State v. Evans

Citation279 N.C. 447,183 S.E.2d 540
Decision Date13 October 1971
Docket NumberNo. 30,30
PartiesSTATE of North Carolina v. Nathaniel EVANS. STATE of North Carolina v. Thomas Addison BRITTON. STATE of North Carolina v. Haywood Bernard HAIRSTON.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of North Carolina

R. Lewis Ray, Winston-Salem, for defendant Nathaniel Evans.

Larry L. Eubanks, Winston-Salem, for defendant Thomas Addison Britton.

Leslie G. Frye, Winston-Salem, for defendant Haywood Bernard Hairston.

LAKE, Justice.

G.S. § 14--87 provides: 'Any person or persons who, having in possession or with the use or threatened use of any firearms or other dangerous weapon, implement or means, whereby the life of a person is endangered or threatened, unlawfully takes or attempts to take personal property from another or from any place of business * * * or any other place where there is a person or persons in attendance * * * or who aids or abets any such person or persons in the commission of such crime, shall be guilty of a felony * * *.' The offense is complete if there is either a taking or an attempt to take the personal property of another by the means and in the manner prescribed by the statute, but there must be one or the other. State v. Parker, 262 N.C. 679, 138 S.E.2d 496.

For a conviction of robbery with firearms or other dangerous weapons, the State must further show beyond a reasonable doubt that the life of a person was endangered or threatened by the defendant's, or his accomplice's, possession, use or threatened use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, implement or means. State v. Stewart, 255 N.C. 571, 122 S.E.2d 355. Proof of this additional element is, of course, not required for conviction of the offense of common law robbery. Proof of the defendant's presence in a place of business, his possession therein of a firearm and his intent to commit the offense of robbery is not sufficient to support a conviction of the offense described in G.S. § 14--87, for it omits the essential elements of (1) a taking or attempt to take parsonal property, and (2) the endangering or threatening of the life of a person.

The respective indictments charge that these defendants, 'having in possession and with the use and threatened use of a certain firearm, to wit, a shotgun, whereby the life of Martha Eckert was endangered and thereatened, did commit an assault upon and put in bodily fear the said Martha Eckert and by the means aforesaid and by threats of violence did unlawfully, wilfully and feloniously attempt to take, steal and carry away personal property' from the place of business described.

'It is a rule of universal observance in the administration of criminal law that a defendant must be convicted, if convicted at all, of the particular offense charged in the bill of indictment.' State v. Jackson, 218 N.C. 373, 11 S.E.2d 149; State v. Keziah, 258 N.C. 52, 127 S.E.2d 784. He may, of course, be convicted of a lesser offense included therein. It was elementary that, upon a motion for judgment of nonsuit in a criminal action, the evidence must be considered in the light most favorable to the State and the State is entitled to every favorable inference reasonably to be drawn from it. State v. Miller, 270 N.C. 726, 154 S.E.2d 902. The evidence offered by the State must be taken to be true and any contradictions and discrepancies therein must be resolved in its favor. State v. Lipscomb, 274 N.C. 436, 163 S.E.2d 788; State v. Goines, 273 N.C. 509, 160 S.E.2d 469; State v. Clyburn, 273 N.C. 284, 159 S.E.2d 868; State v. Cutler, 271 N.C. 379, 156 S.E.2d 679. For the purpose of such motion, the evidence of the defendant is considered only to the extent that it is favorable to the State or for the purpose of explaining or making clear the State's evidence, insofar as it is not in conflict therewith. State v. Spears, 268 N.C. 303, 150 S.E.2d 499.

There must be substantial evidence of all material elements of the offense charged in order to withstand a motion for judgment of nonsuit. State v. Hill, 272 N.C. 439, 158 S.E.2d 329; State v. Stephens, 244 N.C. 380, 93 S.E.2d 431. If, considered in accordance with the above mentioned rule, the evidence in sufficient only to raise a suspicion or conjecture as to whether the offense charged was committed, the motion for nonsuit should be allowed even though the suspicion so aroused by the evidence is strong. State v. Clyburn, supra; State v. Cutler, supra; State v. Harvey, 228 N.C. 62, 44 S.E.2d 472.

With reference to the defendant Britton, the State's evidence shows only that he entered the building with Evans, stopped and, throughout the entire episode, stood at the counter upon which the cash register sat, but that he could not, in that position, open or reach into the cash register and that he left the building and the premises with Evans and Hairston. The State's evidence does not show that he addressed any...

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52 cases
  • State v. Robbins
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
    • 2 Junio 1987
    ...sufficient to raise only a mere suspicion or conjecture as to his identity as the perpetrator of either murder, see State v. Evans, 279 N.C. 447, 183 S.E.2d 540 (1971); State v. Cutler, 271 N.C. 379, 156 S.E.2d 679 (1967), we observe that the evidence at trial indicated, inter alia, the fol......
  • State v. Covington
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
    • 14 Julio 1976
    ...the defendant was the perpetrator or one of the perpetrators of the crime. State v. Alford, 289 N.C. 372, 222 S.E.2d 222; State v. Evans, 279 N.C. 447, 183 S.E.2d 540; State v. Cutler, 271 N.C. 379, 156 S.E.2d This Court considered the conviction of a defendant upon the theory that he was a......
  • State v. Furr
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
    • 13 Junio 1977
    ...To withstand the motion for nonsuit, there must be substantial evidence of all material elements of the offense. State v. Evans, 279 N.C. 447, 183 S.E.2d 540 (1971); 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). The evidence must be......
  • State v. Mercer
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
    • 3 Junio 1986
    ...252 N.C. 60, 112 S.E.2d 734 (1960). This is true even though the suspicion so aroused by the evidence is strong. State v. Evans, 279 N.C. 447, 183 S.E.2d 540 (1971); State v. Chavis, 270 N.C. 306, 154 S.E.2d 340 The terms "more than a scintilla of evidence" and "substantial evidence" are in......
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