State v. Alford

• Decision Date: 06 November 1979
• Docket Number: No. 18,18
• Citation: 298 N.C. 465,259 S.E.2d 242
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Lee Odis ALFORD.

Page 242

259 S.E.2d 242

298 N.C. 465

STATE of North Carolina v. Lee Odis ALFORD.

No. 18.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Nov. 6, 1979.

Rufus L. Edmisten, Atty. Gen., by Thomas B. Wood, Asst. Atty. Gen., Raleigh, for the State.

W. A. Johnson and Sandra L. Johnson, Lillington, for defendant-appellant.

HUSKINS, Justice:

Defendant, an indigent, assigns as error the refusal of the trial court to appoint a private investigator for the purpose of assisting him in his defense. Defendant contends such denial of his pretrial motion for appointment of an investigator deprived him of his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel and violated the provisions of G.S. 7A-450(b), which requires the State to provide an indigent defendant "with counsel and the other necessary expenses of representation."

We fully considered the questions presented by this assignment in State v. Gray, 292 N.C. 270, 233 S.E.2d 905 (1977); State v. Montgomery, 291 N.C. 91, 229 S.E.2d 572 (1976); and State v. Tatum, 291 N.C. 73, 229 S.E.2d 562 (1976). These cases hold that an indigent defendant's constitutional and statutory right to a State appointed investigator arises only upon a showing by defendant that there is a reasonable likelihood that such an investigator would discover evidence which would materially assist defendant in the preparation of his defense. Moreover, these cases conclude " that the appointment of experts to assist an indigent in his defense depends really upon the facts and circumstances of each case and lies, finally, within the discretion of the trial judge." State v. Gray, supra.

In the instant case defendant points to no evidence which, if properly developed by an investigator, would tend to show that someone other than defendant committed the crime. Absent such a showing, the State is not required by law to finance a fishing expedition for defendant in the vain hope that "something" will turn up. State v. Tatum, supra. Moreover, we note that a crucial component of State's case against defendant consisted of ballistics evidence tending to show that shells recovered at the scene of the crime were fired from a shotgun belonging to defendant. Recognizing this, the able trial judge allowed defendant's motion for appointment of a ballistics expert to aid in the preparation of his defense.

No abuse of discretion on the part of the trial judge has been shown. Accordingly, defendant's first assignment of error is overruled.

Defendant next challenges the admission of a box of shotgun shells and all testimony pertaining thereto on the ground that the shells were obtained in violation of defendant's rights under the Fourth Amendment and Chapter 15A of the General Statutes.

Defendant's motion to suppress this evidence was originally granted by the trial court. The State appealed this decision prior to trial pursuant to G.S. 15A-979(c), and the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's ruling, 38 N.C.App. 236, 247 S.E.2d 634, Cert. denied, 295 N.C. 649, 253 S.E.2d 93 (1978). At the trial of this case defendant renewed his objections to the admission of the shotgun shells and now assigns as error the admission of this evidence in his appeal of right to this Court following imposition of a life sentence. See G.S. 7A-27(a) (Cum.Supp.1977).

The evidence adduced on voir dire tends to show that on 21 December 1977, defendant knowingly and voluntarily signed a concededly valid consent to search form which authorized SBI Agent Stewart and Deputy Sheriff Gregory to search "a one story frame residence occupied by Lee Otis Alford and Margaret (Maggie) Alford located at 1200 South Third Street, Sanford, N.C. . . . for a 12 gauge shotgun, single barrel, brown stock, dark barrel which is approximately 36' to 40' long."

After obtaining the above consent, Agent Stewart and Deputy Gregory drove to the Alford residence. Before searching the house, the officers had Margaret sign a consent form identical to the one signed by defendant. The search commenced and Agent Stewart quickly found a 12-gauge shotgun in a closet where defendant said it would be found. No 12-gauge shotgun shells were found in the house.

After the shotgun had been recovered, Deputy Gregory proceeded to a metal outbuilding located directly behind the frame house occupied by defendant and Margaret. During this time Agent Stewart remained inside the house engaged in conversation with Margaret.

The metal outbuilding approached by Deputy Gregory had dimensions of 30 feet by 20 feet and was located some fifty feet behind the Alford residence. The building had a double front door which was fastened shut but was not padlocked. Upon entering the building, Deputy Gregory turned directly to the left and spotted a box containing "thin tube radiations used in heating." In the corner, directly behind this box, he discovered the box of shotgun shells, the admissibility of which is now in question.

