State v. Bell

• Decision Date: 02 May 2017
• Docket Number: No. COA16-798,COA16-798
• Citation: 798 S.E.2d 813 (Table)
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Jevon Rodrick BELL, Jr.

798 S.E.2d 813 (Table)

STATE of North Carolina

v.Jevon Rodrick BELL, Jr.

No. COA16-798

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

Filed: May 2, 2017

Attorney General Joshua H. Stein, by Special Deputy Attorney General Gerald K. Robbins, for the State.

Richard J. Costanza, for defendant-appellant.

DAVIS, Judge.

Jevon Rodrick Bell, Jr. ("Defendant") appeals from his conviction of breaking or entering. On appeal, he contends that the trial court (1) erred by denying his motion to suppress; and (2) lacked jurisdiction to enter judgment against him due to its failure during his trial to extend the session of court as required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15-167. After careful review, we conclude that Defendant received a fair trial free from error.

Factual and Procedural Background

The State presented evidence at trial tending to establish the following facts: On 4 September 2014, Michael and Diana Himes reported to a police officer that two individuals had broken into an apartment above their garage at their residence in Charlotte, North Carolina. They also stated that "a jar of change" had been taken. Diana Himes told law enforcement officers that she had seen "two black males with backpacks" running from the front door of the apartment. Officers subsequently located another witness, Heaven Whitman, who informed the officers that she had seen two individuals running from the Himes' property and that she had recognized one of them as Defendant (who had been a classmate of hers at school).

Detectives Sean Moon and J.C. Thornton with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were assigned to the case. The information provided by Whitman led the detectives to investigate Defendant.

On 16 September 2014, Defendant was charged with felonious breaking or entering and larceny after breaking or entering. At the time, Defendant was sixteen years old and a ninth grade student at West Mecklenburg High School. The same day the charges were filed, Defendant was arrested by law enforcement officers while at his school. He was taken to the police station in handcuffs and later placed in an interview room where the arresting officers removed his handcuffs and shackled his feet to the floor.

When Detectives Moon and Thornton arrived in the interview room, Defendant was given a Juvenile Waiver of Rights form allowing him to expressly waive his Miranda rights. Detective Moon then proceeded to read each paragraph on the form aloud to him, pausing after each paragraph and asking Defendant if he understood his rights. The form also included paragraph (3), which read:

I have the right to have a parent, guardian, or custodian here with me now during questioning. "Parent" means my mother, father, stepmother or stepfather. "Guardian["] means the person responsible for taking care of me. "Custodian" means the person in charge of me where I am living (staying).

Defendant then placed his initials in the appropriate spots on the waiver form. Detectives Moon and Thornton proceeded to conduct an interrogation of Defendant during which they advised him of the crime for which he had been arrested and the fact that a witness had seen him fleeing from the Himes' home. At first, Defendant denied any involvement in the break-in. However, he subsequently admitted to the detectives that he had taken part in the break-in by acting as the "lookout."

On 6 October 2014, a grand jury indicted Defendant for felonious breaking or entering and larceny after breaking or entering. On 17 April 2015, Defendant's trial counsel moved to suppress the confession he had made to Detective Moon on the ground that it was "obtained in violation of the defendant's rights as guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution in that said statements were not a product of a free, voluntary, and informed choice."

On 30 July 2015, a hearing on the motion to suppress was held before the Honorable Lindsay Davis in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. At the hearing, Detective Moon testified for the State. Defendant and his mother, Tiffaney Bradley, testified for the defense. The trial court denied the motion to suppress, making the following oral findings and conclusions:

This matter came on for hearing on the defendant's motion to suppress a statement relating to an interview with Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department Detectives on September 16, 2014. The defendant is present in court with counsel. The evidentiary hearing was conducted from the evidence and by at least a preponderance of the evidence the Court makes findings of fact.

The defendant was arrested at school on September 16, 2014 for felonious breaking and entering and felonious larceny. He was taken to a CMPD facility and interviewed by CMPD detectives including Detective Moon.

The defendant provided law enforcement with a telephone number for his parent before questioning about alleged criminal activity.

The defendant's parent or guardian was not notified of his arrest until after the interview by CMPD detectives.

