State v. Beck

• Decision Date: 06 July 2021
• Docket Number: No. COA20-499,COA20-499
• Citation: 861 S.E.2d 575
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Isaiah Scott BECK

861 S.E.2d 575

STATE of North Carolina

v.Isaiah Scott BECK

No. COA20-499

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

Filed July 6, 2021

Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General, by Assistant Attorney General Wes Saunders, for the State.

Dylan J.C. Buffum Attorney at Law, PLLC, by Dylan J.C. Buffum, for defendant.

ARROWOOD, Judge.

¶ 1 Isaiah Scott Beck ("defendant") appeals from judgments entered 31 October 2019 for convictions of robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, felonious breaking and entering, and conspiracy to commit felonious breaking and entering. For the following reasons, we vacate the conspiracy conviction in Case No. 17 CRS 50616. Apart from this disposition, we conclude that defendant received a fair trial free of prejudicial error.

I. Background

¶ 2 At all relative times, Mackenzie Beshears ("Beshears") lived with her boyfriend, Devon Trivette ("Trivette"), and a roommate Daniel Blackburn ("Blackburn") in Boone, North Carolina. Beshears, who at the time was a student at Appalachian State University, sold narcotics on the side, particularly Xanax and marijuana.

¶ 3 On 27 April 2017, Beshears was contacted by a former high school associate Cameron Baker ("Baker") who inquired whether Beshears had any drugs for sale. Given their prior affiliation, Beshears agreed to the sale and arranged to consummate the transaction at Beshears’ apartment.

¶ 4 After working out logistics, Baker advised Beshears that his friend Danny Silva ("Silva") would arrive by himself and complete the purchase. Silva pulled into the subject apartment complex but was spooked after noticing that Beshears and Trivette were watching him from an apartment window. Beshears then called Baker who told her that Silva was returning to the apartment complex. Silva arrived at Beshears’ apartment and was greeted and admitted by Beshears and Trivette. Beshears noticed that Silva was "really sweaty and acting bizarre."

¶ 5 Trivette then left the room to take a shower while Silva and Beshears finalized the transaction. At this moment, two men suddenly burst into the apartment wearing all black and bandannas covering the lower portions of their faces. Notwithstanding their disguises, Beshears immediately recognized the two men as defendant and Javier Holloway ("Holloway"). Beshears had previously met defendant and had viewed photos of Holloway on Baker's social-media platform.

¶ 6 Upon entry, defendant raised an AR-15 assault rifle to Beshears’ head and instructed Holloway to grab everything he could. When Holloway attempted to steal Beshears’ bookbag, Beshears began screaming for Trivette and a physical altercation ensued. Trivette proceeded to physically engage defendant and pushed him toward the door of the apartment. Holloway then charged at Trivette; at this point, Blackburn emerged from his room and came to the aid of Beshears and Trivette. As the three occupants attempted to force defendant and Holloway out of the apartment door, defendant wedged the barrel of his gun between the door to prevent it from closing. Ultimately, Blackburn, Trivette, and Beshears were able to oust defendant and Holloway and latch the door. While outside, defendant began shouting and threatened to shoot into the apartment. Silva was still inside the apartment, standing alone in the corner. Silva denied any involvement in the robbery or knowing the intruders, and claimed that he was there only to buy drugs.

¶ 7 Over Trivette's objections, Blackburn called the police. As police sirens were approaching, Trivette let Silva leave the apartment, though Silva was swiftly apprehended as he fled the scene by Lieutenant Daniel Duckworth ("Lt. Duckworth") and Officer Kaleb Forrest ("Officer Forrest"). Detective Kat Eller ("Detective Eller") then arrived at the scene and interviewed Beshears, Trivette, and Blackburn. The occupants identified defendant and Holloway as the assailants, prompting the Boone Police Department to issue a "be on the lookout" alert to local enforcement agencies.

¶ 8 During Detective Eller's initial interview with Beshears, Beshears falsely claimed that she had arranged to purchase , not sell, controlled substances from Silva and his associates. Shortly thereafter, Detective Eller was informed that Silva had been apprehended and that text messages from his phone indicated that Beshears was the seller, not the purchaser, of the drugs. In order to develop trust and ensure that she had received accurate information, Detective Eller allowed Beshears to destroy evidence of other narcotics in the apartment by flushing marijuana, pills, and crushed Xanax down the toilet. Beshears then turned over her cellular phone to Detective Eller and consented to the search of its contents. Detective Eller then spoke to Trivette, who admitted that Beshears was selling drugs and that the buyers "were coming here to get [drugs] and I guess it just went bad." Neither Beshears nor Trivette were charged in connection with respect to the incidents noted above.

