State v. Arsad, 680

Decision Date20 January 1967
Docket NumberNo. 680,680
Citation152 S.E.2d 99,269 N.C. 184
CourtNorth Carolina Supreme Court
PartiesSTATE, v. Warren F. ARSAD.

T. W. Bruton, Atty. Gen., Harry W. McGalliard, Deputy Atty. Gen., for the State.

Arthur L. Lane, Fayetteville, for defendant appellant.

HIGGINS, Justice.

The objection to the consolidation of the three cases for trial is not sustained. The felonious entry into the McPhail home, the kidnapping of Marie McPhail, and the forcible taking of the white Ford Fairlane in which the perpetrators attempted to make their getaway were so connected and tied together as to make the three offenses one continuous criminal episode. The evidence of the whole affair is pertinent and necessary to establish the identity of the appellant as one of the guilty parties. The three charges were properly consolidated and tried together. G.S. § 15--152; State v. Bryant, 250 N.C. 113, 108 S.E.2d 128; State v. Combs, 200 N.C. 671, 158 S.E. 252. Objection based on the consolidation is without merit.

The objections to the admission and exclusion of evidence were properly overruled. The separate facts and circumstances tie in, fit, and complement each other. The several incidents taken together furnish ample proof the appellant was the tall man involved. The evidence of Marie McPhail makes out a case against the short and the tall perpetrators. The disguises prevented her from identifying them as Jones and Arsad. The State, therefore, offered proof of the many related facts and circumstances to establish their identity.

Arsad and Jones were members of the Marine Corps. They possessed clothing, disguises, guns, and ammunition when they left Lejeune in the afternoon of November 6. The guns and equipment were the property of the Marine Corps. Sgt. Burford gave detailed descriptions of these items and specifically identified them at the trial. His testimony discloses that Arsad and Jones possessed this equipment, including the disguises, when they left the witness near the McPhail home shortly before 8:00 p.m. on November 6. These men instructed the witness to wait an hour and if they failed to return he was to go back to camp without them. The meeting failed as a result of their arrest. The officers took the disguises, gloves, arms, and ammunition from Jones and Arsad at the time of the arrest. These articles were produced in court with the information that they were taken from the possession of Jones and Arsad.

The sum total of the circumstances clearly implicate the appellant. Properly admissible are all circumstances which cast a direct, though feeble light on the ultimate facts in...

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16 cases
  • State v. Fox
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • July 31, 1970
    ...are founded on one criminal transaction G.S. § 15--152 contemplates that the court will consolidate them for trial. State v. Arsad, 269 N.C. 184, 152 S.E.2d 99; State v. Hamilton, 264 N.C. 277, 141 S.E.2d 506; State v. White, 256 N.C. 244, 123 S.E.2d 483. In this case the facts required to ......
  • State v. Mlo
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • January 28, 1994
    ...evidence is circumstantial, but circumstantial evidence is proper and sufficient to prove facts at issue in a trial. State v. Arsad, 269 N.C. 184, 152 S.E.2d 99 (1967); State v. Hamilton, 264 N.C. 277, 141 S.E.2d 506 (1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 1020, 86 S.Ct. 1936, 16 L.Ed.2d 1044 (1966)......
  • State v. Frazier
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • January 14, 1972
    ...evidence of the whole affair is pertinent to the several charges and there is no error in consolidating them for trial. State v. Arsad, 269 N.C. 184, 152 S.E.2d 99; State v. Turner, 268 N.C. 225, 150 S.E.2d 406; State v. Morrow, 262 N.C. 592, 138 S.E.2d 245; State v. White, 256 N.C. 244, 12......
  • State v. Murphy
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • December 15, 1971
    ...870 (1965); State v. Bruce, 268 N.C. 174, 150 S.E.2d 216 (1966); State v. Turner, 268 N.C. 225, 150 S.E.2d 406 (1966); State v. Arsad, 269 N.C. 184, 152 S.E.2d 99 (1967); State v. Williams, 275 N.C. 77, 165 S.E.2d 481 (1969); State v. Perry, 275 N.C. 565, 169 S.E.2d 839 (1969); State v. Woo......
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