The defendant was informed of his rights as required by GS 7B-2101 (A). The defendant stated that he understood those rights and initialed the waiver form accordingly.

At no relevant time did the defendant invoke any such right. The defendant was alert, oriented, and able to respond appropriately to the detective's inquiries. Detective Moon suggested to defendant, in words or substance, that he would like to help the defendant get on the right track, but the defendant would need to tell what happened.

The defendant admitted involvement in the criminal activity during the interview and after the suggestion by Detective Moon as previously described.

The admission preceded any reference by a law enforcement officer of the possibility of a Diversion Program that could lead to avoidance of conviction.

The defendant did not have prior experience with the criminal justice system. The defendant has a learning disability that has affected his academic progression.

The defendant did not inform Detective Moon of such disability, and Detective Moon was not aware of it. The defendant presented in the video of the interview and in testimony during this hearing as alert, able to understand questions and to respond appropriately.

Detective Moon did not promise the defendant anything in exchange for information and did not otherwise coerce the defendant into making a statement.

The defendant understood the rights of which he was informed and waived those rights freely, willingly, knowingly, and understandably.

Upon those findings, the Court concludes that GS 15A-505A¹ [sic] was violated; otherwise, the defendant's rights under statue [sic] or ... the Constitutions of North Carolina or the United States were not violated. Suppression is not required for violation of GS 15A-505 A [sic].

The motion to suppress should be and is denied.

(Footnote added.)

Dr. Claudia R. Coleman, a licensed psychologist, conducted a psychological evaluation of Defendant on 27 October 2015 and wrote a report containing her assessment of him on 16 November 2015. The report stated that Defendant had an IQ of 71—meaning that his "score falls significantly below the average at the 3^rd percentile and in the Borderline range of intelligence." Dr. Coleman also determined that his reading ability was at the 7th percentile, suggesting that he was reading "at the 4.8 grade level."

A jury trial began on 1 February 2016 before the Honorable Daniel A. Kuehnert. The State presented testimony from Michael and Diana Himes, Whitman, Detective Moon, and another detective assigned to the case. The defense presented testimony from Dr. Coleman, Defendant's mother and stepfather, and Defendant. On 5 February 2016, which was a Friday, the jury began deliberations at 12:18 p.m. At 6:33 p.m., the trial court stated that the court would "be in recess ... until 9:30 Monday morning" and directed the jury to return on 8 February 2016 to resume its deliberations.

On 8 February 2016, the jury returned a verdict finding Defendant guilty of felonious breaking or entering and not guilty of larceny after breaking or entering. That same day, the trial court sentenced him to 4 to 14 months imprisonment and suspended the sentence. He was placed on unsupervised probation for 12 months. Defendant gave oral notice of appeal.

Analysis

I. Motion to Suppress

Defendant's primary argument is that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress. "When a motion to suppress is denied, this Court employs a two-part standard of review on appeal: The standard of review in evaluating the denial of a motion to suppress is whether competent evidence supports the trial court's findings of fact and whether the findings of fact support the conclusions of law." State v. Jackson , 368 N.C. 75, 78, 772 S.E.2d 847, 849 (2015) (citation and quotation marks omitted). "An appellate court accords great deference to the trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress because the trial court is entrusted with the duty to hear testimony (thereby observing the demeanor of the witnesses) and to weigh and resolve any conflicts in the evidence." State v. Hodges , 195 N.C. App. 390, 395, 672 S.E.2d 724, 728 (2009) (citation and quotation marks omitted).

We have consistently held that "to be admissible, a defendant's confession must be the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice by its maker." State v. Flood , 237 N.C. App. 287, 294, 765 S.E.2d 65, 70-71 (2014) (citation, quotation marks, and brackets omitted), disc. review denied , 368 N.C. 245, 768 S.E.2d 854 (2015). Thus, "[w]hen reviewing a defendant's confession, this Court must determine whether the statement was made voluntarily and understandingly." Id. at 294, 765 S.E.2d at 71.

The test for voluntariness in North Carolina is the same as the federal test. If, looking to the totality of the circumstances, the confession is the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice by its maker, then he has willed to confess and it may be used against him;

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