State v. Byers
| Decision Date | 18 December 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. COA18-250,COA18-250 |
| Citation | 822 S.E.2d 746,263 N.C.App. 231 |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Terraine Sanchez BYERS |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Attorney General Joshua H. Stein, by Assistant Attorney General Joseph L. Hyde.
Appellate Defender Glenn Gerding, by Assistant Appellate Defender Wyatt Orsbon, for Defendant.
Terraine Sanchez Byers ("Defendant") was convicted of first-degree murder of his former girlfriend and first-degree burglary on 3 March 2004. After exhausting his direct appeal, Defendant filed a pro se motion for post-conviction DNA testing pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-269 on 31 July 2017. The trial court entered an order dated 3 August 2017 denying Defendant's motion. Defendant appeals and argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for post-conviction DNA testing. We agree.
Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree burglary on 3 March 2004. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the murder conviction and a minimum of 77 months to a maximum of 102 months of imprisonment for the burglary conviction. Defendant appealed and this Court upheld the trial court's decision in State v. Byers , 175 N.C. App. 280, 623 S.E.2d 357 (2006) (" Byers I "). Our Supreme Court subsequently denied Defendant's petition for discretionary review on 6 April 2006. State v. Byers , 360 N.C. 485, 631 S.E.2d 135 (2006).
Defendant's convictions arose out of events that occurred on the evening of 22 November 2001 when Defendant's ex-girlfriend, Shanvell Burke ("Ms. Burke"), was stabbed to death inside her Charlotte apartment ("Ms. Burke's apartment" or "the apartment"). Officers had previously been called to Ms. Burke's apartment multiple times because of Ms. Burke's fear of Defendant. Byers I , 175 N.C. App. at 284, 623 S.E.2d at 359-60. Reginald Williams ("Mr. Williams") was inside Ms. Burke's apartment on the evening of 22 November 2001 and testified that he and Ms. Burke were watching television when they heard a crash at the back door of the apartment. Id. at 283, 623 S.E.2d at 359. Mr. Williams further testified that Ms. Burke went to the back door and he heard her yelling, "Terraine, stop" before Mr. Williams fled the apartment in fear. Id.
When officers arrived at the scene, they saw Defendant leaving the apartment through a broken window in a door, and described him as "nervous and profusely sweating." Id. at 283, 623 S.E.2d at 359. After informing the officers that Ms. Burke was inside and injured, Defendant attempted to flee the scene. Id. Defendant was quickly apprehended and was found to have a deep laceration on his left hand. Id. The officers found Ms. Burke deceased inside the apartment. The officers also found a knife with a broken blade. Id. at 283-84, 623 S.E.2d at 359.
Investigators analyzed fingernail scrapings from Defendant's hands, a blood stain from a cushion on Ms. Burke's couch, the knife handle, the knife blade, and various other blood stains throughout the apartment. Id. at 285, 623 S.E.2d at 360. The DNA from the several samples all matched either Defendant or Ms. Burke. Id. Defendant stipulated that the blood on the shirt that he was wearing at the time of his arrest was Ms. Burke's. For a more detailed description of the facts underlying Defendant's convictions, refer to this Court's prior opinion in Byers I .
Defendant filed a pro se motion for post-conviction DNA testing on 31 July 2017. In his motion, Defendant asserted that he was on the other side of town waiting for a bus when the attack on Ms. Burke occurred. Defendant further alleged that one of the State's witnesses testified she saw Defendant getting on the 9:00 p.m. city bus on the night of the events in question. Defendant alleged that a private investigator swore in an affidavit that it would have been impossible for Defendant to arrive at Ms. Burke's apartment prior to the alleged 911 call.
Defendant further stated in his motion that, when he arrived at Ms. Burke's apartment, he noticed the "back door smashed in." Defendant also asserted that he went inside the apartment to investigate and was attacked by a man wearing a plaid jacket. The two men struggled, which Defendant argues explains the presence of his DNA throughout the apartment. Defendant stated he lost his balance during the attack and fell, allowing the assailant to escape. Defendant argues that, because both he and Ms. Burke struggled with the unknown assailant, DNA testing of his and Ms. Burke's previously untested clothing would reveal the identity of the actual perpetrator. Defendant noted that the State's DNA expert reported the presence of human blood in various locations throughout Ms. Burke's apartment that did not match either Defendant or Ms. Burke; however, this information was not introduced at trial. Defendant further requested that the items of clothing be preserved and that an inventory of the evidence be prepared.
