State v. Gladden
| Decision Date | 18 February 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 342A83,342A83 |
| Citation | 315 N.C. 398,340 S.E.2d 673 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Willie James GLADDEN. |
Lacy H. Thornburg, Atty. Gen. by Christopher P. Brewer, Raleigh, Asst. Atty. Gen. for the State.
Gene B. Gurganus, Jacksonville, for defendant-appellant.
The defendant was convicted of the first-degree murder of Jorge Delgado and sentenced to death. He brings forward assignments of error relative to the guilt-innocence phase and the sentencing phase of his trial. Having considered the entire record and each of the assignments, we find no prejudicial error in either phase of the defendant's trial. Therefore, we leave undisturbed the defendant's conviction and sentence of death.
Evidence for the State tended to show that between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. on 8 December 1982, a body was discovered in a wooded area approximately forty feet off of Highway 172. The body was subsequently identified as that of Marine Sergeant Jorge Delgado, a helicopter mechanic, stationed at the New River Air Station in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
Dr. Charles Garrett, an Onslow County medical examiner, performed an autopsy on the body of the victim. The autopsy revealed three gunshot wounds to the head and one to the left shoulder. The victim had also received a slash wound on the left side of the neck. Dr. Garrett testified that, in his opinion, the victim died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the head with the slash wound to the throat being a contributing cause of death.
Onslow County Sheriff Billy Woodward testified that on the evening of 8 December, he and other members of his staff interviewed Delsenia Delgado, the victim's wife. Early on the morning of 9 December, Sheriff Woodward and other law enforcement officials went to the defendant's residence. The officers informed the defendant that they were investigating the death of Jorge Delgado. The defendant was informed of his constitutional rights. The officers then asked for and received permission from the defendant to search his residence for weapons and bloody clothing. As a result of the search, the officers discovered a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, both of which had blood on them, and one pair of black trousers. The trousers were not cut or torn. A photo album containing a number of photographs of Mrs. Delgado alone and of Mrs. Delgado together with the defendant was also discovered. The officers also found a wrapped package which was addressed to a New York address. The package was opened with the consent of the defendant. Among other items, the package contained the disassembled parts of a .25-caliber pistol.
Detective William F. Deaton, a detective with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department, testified that he was assigned to investigate the Delgado killing. In the early morning hours of 9 December, Deaton interviewed Delsenia Delgado. After talking with Mrs. Delgado, Detective Deaton interviewed the defendant. After being informed of his constitutional rights the defendant made a statement. Deaton testified that the defendant told him that he was with Mrs. Delgado during the early evening hours of 6 December 1982. At that time, the defendant told Mrs. Delgado that he wanted to talk with Sgt. Delgado about the two of them. The defendant and Mrs. Delgado proceeded to drive her Triumph TR-7 down Highway 24 to the intersection with Highway 172. At that point, Mrs. Delgado went into a grocery store and made a phone call. The defendant stated that Mrs. Delgado told him that she had called her husband and told him that her car was broken down on Highway 172 and that she was in need of assistance. They proceeded to drive down Highway 172, eventually stopping and pulling off the side of the road. The defendant stated that he raised the hood of the car to make it appear as though there was something wrong with the car and then crouched in the ditch alongside the shoulder of the road to await the arrival of Sgt. Delgado.
Deaton further testified that the defendant stated that Sgt. Delgado arrived driving a Mercury Cougar and was carrying a flashlight as he walked toward the TR-7. The defendant stated that he then got out of the ditch and confronted Sgt. Delgado. According to the defendant, Sgt. Delgado attacked him with a knife, striking him in the right leg. The defendant said he then pulled out a knife and slashed at Delgado, knocking him to the ground. When Delgado got back up the defendant shot him twice. He then pulled Delgado into the ditch and shot him twice more. The defendant then told Mrs. Delgado to get back into the car and leave. When asked by Mrs. Delgado if her husband was dead, the defendant told her that he was still alive but that he was dying. He stated that he knew Sgt. Delgado was dying because he had heard the "death gurgle."
