State v. Gaines

Decision Date11 April 1997
Docket NumberNo. 486A94,486A94
Citation483 S.E.2d 396,345 N.C. 647
CourtNorth Carolina Supreme Court
PartiesSTATE of North Carolina v. Allen Lorenzo GAINES and Bryan Cornelius Harris.

Michael F. Easley, Attorney General by William P. Hart, Special Deputy Attorney General, and Jill Ledford Cheek, Assistant Attorney General, for State.

Malcolm Ray Hunter, Jr., Appellate Defender by Daniel R. Pollitt, Assistant Appellate Defender, for defendant-appellant Gaines.

Isabel Scott Day, Public Defender by Julie Ramseur Lewis, for defendant-appellant Harris.

PARKER, Justice.

Defendants were tried jointly and capitally for the first-degree murder of Charlotte Police Officer Eugene Anthony Griffin. The jury found both defendants guilty of first-degree murder and recommended a life sentence for each defendant.

The State's evidence at trial tended to show that in November 1991 the victim, Eugene Anthony Griffin, had a full-time job as a Charlotte police officer and also worked as a security guard for a Red Roof Inn motel in Charlotte, North Carolina. On 21 November 1991 defendants Allen Lorenzo Gaines and Bryan Cornelius Harris, along with Mustafa Coleman, went to the Red Roof Inn to see Anthony Williams. The victim intercepted the three men on the motel stairwell, identified himself as a police officer, and told them that there was not going to be a party and that only one of them could go up to see Williams. When Gaines became argumentative, the victim grabbed Gaines by the jacket collar and told him to leave the property. The three men got into their car, yelled obscenities, and drove away. As the men left the motel, Gaines told Harris and Coleman that he was going to "get" the victim. Harris said, "do you want the twelve gauge"; and Gaines replied, "yes."

The three men went to the apartment of Sandra Carrington, where Harris retrieved a shotgun. The men then drove back to the motel. Gaines parked the car in the State Farm Insurance parking lot which was located behind the motel, walked through the woods to the back of the motel, put a woman's stocking on over his face, then went into the motel office with the shotgun and shot the victim in the chest. Gaines returned to the car, and the three men drove away. Harris later hid the shotgun under his house.

Immediately after the shooting the victim called for help on his police radio. Kevin Penegar, the night auditor and front desk clerk at the Red Roof Inn, called 911. Officers Beverly Stroup and Fred Allen responded to the victim's emergency call. The victim told Stroup that he had been shot by "the same guys [he] had trouble with earlier." The victim described the suspects, described the vehicle driven by the men, and recited a license-tag number. The victim also said, "Tell [my wife] that I love her." The victim died later that night of a gunshot wound to the chest and abdomen.

Sandy Bolton, a guest at the motel, testified that she heard a gunshot, looked out her window, and saw three men running through the parking lot.

Defendant Gaines testified on his own behalf. He said that after the original altercation with the victim, he left the motel crying because the officer had hurt his feelings. Gaines testified that the three men returned to the motel in order to scare the victim. He stated that he was planning to shoot into the air in the motel parking lot and never intended to shoot the victim. He put a woman's stocking over his face so that the victim would not recognize him. Gaines testified that he walked through the woods to the motel while Harris and Coleman remained near the car. He said that when he stepped in front of the motel lobby door, he saw the victim drawing his gun. Gaines stated that he was trying to get away when the gun went off; he did not remember pulling the trigger.

Defendant Harris presented no evidence.

ISSUES RAISED BY DEFENDANTS GAINES AND HARRIS

Defendants first argue that it was error to deny their motions to suppress evidence of statements and physical evidence. A suppression hearing was held before Judge Forrest A. Ferrell on defendants' motions on 21 June 1993. The State's evidence at the hearing tended to show the following: Sergeant Richard Sanders was in charge of the investigators working on the murder of the victim. Sanders instructed Investigator Buening, who was the lead investigator in the interviewing process, that any suspect interviews were to be conducted as noncustodial interviews. Suspects were not to be placed under arrest and would be free to leave, and any contact with suspects would be on a voluntary basis.

Specifically as to defendant Gaines, the evidence showed that Officer William Todd Walther located an automobile believed to be involved in the murder parked in front of Gaines' residence. Investigators R.G. Buening and S.P. Maxfield, both dressed in plain clothes, drove to Gaines' residence in an unmarked vehicle. Several other officers were also present. At approximately 2:30 a.m. Buening knocked on the front door of Gaines' residence. Gaines' mother answered the door. Buening identified himself and asked if the officers could come in. Buening, Maxfield, and one uniformed officer went inside. Buening introduced himself to Gaines and told him that a police officer had been shot and wounded at the Red Roof Inn and that the police had information that he and two friends had been involved in a dispute with the officer earlier in the evening. Buening asked Gaines if he would go to the Law Enforcement Center to talk with them about the earlier dispute with the officer. Buening told Gaines he was not under arrest, and Gaines agreed to go. Gaines' mother had no objection to her son accompanying the officers to the Law Enforcement Center.