¶ 9 After taking Silva into custody, Lt. Duckworth proceeded to the scene of the crimes. Lt. Duckworth, in addition to his duties with the Boone Police Department, had been previously assigned to a special task force through the Department of Homeland Security focusing on drug smuggling. Two months earlier, Lt. Duckworth received a tip from a confidential informant that a group of individuals from out of town were planning to rob Boone-area drug dealers. Lt. Duckworth and Detective James Lyall ("Detective Lyall") set up surveillance around the area in which they believed the conspirators were located. Detective Lyall had photographs of the suspects from their respective Facebook accounts. After driving past the subject location, Lt. Duckworth observed two suspects matching the photo descriptions. Lt. Duckworth immediately set up a perimeter, per protocol, when an unidentified person approached Lt. Duckworth's vehicle and reported seeing two males run through his yard in the direction of downtown Boone (both of whom matched the descriptions of the suspects identified by Detective Lyall).

¶ 10 Around the same time, a student at Appalachian State University, Ashley Hickman ("Hickman"), was riding a bus from campus when two men abruptly boarded the bus at an intersection. She testified that the two men appeared sweaty, unsettled, and agitated. While on the bus, Hickman received an alert on her cell phone informing her of the criminal activity discussed above and describing the suspects. Shortly after, the two suspects exited the bus and fled across Highway 105. Hickman called the police and reported these events and exited the bus at the same location as the suspects and proceeded to her apartment complex which was located behind the "Water Wheel Café."

¶ 11 Meanwhile, Baker was at his apartment, located just a few hundred yards from the Water Wheel Café. He received a phone call from defendant advising him that the drug deal had gone wrong and asking him for transportation. Later, defendant and Holloway arrived at Baker's apartment and obtained new clothing. Hickman, shortly thereafter, walked outside of her apartment and observed the same two men from the bus in her apartment complex parking lot, though they were wearing different clothes. She watched the two men proceed to a structural water wheel in front of the Water Wheel Café and hide from view. Hickman immediately contacted law enforcement and updated them on the location of the two suspects.

¶ 12 Lt. Duckworth proceeded to the Water Wheel Café to set up surveillance. From this vantage point, Lt. Duckworth observed defendant and Holloway near the Water Wheel Café but noted that they had changed their clothing. After observing the suspects for a few minutes, a marked police cruiser passed the location of the suspects and they fled on foot into the woods, prompting other officers to respond. Detective Lyall, who was then riding with another officer, pursued the suspects and apprehended defendant after a short chase. Holloway was taken into custody shortly thereafter by Lt. Duckworth.

¶ 13 Once in custody, a warrant was issued to search the contents of Silva's seized cell phone. Law enforcement extracted a series of text messages between Silva and Holloway. These messages revealed that on 18 April 2017, Silva sent Holloway a text asking for "a pic with [Silva] and the gun lol so I can show my amigo." Holloway sent a video file back to Silva with a picture of Silva and a gun. On the same day, Holloway sent Silva another message stating, "[Hit me up] ... asap got a lick."¹ Another message dated 24 April 2017 revealed a text from Holloway to Silva stating, "Aye bro I need that [rifle] asap." Then, on the evening of 26 April 2017, Holloway again messaged Silva and asked whether he was "try[ing] [to get in] on this lick in the am." Silva replied, "Where[?]" Holloway responded, "Boone, certified we gone [sic] come up bro we just need a ride." Silva then said, "Ight [sic] you me and [defendant]?" Holloway confirmed by saying, "Yeah." On 27 April 2017, defendant messaged Baker asking if he knew "where he could buy some drugs and stuff, and [Baker] told him [that he] knew someone that [he] could put [defendant] in contact with." Baker was then informed by defendant, Silva, and Holloway that they were currently driving to Boone in Silva's car. Baker reached out to Beshears to make the introduction and set the trap for the robbery. Defendant sent another message to Baker while en route to Boone stating that "Ima [sic] take all the money [Beshears] got too I might can have her take me to [Trivette's] money." According to Baker, he interpreted this message to mean that defendant intended to "take [Beshears’] belongings and try to get her to take him to the stuff that [Trivette] had as well." The messages exchanged above clearly demonstrate that Silva, Holloway, and defendant intended to rob Beshears and Trivette on 27 April 2017—though defendant was not...