State v. Flowers
| Decision Date | 05 September 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 553A94,553A94 |
| Citation | 489 S.E.2d 391,347 N.C. 1 |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Wendell FLOWERS. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Michael F. Easley, Attorney General by Ellen B. Scouten, Special Deputy Attorney General, for the State.
David G. Belser and A. James Siemens, Asheville, for defendant-appellant.
The defendant was indicted on 11 September 1989 for conspiracy to commit murder and for the first-degree murder of Rufus Coley Watson, Jr. The defendant was tried capitally, and the jury found the defendant guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and guilty of first-degree murder on the basis of premeditation and deliberation and on the basis of felony murder. Following a capital sentencing proceeding pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000, the jury recommended that the defendant be sentenced to death for the murder conviction. Judge Stephens sentenced defendant accordingly and to a term of ten years' imprisonment for the conspiracy conviction.
The defendant and the victim, Rufus Watson, were inmates under the control of the North Carolina Department of Correction at the Piedmont Correctional Institute in Salisbury, North Carolina. In May of 1989, both the defendant and the victim resided on the fourth floor of the residence tower in Cell Block D. The defendant resided in cell 6, and the victim resided in cell 2. Piedmont Correctional Institute was built to house medium-custody inmates; however, in 1989 it housed only those inmates requiring the highest level of security. The only time inmates were locked into their individual cells was between 11:30 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. on weeknights and between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on weekends. Inmates were required to remain in their locked cell blocks every night between 9:30 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. The remainder of the time, the inmates were able to move throughout the facility without escort. To keep track of the inmates, the guards conducted a head count three times a day.
On 13 May 1989, Officer Bobby Ray Settle, a prison guard assigned to the fourth floor, conducted the morning head count shortly after 6:00 a.m. On that morning, Officer Settle found every inmate present and alive. Around 12:30 p.m. on 13 May 1989, Officer Settle participated in the second inmate head count of the day. The door to cell 2 was closed and locked, and paper was covering the cell window. After knocking and hearing no response, Officer Settle unlocked and entered the cell. Upon entering cell 2, Officer Settle discovered Rufus Watson lying face down on his bed, covered with a blanket. Upon receiving no response from Watson, Officer Settle raised the blanket and saw blood on the body.
Dr. Thomas Clark, a forensic pathologist, performed an autopsy on the victim's body on 14 May 1989. Dr. Clark testified that the victim suffered multiple stab wounds to four The two wounds to the right side of the victim's head entered the skin but did not enter the body cavity or the eye because they were stopped by a bone in the skull. The twenty-one stab wounds to the victim's chest caused extensive damage to the victim's ribs and internal organs. Specifically, Dr. Clark testified that there were nine wounds to the lungs, that three wounds entered the left ventricle of the heart, and that the second and third ribs were "essentially destroyed because of repeated stabs through the same area." Any one of the nine wounds to the lungs or the three wounds to the heart could have been fatal. The four stab wounds to the back of the victim's neck penetrated the victim's skin but stopped against the bone in the back of the neck and caused no significant damage. Finally, of the three stab wounds to the victim's back, two entered the left lung and one entered the right lung. The wound to the right lung did not cause significant bleeding, which indicates that the victim was dead or very near death when this wound was inflicted.
separate areas of the body. Two stab wounds were located on the right side of the victim's head, one was on the left side of the head, twenty-one stab wounds were located on the left side of the chest, four stab wounds were located on the back of the victim's neck, and three stab wounds were located on the victim's upper back. These wounds would not have caused an immediate loss of consciousness. Dr. Clark determined that the cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest.
