State v. Haymond
| Decision Date | 06 April 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. COA09-1030.,COA09-1030. |
| Citation | 691 S.E.2d 108 |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Gene Wayne HAYMOND, Defendant. |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
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Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by Gerald K. Robbins, Special Deputy Attorney General, for the State.
Staples Hughes, Appellate Defender, by Charlesena Elliott Walker, Assistant Appellate Defender, for defendant-appellant.
Defendant was charged in true bills of indictment returned by the Wilkes County Grand Jury with the following offenses:
Defendant appeared, with counsel, before the trial court at a hearing on 7 January 2008, at which time the State offered defendant a plea arrangement. Defendant requested to address the court, but before allowing him to do so, the trial court advised defendant that any statement made by him could be used against him. Defendant initially requested a continuance in order to employ different counsel, and then made statements to the court in which he admitted complicity and asked the trial court, in light of his cooperation with the authorities, to impose a lesser sentence than that offered by the prosecutor. The trial court refused to do so and advised defendant as to the consequences of accepting or rejecting the plea arrangement offered by the State. Defendant was given a further opportunity to discuss the plea arrangement with his counsel over the evening recess. On the following day, defendant rejected the plea arrangement. Defendant subsequently waived his right to the assistance of counsel and proceeded pro se.
Defendant moved to suppress all evidence seized as a result of a search by law enforcement officers, pursuant to a search warrant, of a residence at 515 Corporation Street, Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Defendant alleged that the application for issuance of the search warrant was insufficient to establish probable cause for its issuance.
The evidence at the suppression hearings tended to show that in January 2007, Detective Peyton Colvard ("Detective Colvard") of the Ashe County Sheriff's Department was investigating a break-in of New River Outfitters and larceny of items therein, which occurred in late December 2006 or early January 2007. On 19 January 2007, while processing the scene for latent fingerprints, Detective Colvard found a business card and vehicle registration in the leaves outside the back door of New River Outfitters. Both items contained defendant's name and the address 515 Corporation Street, Wilkesboro, North Carolina. After discussing this evidence with other officers, Detective Colvard recalled that defendant had been involved in prior break-ins in Ashe County. Detective Colvard then called Captain John Summers ("Captain Summers") of the Wilkes County Sheriff's Department and asked him to ride by the address shown on the cards, which was in Wilkes County, to see if he could identify any items that had been stolen from New River Outfitters. When Captain Summers rode by the house, the only item he spotted was a stainless steel grill sitting on the porch.
When Detective Colvard heard about the grill, he recalled that a stainless steel grill had been taken from the summer home of Randy Miller ("Mr. Miller") in mid-December 2006. Suspecting the grill spotted on the porch of the house might be Mr. Miller's, Detective Colvard contacted Mr. Miller and requested that he drive by the house to see if he could identify it. When Mr. Miller drove by the house, he was "80 percent sure" the grill on the porch was his. On 22 January 2007, Detective Colvard took Mr. Miller back to the house. On this occasion, both Detective Colvard and Mr. Miller got out of the car and walked through the yard to the porch. At this point, Mr. Miller positively identified the grill as the one stolen from his vacation home.
Detective Colvard then applied for a search warrant for 515 Corporation Street, Wilkesboro, North Carolina. In his Probable Cause Affidavit, Detective Colvard provided the magistrate with the information concerning the discovery of defendant's business card and vehicle registration at New River Outfitters. He also indicated that he had "observed a coastal stainless steel grill on defendant's side porch" and that "this grill matched the description of a grill stolen on December 23, 2006." As additional information, Detective Colvard indicated that the victim "identified the grill as being his" after going by defendant's house. According to Detective Colvard, "the victim was certain of this because of a black bungee cord that he had applied to the grill." Finally, Detective Colvard indicated his familiarity with defendant's prior convictions for breaking or entering. Based on this information, the magistrate issued a search warrant for defendant's home, authorizing Detective Colvard to search for the grill and various items stolen from New River Outfitters.
Soon after obtaining the search warrant, Detective Colvard contacted Detective William David Carson ("Detective Carson") to help execute the search warrant. Since defendant's home was located in Wilkesboro, Lieutenant Rhodes of the Wilkesboro Police Department was called to assist in the search as well. When the detectives arrived, no one was at home. They attempted to contact Dawn Matthews ("Ms. Matthews"), the owner of the house, but could not get in touch with her. They then called the number on the business card found at New River Outfitters, and defendant answered. They told defendant they had a warrant to search his house and instructed him to return to his home. Two hours later, defendant arrived at the house, and Detective Colvard served him with the search warrant. Defendant read over the search warrant and indicated that "almost all" of the items on the search warrant were in the house.
Defendant let the officers into the house. The officers searched various rooms in the house, including the basement and the kitchen. They found many of the items identified on the search warrant. They also found numerous other items that were identified as items taken during various reported break-ins in Wilkes County. In the weeks following the search, defendant recovered and returned various other stolen items to the officers, including rifles and parts of a safe which had all been stolen from Lowe Fur and Herb, Inc. Some of the items recovered were determined to be those taken during break-ins of William Pelon's ("Mr. Pelon") residence, Jeffrey Ritch's ("Mr. Ritch") residence, Sherry Gambill's ("Ms. Gambill") residence, and the Lowe Fur and Herb, Inc. business. A computer was found that was determined to have been stolen from Robert Mittet ("Mr. Mittet").
The trial court concluded that the application for the search warrant was sufficient to establish probable cause to search the residence for evidence relating to the Ashe County break-ins and that all of the other items seized, relating to the Wilkes County break-ins, were in plain view of the officers, with the exception of a television set which the officers moved in order to ascertain a serial number and some clothing which the officers found in closed drawers. Thus, the motion to suppress was denied except as to the television and the clothing, which were excluded.
In addition, defendant moved to suppress evidence of a letter dated 9 November 2007 which he directed to an assistant district attorney, various statements which he made to police officers during both the search of his house and plea discussions, and the statements which he made during the 7 January 2008 court appearance. The trial court ruled that the letter and statements made by defendant during plea discussions were inadmissible; however, the court ruled that defendant's statements made during the search were admissible because defendant was not under arrest at the time they were made, requiring no Miranda warning. The statements made by defendant at the 7 January 2008 hearing were also ruled...
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State Of North Carolina v. Pinkerton
...than he or she will receive if a proposed negotiated plea is accepted will result in reversible error. State v. Haymond, ---N.C.App. ----, ----, 691 S.E.2d 108, 123-24 (2010) (holding that the trial court impermissibly sentenced defendant on the basis of his refusal to enter a negotiated gu......