my mail about twice a week. I went back and stayed the night on the 9th and 14th of September. I was not planning n[sic] moving from the house but only staying for a week or two with my father.

At the time of her arrest defendant also gave Detective Barlowe a note from her father that stated: "To Whom it may Concern, Patricia has staye [sic] at my home for the past 5-6 weeks. During that time she would go to Ross's Houses [sic] and stay once every 7-10 day's [sic][.]" The reference to Ross indicated the Price residence at 3410 Gragg Price Lane.

On 23 October 2006, a Caldwell County Grand Jury returned a true bill of indictment charging defendant with failing to comply with sex offender registration in violation of N.C.G.S. § 14-208.11. The indictment alleged defendant changed her address on or about 30 August to 4 September 2006, and the date of the offense was recorded as on or about 14 to 18 September 2006. Defendant was tried by a jury in Superior Court, Caldwell County, on 27 and 28 February 2007. At the close of the State's evidence, defendant moved to dismiss the charge on grounds that the State failed to present sufficient evidence. The trial court denied defendant's motion, and the trial proceeded to defendant's evidence.

According to defendant's testimony, someone broke into the residence at 3410 Gragg Price Lane and stole her daughters' computer on 19 August 2006. Approximately ten days later she began staying at her father's residence on Poovey Drive "[o]ff and on over about a three week period." She testified that "almost everyday" she still visited Gragg Price Lane to care for her pets, wash clothes, or "hang out." Defendant testified that Price was "grouchy," so she tried to avoid him by visiting Gragg...