State v. Carter
| Decision Date | 30 December 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 160A92,160A92 |
| Citation | 451 S.E.2d 157,338 N.C. 569 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Marcus Lois CARTER, Jr. |
Michael F. Easley, Atty. Gen. by Debra C. Graves, Asst. Atty. Gen., for state.
Urs R. Gsteiger and Elizabeth Horton, Winston-Salem, for defendant-appellant.
At the 28 October 1991 Criminal Session of Superior Court, Wayne County, the Honorable James R. Strickland presiding, defendant was tried for first-degree kidnapping, first-degree murder and attempted second-degree rape of Amelia Lewis. At the conclusion of the State's evidence, the trial judge directed a verdict for defendant on the first-degree kidnapping charge. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the other charges, and a mistrial was declared as to the first-degree murder and attempted second-degree rape charges.
The case again came on for trial at the 30 March 1992 Criminal Session of Superior Court, Wayne County, the Honorable William C. Griffin presiding. At the second trial defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted second-degree rape. After a separate sentencing proceeding, the jury recommended that defendant be sentenced to death upon his conviction of first-degree murder. On 10 April 1992, judgment was entered by Judge Griffin sentencing defendant to death in the first-degree murder case. In the attempted second-degree rape case, defendant was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of ten years. As to the first-degree murder conviction, defendant brings forward numerous assignments of error relative to both the guilt-innocence phase and the sentencing phase of his trial. Having thoroughly reviewed the transcript, the record on appeal, the briefs and oral arguments, we conclude that defendant received a fair trial free from prejudicial error and that the sentence of death is not disproportionate.
During the guilt-innocence phase, defendant discharged his court-appointed counsel, Mr. Jordan and Mr. Braswell, electing instead to represent himself. Judge Griffin appointed Mr. Jordan and Mr. Braswell as standby counsel.
The State offered evidence which tended to show the following narrated facts. In December 1989, Amelia Lewis was twenty years old, stood five feet tall and weighed ninety pounds. She was last seen alive by her cousin, Latrecia Lewis, on Friday, 15 December, at around 10:00 p.m. Amelia left the home she and Latrecia shared with their grandmother in Goldsboro at that time on foot. Amelia made a collect call to a friend, Cecil Speed-Reid, from a phone booth near Amelia's home on 15 December at about 11:00 p.m. Speed-Reid agreed to drive Amelia to the bus station at midnight to pick up her baggage. Amelia planned to meet Speed-Reid at Speed-Reid's house, but she never made it there.
The Goldsboro Police Department received a call at 11:22 p.m. on 15 December 1989 which reported a woman screaming, "please don't kill me," from the alley on Walnut Street. An officer responded and "cleared the area" at 11:27 p.m. He saw nothing. On Monday, 18 December, at 7:00 a.m., the body of the victim, Amelia Renae Lewis, was found in the alley behind the Old Waynesborough Hotel, the area from which the report had come earlier.
When Amelia's body was discovered by Capt. C.E. Boltinhouse of the Goldsboro Police Department at the scene of the crime at about 8:00 a.m., her left pant leg was off completely. This reminded Capt. Boltinhouse of the description of a rape reported by Kesha Davis on 15 December 1989 which occurred just four blocks away. Defendant was identified by Davis as the rapist. In addition to the left pant leg being off, Amelia's brassiere was above her breasts; her panties were down; and her sweater, saturated with blood, was wrapped around her head, covering her face and head.
On 18 December, Capt. Boltinhouse went to defendant's house to arrest him for the Davis rape. Defendant was not there, and his mother consented to a search of her home. The search resulted in the seizure of defendant's green sweatshirt, a pair of jeans and a pair of black Carolina Turkey boots which matched the description Davis gave of her rapist's clothing. On 18 December, defendant was arrested for the rape of Kesha Davis. As defendant was being processed, investigators observed scratches on his face and a discoloration of his left eye.
