State v. Cutler, 1
| Decision Date | 20 September 1967 |
| Docket Number | No. 1,1 |
| Citation | 271 N.C. 379,156 S.E.2d 679 |
| Parties | STATE, v. Marvin CUTLER. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Atty. Gen. T. W. Bruton and Deputy Atty. Gen. Harry W. McGalliard, for the State.
LeRoy Scott, Washington, for defendant appellant.
Upon a motion for judgment as of nonsuit in a criminal action, the evidence must be considered by the court in the light most favorable to the State, all contradictions and discrepancies therein must be resolved in its favor and it must be given the benefit of every reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence. State v. Bruton, 264 N.C. 488, 142 S.E.2d 169; State v. Thompson, 256 N.C. 593, 124 S.E.2d 728; State v. Bass, 255 N.C. 42, 120 S.E.2d 580. All of the evidence actually admitted, whether competent or incompetent, including that offered by the defendant, if any, which is favorable to the State, must be taken into account and so considered by the court in ruling upon the motion. State v. Walker, 266 N.C. 269, 145 S.E.2d 833; State v. Virgil, 263 N.C. 73, 138 S.E.2d 777.
The question for the Court is whether, when all of the evidence is so considered, there is substantial evidence to support a finding both that an offense charged in the bill of indictment, or warrant if it be a case tried upon a warrant, has been committed and that the defendant committed it. State v. Bass, 253 N.C. 318, 116 S.E.2d 772. If, when the evidence is so considered, it is sufficient only to raise a suspicion or conjecture as to either the commission of the offense or the identify of the defendant as the perpetrator of it, the motion for nonsuit should be allowed. State v. Guffey, 252 N.C. 60, 112 S.E.2d 734. This is true even though the suspicion so aroused by the evidence is strong. State v. Chavis, 270 N.C. 306, 154 S.E.2d 340.
The test of the sufficiency of the evidence to withstand such a motion is the same whether the evidence is circumstantial, direct, or both. State v. Stephens, 244 N.C. 380, 93 S.E.2d 431. State v. Rowland, 263 N.C. 353, 139 S.E.2d 661. 'If the motion is overruled, it becomes the court's duty to charge the jury that in making up its verdict it must return a verdict of not guilty unless the evidence points unerringly to the defendant's guilt and excludes every other reasonable hypothesis.' State v. Stephens, supra. This, however, is not the test to be applied by the Court in determining whether the evidence is sufficient to warrant the submission of the case to the jury.
These controlling principles of law are more easily stated than applied to the evidence in a particular case. Of necessity, the application must be made to the...
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...The necessary elements of a crime may be made out from clear inferences supplied by all the evidence presented. See State v. Culter, 271 N.C. 379, 156 S.E.2d 679 (1967). Malcolm Fearing testified that defendant suggested that he knock the dirt from the post. Charles Fearing stated that defe......
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...murder charges. Specifically, the defendant relies upon State v. Reese, 319 N.C. 110, 353 S.E.2d 352 (1987), and State v. Cutler, 271 N.C. 379, 156 S.E.2d 679 (1967). In Reese and Cutler, however, there was no physical evidence tying the defendants to the actual murder scenes. In the presen......
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...entitled to the benefit of every reasonable inference to be drawn from it. State v. Goines, 273 N.C. 509, 160 S.E.2d 469; State v. Cutler, 271 N.C. 379, 156 S.E.2d 679. Contradictions and discrepancies in the testimony of the State's witnesses are to be resolved by the jury and, for the pur......
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...charged . . . has been committed and that the defendant committed it,' before it can overrule the motions. State v. Cutler, 271 N.C. 379, 383, 156 S.E.2d 679, 682 (1967). See State v. Morgan, 268 N.C. 214, 150 S.E.2d 377 (1966); State v. Roux, 266 N.C. 555, 146 S.E.2d 654 (1966). In decidin......