Deaton further testified that the defendant stated that Mrs. Delgado drove away in the Mercury and he left driving the TR-7. At some point the TR-7 developed engine trouble and he was forced to park it near a grocery store on Highway 24. Mrs. Delgado then drove the defendant back to his apartment. Later, the defendant returned to where Sgt. Delgado's body was located. He proceeded to take the body into the woods. He also took Sgt. Delgado's wallet and watch in order to make it appear as though he had been the victim of a robbery. He also stated that he took the knife which Sgt. Delgado had stabbed him with and threw it into the woods. The defendant said that he disposed of the watch by throwing it into some water as he crossed a bridge on Highway 17. He proceeded to the New River Air Station where he disposed of the wallet in a trash dumpster and attempted to establish an alibi. Later, he returned to his apartment. Mrs. Delgado subsequently joined him there, and they spent the night together. The defendant also stated that he was wearing a black pair of pants and a dark shirt when the incident occurred.
Steven Carpenter, a firearms technician with the State Bureau of Investigation, was tendered and accepted by the court as an expert in the field of ballistics. Mr. Carpenter stated that he compared test bullets fired from the .25-caliber pistol seized at the defendant's apartment with the bullets retrieved from the body of Sgt. Delgado. He testified that, as a result of this comparison, it was his opinion that the bullets taken from Delgado's body were fired from the gun seized at the defendant's apartment.
Corporal Benjamin Daniels testified that he met the defendant in October 1981 and that they became good friends. Daniels stated that, at some point, the defendant began seeing Mrs. Delgado. He stated that the defendant had told him that he loved Mrs. Delgado. Daniels further testified that in late May or early June 1982, the defendant told him that Mrs. Delgado had asked him to kill her husband. Daniels stated that the defendant lived with him at the trailer for a portion of the summer of 1982. According to Daniels, Mrs. Delgado would visit the defendant at the trailer two or three times a week.
Paul Peters testified that he had been recently discharged from the Marines. While in the Marines he had been assigned to the same unit as the defendant and had become acquainted with him. Peters testified that in October 1982, the defendant approached him and asked if he knew anyone who would be willing to perform a contract killing. Peters told him that he might be able to find someone. Subsequently, the defendant inquired on at least two other occasions as to whether Peters had been able to find someone to do the killing. Peters testified that, during one of these discussions, the defendant told him that the intended victim was one Sgt. Delgado. Peters stated that the defendant told him that he and his girlfriend wanted Sgt. Delgado killed. Peters also stated that the defendant offered him $1,000 to kill Delgado, which he refused. Peters did, however, explain to the defendant two methods by which a car could be made to explode. Peters testified that the defendant took some preliminary steps to carry out one of these methods.
Corporal John Irvine testified that he was a close friend of the defendant. At the request of the defendant, Irvine went by to see the defendant on the morning of 7 December. Irvine testified that the defendant told him that he had gotten into an argument with someone the previous night and that it had been necessary for him to "defend himself" when the person tried to stab him. Irvine stated that the defendant asked that he provide him with an alibi for the night of 6 December.
David Harris testified that he was incarcerated in the Onslow County Jail in February, 1983. He was placed in a cell directly across from the one occupied by the defendant. Harris stated that on one occasion they discussed Jorge Delgado. Harris testified that during the course of the conversation the defendant told him that if he could kill Delgado again, he would do so for the pleasure of it.
Lieutenant David Hunter testified that he had occasion to be in a wooded area off Highway 172 around 7:30 p.m. on 6 December 1982. Hunter stated that he heard two gunshots fired in rapid succession, followed by a scream. After a pause of approximately five to ten seconds, he heard two more shots. Hunter testified that he then heard what appeared to be laughter. He stated that while it sounded as though one person may have been laughing, he was definitely able to distinguish a masculine-sounding laugh. Hunter then got into his truck and drove down Highway 172 for a few hundred yards. At that point he came upon two vehicles, a dark colored Mercury Cougar and a black TR-7. Hunter stated that as he approached the scene the cars were driving away. Hunter followed the Cougar for some distance back toward Highway 24 going toward Jacksonville. He subsequently identified the Mercury Cougar registered to Sgt. Delgado as being one of the vehicles he observed on the evening...
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