An autopsy of the victim's body in this case revealed hemorrhages to her left eye, larger hemorrhages to her right eye, blunt trauma to the head, multiple skull fractures and lacerations of the scalp. There were abrasions above her right breast and between her breasts, inside her right upper arm, on both knees, the front of her left shin, her face, left forehead, chin, left to mid lower lip, and the front and sides of her neck. The neck abrasions indicated nails digging into the skin. The abrasions to the knees indicated a fall. Certain abrasions on her back appeared to have occurred after death. She had a laceration over the left side of her forehead and a large laceration of her right forehead above her eye which contained a reddish-brown material and bone from fractures. Her neck muscles were bruised, and there was a large tear of her liver with no bleeding, indicating this injury also occurred after death. Amelia's death was caused by manual strangulation and blunt trauma to the head, either of which was sufficient to cause death. The blunt trauma to the head caused brain injury and could have been inflicted by a brick. The injury to her liver would have been fatal had she not been dead already. This injury was probably caused by a punch or stomp while the body was lying face up. There were no defense wounds and no trauma to the vagina or genitalia.
Forensic evidence tended to show the following. The only unknown hairs from Amelia's body were Caucasian. Defendant is Oriental and African-American by race. Fingernail scrapings from the victim were compared with samples from the defendant's sweatshirt. Some of the particles, specifically nail polish, originated from the same source. DNA comparisons provided no positive identification. Defendant's green sweatshirt and blue jeans contained human blood splatter. These blood splatters matched the victim's blood and were inconsistent with defendant's blood.
Inside a dumpster near where the victim's body was found, investigators discovered a brick underneath a couple of garbage bags. The brick had hair and blood on it, and a corner of it was chipped away. The blood on the brick matched the victim's blood and was inconsistent with defendant's blood. Fibers from the wheel of the dumpster were consistent with known samples of fibers from defendant's green sweatshirt. Fingernail clippings from the victim's hand contained fibers consistent with known samples from defendant's green sweatshirt. Fragments of brick from the victim's head fitted together perfectly to fill the chipped area on the brick.
The only evidence that defendant introduced during the guilt-innocence phase of his trial was the testimony of one witness, Audrey Lynch, an FBI expert in DNA analysis. Lynch testified that the materials she received were insufficient to develop or obtain any DNA profiles.
Additional evidence introduced during the trial will be discussed where pertinent to the issues raised by the defendant.
We discuss first defendant's assignment of error that the trial court erred in allowing his motion to proceed pro se. At the start of defendant's trial, he told the court that he was dissatisfied with his court-appointed counsel and requested that the court appoint new counsel for him. The court, finding counsel to be competent, informed defendant that he was not entitled to court-appointed counsel of his choice and denied defendant's request. Defendant then requested the right to proceed pro se, at which point the following discussion took place:
The court next ordered a recess, specifically to afford defendant additional time to reconsider his decision and then asked him the following questions:
The court then discharged defendant's counsel and permitted defendant to proceed pro se.
Before a defendant is allowed to waive in-court representation by counsel, the trial court must insure that constitutional and statutory standards are satisfied. State v. Thomas, 331 N.C. 671, 673, 417 S.E.2d 473, 475 (1992). First, the defendant must "clearly and unequivocally" waive his right to counsel and instead elect to proceed pro se. Id. Second, the trial court must determine whether the defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to in-court representation by counsel. Id. at 674, 417 S.E.2d at 476. In determining whether the waiver meets this standard, the trial court must conduct a thorough inquiry. Id. This Court has held that the inquiry required by N.C.G.S. § 15A-1242 satisfies constitutional requirements. Id. The statute provides:
A defendant may be permitted at his election to proceed in the trial of his case without the assistance of counsel only after the trial judge...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Cummings
...of conduct in which defendant engaged and whether that conduct involved crimes of violence against another or others. State v. Carter, 338 N.C. 569, 451 S.E.2d 157 (1994), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1107, 115 S.Ct. 2256, 132 L.Ed.2d 263 (1995). The fact that the jury did not specify which crime......
-
State v. Burr
...and bending her arms behind her back was relevant and admissible to show identity under Rule 404(b). See State v. Carter, 338 N.C. 569, 587-88, 451 S.E.2d 157, 167 (1994) (evidence that defendant assaulted an elderly man above his right eye with a piece of cinder block was admissible to sho......
- State v. Baker
-
State v. Goode
...similar acts which would indicate that the same person committed both crimes." Id. at 106, 305 S.E.2d at 545. State v. Carter, 338 N.C. 569, 588, 451 S.E.2d 157, 167 (1994), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 2256, 132 L.Ed.2d 263 (1995). However, "[i]t is not necessary that the modus o......