Lorenzo Wilborn, who at the time of the murder was an inmate residing in cell 10 on the fourth floor of Cell Block D, informed investigating officers that he had witnessed the murder. Wilborn stated that on the morning of the murder, he was listening to the radio in cell 7 of Cell Block D. Cell 7 is directly across from the victim's cell. Shortly after arriving at cell 7, Wilborn saw Steven Leazer go into the victim's cell. Wilborn stated that approximately ten minutes later, he heard the sound of the cell block door opening. Wilborn looked through the cell window and saw Michael Moore, John Fuller and defendant nearing the victim's cell. Moore and Fuller went into the victim's cell, and defendant stayed at the cell block door holding it open. Wilborn heard someone say, "[w]hat's going on," and then heard rumbling and banging. Wilborn stated that the cell door then flew open, and the victim staggered out of his cell. Moore and Fuller came out of the cell and dragged the victim back into the cell. Moore was holding some sort of sharp object in his hand, and the victim's shirt was bloody. When they started back into the cell, defendant stuck a broom handle in the cell block door to keep it from closing and locking, and defendant entered the victim's cell. After approximately five minutes, the four inmates left the victim's cell. Leazer was carrying clothes with blood on them as he exited. Based on Wilborn's account of the murder as well as other information collected during the course of the investigation, defendant, Leazer, Moore, and Fuller were charged with the murder of Rufus Watson.
In May of 1991, defendant gave a statement regarding his involvement in the murder to Agent Don Gale of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Defendant admitted killing the victim and stated that he did so because of the way the victim was treating an inmate named "Cupcake" with whom the defendant was involved in a homosexual relationship and also because the victim had put out a contract on the defendant's life. Defendant stated that he pushed the shank used to stab the victim into the ground outside the recreation yard. The location in the yard where defendant told Agent Gale he had concealed the shank was the same location where it had been found. When defendant gave his statement to Agent Gale, the details of the murder, including the location where the shank had been found, had not been published.
In October of 1991, Leazer, Moore and Fuller were tried for the victim's murder. Defendant was called as a witness at that trial. The transcript of defendant's testimony at that trial was introduced into evidence at defendant's trial and read to the jury. In that testimony, defendant admitted stabbing and killing the victim but stated that he alone committed the murder. Defendant stated that after he killed the victim, he forced Defendant presented no evidence in either the guilt/innocence or sentencing phases of his trial.
Leazer to help him clean up the cell and move the body onto the bed. Finally, defendant stated that he was testifying because Leazer, Moore and Fuller were innocent, and he did not want to see them wrongly convicted.
In his first assignment of error, the defendant contends that the trial court erred by refusing to replace defendant's counsel and by allowing defendant to proceed pro se in a capital case without a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of his right to counsel.
On 15 September 1989, defendant requested that court-appointed counsel be assigned to his case. The trial court appointed Gary Rhodes and Vic Bost of the Rowan County Bar to represent the defendant. In March of 1991, William D. Kenerly, the Rowan County District Attorney, received a letter from the defendant indicating defendant's desire to dismiss his attorneys and asking the district attorney's assistance in that regard. During the hearing of pretrial motions, Mr. Kenerly brought defendant's letter to the trial court's attention. When questioned by the trial court regarding his reasons for wanting to dismiss his court-appointed attorneys, the defendant indicated generally that his attorneys would not honor his instructions to plea bargain, and that they had not discussed the case with him or met with him sufficiently to represent him adequately. The defendant further indicated that he would like substitute counsel appointed to his case.
At the close of the hearing, the trial court found that defendant's attorneys had furnished him effective representation and denied defendant's request for appointment of substitute counsel. The trial court explained to the defendant that two experienced, well-qualified attorneys had been appointed to his case, and that he could choose either to accept them or represent himself. The defendant responded that he did not want his court-appointed attorneys and would represent himself.
We first hold that the trial court properly found that the defendant's court-appointed counsel had provided defendant effective representation. The record shows that defendant's counsel had the requisite experience and ability to try a capital case, had competently conducted pretrial preparation of the defendant's case, and had communicated to the district attorney defendant's desire to plea bargain. The record shows no evidence of a communication problem between the defendant and his attorneys. The defendant simply did not like his court-appointed counsel. Accordingly, the trial court properly refused to grant defendant's request for substitute counsel. See State v. Cunningham, 344 N.C. 341,...
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