The trial court entered an order dated 3 August 2017 denying Defendant's motion. The trial court held that Defendant had failed to sufficiently allege how DNA testing of the requested items would be "material to his defense." Defendant appeals.
The issues Defendant argues are that the trial court erred in denying his motion for post-conviction DNA testing: (1) "prior to obtaining and reviewing the statutorily required inventory of evidence" collected during the criminal investigation, and (2) "before appointing counsel when [his] motion for such testing establishe[d] that ... [D]efendant [was] indigent and that the testing may be material to his defense."
Defendant argues the trial court erred by denying his motion for postconviction DNA testing before obtaining and reviewing the statutorily required and requested inventory of physical and biological evidence collected during the criminal investigation.
Initially, the State responds by arguing Defendant "lacks the right to appeal" the denial of a motion to locate and preserve evidence under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-27(b)(1) and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-270.1. The State further argues that Defendant failed to preserve this issue for appellate review by failing to obtain a ruling on the motion as required by N.C. R. App. P 10(a)(1), that "ordinarily results in waiver of appellate review of the issue." In re B.E. , 186 N.C. App. 656, 657, 652 S.E.2d 344, 345 (2007). However, the State misconstrues Defendant's argument. Defendant does not argue, as the State contends, that the trial court erred by failing to order the preservation and inventory of the requested evidence. Instead, Defendant argues the trial court erred in denying his motion for post-conviction DNA testing prior to receiving the inventory of evidence. Therefore, this case is distinguishable from the case cited by the State, State v. Doisey , 240 N.C. App. 441, 770 S.E.2d 177 (2015), where this Court dismissed a defendant's argument that the trial court erred in failing to order the inventory of biological evidence.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-270.1 (2017) explicitly states that "[t]he defendant may appeal an order denying the defendant's motion for DNA testing under this Article, including by an interlocutory appeal." Therefore, appeal was the proper avenue for reversing the trial court's order, and Defendant preserved this issue for appellate review by appealing the denial of his motion for post-conviction DNA testing. Defendant has also filed a petition for a writ of certiorari for review of this issue. However, having found that Defendant's appeal is proper under N.C.G.S. § 15A-270.1, we deny his petition as unnecessary.
In order to fully analyze Defendant's argument, we must consider the statutory procedure for requesting an inventory of evidence and the role of the inventory within the post-conviction DNA testing statute. The statutory procedure for compiling an inventory of evidence is set out in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-268(a7), which requires custodial agencies:
Upon written request by the defendant, the custodial agency shall prepare an inventory of biological evidence relevant to the defendant's case that is in the custodial agency's custody. If the evidence was destroyed through court order or other written directive, the custodial agency shall provide the defendant with a copy of the court order or written directive.
N.C.G.S. § 15A-268(a7). N.C.G.S. § 15A-269(f) (2017) similarly requires: "Upon receipt of a motion for postconviction DNA testing, the custodial agency shall inventory the evidence pertaining to that case and provide the inventory list, as well as any documents, notes, logs, or reports relating to the items of physical evidence, to the prosecution, the petitioner, and the court."
Defendant's argument that the trial court erred by denying his motion for postconviction DNA testing prior to obtaining an inventory of evidence was recently addressed by this Court in State v. Tilghman , ––– N.C. App. ––––, 821 S.E.2d 253, 2018 WL 4700630 (filed 2 October 2018). In Tilghman , the defendant made similar arguments under both N.C.G.S. § 15A-268(a7) and N.C.G.S. § 15A-269(f), that the trial court erred by denying his motion for post-conviction DNA testing prior to receiving an inventory of the evidence. Tilghman , ––– N.C. App. at ––––, 821 S.E.2d at ––––. In Tilghman , this Court, addressed both statutes in turn, rejected the defendant's arguments and found no error in the trial court's denial of the defendant's motion.
In addressing N.C.G.S. § 15A-268(a7), Tilghman held the trial court ...
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State v. Byers
...upon showing in his motion that he was indigent and "the testing may be material to his defense." State v. Byers (Byers II) , 263 N.C. App. 231, 234, 822 S.E.2d 746, 748 (2018). The majority of the Court of Appeals panel reversed the trial court's order denying defendant's motion. Id. at 24......
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