State v. Bundridge
| Citation | 294 N.C. 45,239 S.E.2d 811 |
| Decision Date | 24 January 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 75,75 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Marion Howard BUNDRIDGE. |
Rufus L. Edmisten, Atty. Gen., by Thomas H. Davis, Jr., Associate Atty., Raleigh, for the State.
Lila G. Bellar, Charlotte, for the defendant appellant.
Defendant assigns as error the ruling of the trial judge which sustained the State's objection to the admission of Judge Grist's order of 30 January 1976 finding defendant mentally incapacitated and incapable of proceeding to trial. It is defendant's position that, since he had the burden of proving his insanity to the satisfaction of the jury, it was prejudicial error to deny him the benefit of this recent adjudication. In support of his position, he relies on State v. Duncan, 244 N.C. 374, 93 S.E.2d 421 (1956), and cases there cited.
In Duncan, the defendant was tried upon an indictment charging him with murder. Upon arraignment, it was suggested to the court that the defendant was insane and without sufficient mental capacity to understand his defense or to receive sentence upon his conviction. The trial judge, pursuant to G.S. 122-84, impaneled a jury and held an inquisition concerning the defendant's mental condition. An issue was submitted to and answered by the jury as follows: The trial judge committed the defendant to the state hospital for treatment and further ordered that if his sanity be restored he be returned to the Chatham Superior Court for trial. This adjudication was offered into evidence at trial, and the court sustained the State's objection. Holding this ruling to be prejudicial error, this Court speaking through Justice Parker (later Chief Justice) in part stated:
The rule is well established that in criminal cases, when insanity is relied on as a defense, an adjudication declaring the defendant to be an insane person made prior to the alleged offense or subsequent to the alleged offense for which the defendant is being tried is not conclusive of the insanity of the defendant at the time of the inquisition, and is admissible in evidence for the consideration of the jury on the issue as to whether or not he was insane when the offense was committed, provided the time of the adjudication bears such relation to the person's condition of mind at the time of the crime One of the cases cited in Duncan and relied upon by defendant is McCully v. State, 141 Ark. 450, 217 S.W. 453 (1920). There the defendant entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and in the course of the trial, he sought to introduce a record of the probate court showing that he had been committed to an insane asylum approximately a year before. The court did not permit the introduction of the evidence and, in finding error in this ruling, the Supreme Court of Arkansas, inter alia, declared:
as to be worthy of consideration in respect thereto. (Citations omitted.) 244 N.C., at 378, 93 S.E.2d, at 423.
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Such inquisitions, it thus appears, are simply received as a part of the evidence for the consideration of the jury. They are not conclusive of the fact adjudged, and the matter is still left open for the jury to determine from all the facts adduced as to whether the prisoner was insane at the time of the alleged offense. 141 Ark., at 451-452, 217 S.W., at 454.
The State agrees that a judicial adjudication of insanity prior or subsequent to the alleged offense is admissible but contends that Judge Grist's order finding that defendant's mental condition was such that he could not proceed to trial did not come within this rule. To buttress its argument, the State points to the difference between the standard for determining defendant's capacity to stand trial and determining whether an accused was legally insane when he committed the crime. In determining a defendant's capacity to stand trial, the test is whether he has capacity to comprehend his position, to understand the nature of the proceedings against him, to conduct his defense in a rational manner and to cooperate with his counsel so that any available defense may be interposed. On the other hand, when an accused enters a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, the test of his mental responsibility is the capacity of defendant to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of and in respect to the matter of investigation. State v. Propst, 274 N.C. 62, 161 S.E.2d 560 (1968).
Although Duncan and McCully consistently refer to the insanity of the accused, we note that in Duncan the evidence rejected grew out of an inquiry pursuant to G.S. 122-84 as to whether defendant had sufficient mental capacity to proceed to trial. We also note that in McCully the reported case only recites that the evidence rejected was a record that the defendant had been committed to an insane asylum. The pertinent portion of G.S. 122-84 provides that, This was the action taken by Judge Grist. Judge Grist's actions were consistent with the provisions of this statute.
Duncan differs from instant case in that an issue was submitted to a jury. However, it is now settled that when there are proceedings under G.S. 122-84, determination may be made by the court with or without a jury. State v. Propst, supra. Here it seems clear that Judge Grist proceeded Further, it is well established in this jurisdiction that in criminal cases, every circumstance that is calculated to shed any light upon the supposed crime is admissible into evidence. State v. Sneeden, 274 N.C. 498, 164 S.E.2d 190 (1968). Likewise, our courts have allowed wide latitude in admitting evidence having a tendency to throw light upon the mental condition of a defendant who has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. For example, we allow opinion evidence by lay witnesses and lay testimony reciting irrational acts prior or subsequent to the alleged offense. State v. Potts, 100 N.C. 457, 6 S.E. 657 (1888); 1 Stansbury's North Carolina Evidence, Section 97 (Brandis Rev.1973) (hereinafter cited as Stansbury). We are, therefore, of the opinion that the order entered by Judge Grist declaring defendant mentally incapacitated and unable to proceed to trial was some evidence of defendant's mental condition and was admissible on the question of his insanity. We emphasize that when such evidence is admitted, the trial judge should clearly instruct the jury that this evidence is not conclusive but is merely another circumstance to be considered by the jury in reaching its decision.
under the mandate of G.S. 15A-1002 and held a hearing consistent with the provisions of G.S. 122-84. Although there was no declaration of insanity in instant case, the purpose and resulting orders were the same as in Duncan and McCully. We are therefore unable to validly distinguish the holdings in Duncan and McCully from instant case as to the admissibility of this evidence.
However, under the circumstances of this case, we do not find the ruling of the trial judge to be prejudicial error. Judge Grist's order was based largely upon the testimony of Dr. Groce who testified for defendant. Dr. Groce's testimony, the testimony of another expert witness, and the testimony of lay witnesses placed before the jury a complete history and description of defendant's mental condition. In view of the evidence admitted concerning defendant's mental condition, we are unable to discern that any real prejudice to defendant resulted from the exclusion of Judge Grist's order.
Defendant next contends that the trial judge committed prejudicial error in his charge to the jury. We will consider the two portions of the charge under attack separately.
The trial judge charged the jury that if "you should further find to your satisfaction that the defendant at the time charged, and in regard to the particular act charged, did not have mental capacity or ability to distinguish right from wrong, or to understand the nature and consequences of his acts, he would not be responsible and it would be your duty to return a verdict of guilty by reason of insanity with respect to any particular charge, to which you found the State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant committed. (Emphasis ours.) This part of the charge was clearly error. In fact, it was such obvious error that we are disposed to believe that any reasonably intelligent person would not believe that under our system of justice an accused could be convicted of a crime "by reason of insanity. " We assume that the jury was made up of reasonably intelligent persons. Further, the trial judge on three separate occasions charged to the effect that if the jury found that defendant did not have mental capacity to know right from wrong, the jury should return a verdict of not guilty.
Additionally, the trial judge submitted written issues to the jury as follows:
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