Buening asked Gaines to sit in the front passenger seat of an unmarked police vehicle. Buening then obtained written consent from Gaines to search his automobile. Buening conducted a "plain-view" search of the vehicle while Gaines sat unattended in the unmarked, unlocked police vehicle. Buening then asked Gaines if he would show him where Harris and Coleman lived; Gaines agreed. At this point Buening went back to the residence to speak with Gaines' mother, again leaving Gaines unattended in the vehicle. Buening asked Gaines' mother if she wanted to accompany her son to the Law Enforcement Center; she declined. On the way to the Law Enforcement Center, Buening again told Gaines he was not under arrest.

At the Law Enforcement Center, Gaines was asked to sit in a large interview room. Gaines was not handcuffed. Sanders testified that "emotions were high" among police officers at the Law Enforcement Center and that he was concerned about the suspects' safety and about the "interrogative case." Sanders instructed officers not to let anybody other than investigators directly involved in the case interfere in any way. At approximately 4:00 a.m. Sanders assigned Officer D.R. Faulkenberry to sit with Gaines. Faulkenberry sat with Gaines from 4:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Sanders entered the room on two occasions and asked the men if either of them needed anything. During this time Investigator C.E. Boothe introduced himself to Gaines and advised Gaines that he was working on the case.

When Officer Faulkenberry went off duty, Investigator R.D. Roseman sat with Gaines. Roseman introduced himself and told Gaines that he was not under arrest, that he was free to leave at any time, and that any statements he made would be made voluntarily at defendant's request. Gaines told Roseman that "he didn't know why he was there" and that "he wanted to know when he could leave." Roseman testified that he did not answer Gaines' question about when Gaines could leave but left the interview room, conferred with Sanders in the hallway, and told Sanders he felt Gaines was ready to make a statement.

At approximately 7:30 a.m. Sanders asked Investigator D.L. Rock to sit with Gaines. Rock asked defendant if he needed anything to eat, and Gaines said that he was hungry. Shortly thereafter a police officer brought two steak biscuits for Gaines. At approximately 9:30 a.m. Gaines asked Rock if the police officer was dead; Rock replied that he was dead. Gaines asked Rock if he could speak with the other police officer, and he described Investigator Boothe. Boothe testified that he entered the room, told defendant he was not under arrest, told defendant he could leave at any time, and told defendant he did not have to make a statement. Boothe also told Gaines that Harris and Coleman had already given statements. Boothe asked Gaines if he had shot the police officer; Gaines admitted that he had and then gave a statement. Gaines signed a written statement which included language that he had given the statement of his own free will, knowing that he was not under arrest. After Gaines completed his statement, Boothe placed Gaines under arrest and read Gaines his rights; Gaines requested a lawyer.

Specifically as to defendant Harris, the evidence showed that at 3:00 a.m. on 22 November 1991, Investigator Buening knocked on Harris' door. Harris' mother answered the door; Buening identified himself and said he was looking for Harris. Buening asked if he could come in, and Mrs. Harris agreed. Investigator Maxfield also entered the residence. Buening and Maxfield entered the house, and a uniformed police officer stayed at the door. Mrs. Harris opened the door to her son's bedroom; Harris was on the bed, and Buening introduced himself as a police officer. Buening told Harris that a police officer had been shot and wounded at the Red Roof Inn and that the police had information that earlier in the evening, Harris and two friends had had a dispute with the officer. Buening told Harris that he was not under arrest and asked Harris if he would be willing to go with the officers to the police station to talk about the earlier dispute with the officer. Harris agreed to go with the officers. Harris' mother indicated that she did...

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    ...... State v. Kemmerlin, 356 N.C. 446, 573 S.E.2d 870 (2002) ; State v. Benson, 323 N.C. 318, 372 S.E.2d 517 (1988) ; State v. Stokes, 319 N.C. 1, 352 S.E.2d 653 (1987) ; State v. Rogers, 316 N.C. 203, 341 S.E.2d 713 (1986), overruled on other grounds by State v. Gaines, 345 N.C. 647, 483 S.E.2d 396, cert. denied, 522 U.S. 900, 139 L.Ed.2d 177 (1997), and by State v. Vandiver, 321 N.C. 570, 364 S.E.2d 373 (1988) ; State v. Young, 312 N.C. 669, 325 S.E.2d 181 (1985) ; State v. Hill, 311 N.C. 465, 319 S.E.2d 163 (1984) ; State v. Bondurant, 309 N.C. ......
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    • University of North Carolina School of Law North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology No. 6-2004, January 2004
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