Defendant contends the warrantless search of the metal outbuilding after recovery of the shotgun was constitutionally improper because it exceeded the scope of the consent to search granted to Agent Stewart and Deputy Gregory. The State contends defendant had no legitimate interest in the metal outbuilding and therefore has no standing to object to the search of the premises.

"The immunity to unreasonable searches and seizures is a privilege personal to those whose rights thereunder have been infringed. They alone may invoke it against illegal searches and seizures." State v. Craddock, 272 N.C. 160, 158 S.E.2d 25 (1967). Accord, 3 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure, § 11.3 (1978). Thus, before proceeding to the legality of the instant search, we must first determine whether defendant had a sufficient privacy interest in the metal outbuilding so as to confer standing to object to a search of the structure.

An individual's standing to claim the protection of the Fourth Amendment depends upon whether the place invaded was an area in which such individual had "a reasonable expectation of freedom from governmental intrusion." Mancusi v. DeForte, 392 U.S. 364, 88 S.Ct. 2120, 20 L.Ed.2d 1154 (1968). Thus, the lack of property rights in an invaded area is not necessarily determinative of whether an individual's Fourth Amendment rights have been infringed. Mancusi v. DeForte, supra; Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960). Nonetheless, there are many instances in which the presence or absence of property rights in an invaded area are the best determinants of an individual's reasonable expectations of privacy. See Brown v. United States, 411 U.S. 223, 93 S.Ct. 1565, 36 L.Ed.2d 208 (1973); Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165, 89 S.Ct. 961, 22 L.Ed.2d 176 (1969); United States v. Hunt, 505 F.2d 931 (5th Cir. 1974), Cert. denied, 421 U.S. 975, 95 S.Ct. 1974, 44 L.Ed.2d 466 (1975); State v. Eppley, 282 N.C. 249, 192 S.E.2d 441 (1972). This is especially true in the circumstances of this case, where an individual who was not present at the time the search was made objects to the search of an outbuilding located directly behind his rented home. Thus, it is generally held that "a lessee has no standing to question the search of a portion of the premises not leased to him." W. LaFave, supra, § 11.3, at 549; Spirko v. Commonwealth, 480 S.W.2d 169 (Ky.1972); State v. Robertson, 102 R.I. 623, 232 A.2d 781 (1967), Cert. denied, 390 U.S. 1036, 88 S.Ct. 1436, 20 L.Ed.2d 296 (1968); Commonwealth v. Boykin, 246 Pa.Super. 154, 369 A.2d 857 (1977).

Application of the above principles to the facts of this case leads us to conclude that defendant has no standing to object to the search of the outbuilding. Ruby McSwain, defendant's landlady, testified that she owned a storage building behind the house she rented to defendant; that the building was used to store materials belonging to her late husband; that her son also used the building to store certain elements of a solar heating system; that she had not included the storage building in the rental agreement with defendant; that defendant had never sought permission to use the storage building for his own personal use. Mrs. McSwain's testimony was substantially corroborated by Deputy Gregory, who testified that inside the storage building "was a big quantity of insulation, thin tube radiation, pipes, pipe fitting, like it might have been a store building that some plumber had put old junk in."

The above evidence makes it clear that defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the metal outbuilding and therefore has no standing to object to the search conducted by Deputy Gregory. Defendant did not own or rent the outbuilding. Nor did he ever seek permission from Mrs. McSwain to use the building. Moreover, defendant had notice that the building was being used to store property belonging to someone else. Under these circumstances, defendant could not have reasonably concluded that the metal outbuilding constituted part of the premises rented to him. Defendant's second assignment of error is therefore overruled.

With certain exceptions not applicable here, G.S. 8-57 (Cum.Supp.1977) provides that the spouse of a criminal defendant is neither competent nor compellable to give evidence against the other spouse. Defendant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the testimony of Margaret Alford, who was allegedly his common law wife pursuant to the laws of Pennsylvania.

Common law marriages are invalid in North Carolina. State v. Wilson, 121 N.C. 650, 28 S.E. 416 (1897); 1 R. Lee, North Carolina Family Law, § 9 (4th ed. 1979); Lynch, Social Security Encounters Common-Law Marriages in North Carolina, 16 N.C.L.Rev. 255, 259 (1938). Hence, the husband-wife testimonial privilege granted in G.S. 8-57 may not be asserted by a criminal defendant to disqualify a witness alleged to be his spouse by virtue of a common law marriage contracted in North Carolina.

This...