State v. Hudson
| Decision Date | 22 April 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 454A87,454A87 |
| Citation | 331 N.C. 122,415 S.E.2d 732 |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Jimmy Dale HUDSON. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeal as of right pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(a) from a judgment imposing a life sentence upon defendant's conviction of first-degree murder entered by Ross, J., at the 9 February 1987 Special Criminal Session of Superior Court, Guilford County. Defendant's motion to bypass the Court of Appeals, pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-31, as to his second-degree murder conviction, for which he received a consecutive sentence of fifty years, was allowed by this Court 14 January 1992. Heard in the Supreme Court 12 February 1992.
Lacy H. Thornburg, Atty. Gen., by John H. Watters, Asst. Atty. Gen., Raleigh, for the State.
Malcolm Ray Hunter, Jr., Appellate Defender, by Gordon Widenhouse, Asst. Appellate Defender, Raleigh, for defendant-appellant.
On 24 March 1986 at approximately 8:00 p.m., defendant Jimmy Dale Hudson visited the Greensboro police department and spoke with Officer Gregory Deans. According to Deans, defendant appeared calm and his face was expressionless. Defendant related that he had an argument with his wife, Kathryn Hudson, and that she had come at him with a butcher knife. He took the knife away from her and did not remember what next occurred, but he thought he might have killed her and that his daughter, three-year-old Wilma Dale Hudson, might have gotten in the way. Defendant informed Deans that he himself had been cut about the neck, hand, and chest in the melee. Defendant provided Deans with directions to the apartment where the killings occurred.
Defendant was taken to the emergency room at Wesley Long Hospital. While en route, defendant asked Deans if anyone had visited the apartment. Deans responded that he did not know, and defendant told Deans, "I know what they'll find when they get there." At the hospital, Dr. James Kindl examined defendant and discovered superficial scratches to the neck most likely caused by fingernails. A one-inch superficial wound that required no stitches was detected on defendant's chest. A two-inch laceration on the thumb side of the palm of defendant's left hand was also evident; this wound was not deep but required seven stitches to close. A tiny cut over the knuckle of the index finger of defendant's left hand required no treatment whatsoever. Finally, defendant complained of soreness on his right wrist. There were no obvious signs of cuts or bruises, and the wrist retained a full range of motion.
At approximately 8:25 p.m., police arrived at the scene of the killings and observed the lifeless body of a small child lying on the floor in a pool of blood, with a large gaping laceration in her neck. A butcher knife with a five-inch blade covered almost entirely in blood lay four or five feet from the body of the child. In the living area, officers observed the body of a white female, lying face upward on the floor. She also had a large neck wound and appeared to be dead. The adult female had a handkerchief stuffed inside the neck wound.
The apartment appeared to be in order, with no broken furniture or anything out of arrangement. A blue oxford shirt, later identified as being the shirt worn by defendant on the night of the killings, was discovered on the landing of the apartment by the stairs. The shirt had no holes in the shoulder area.
A 1979 Volkswagen driven by defendant to the police station was also inspected. The inspection revealed blood stains on the steering wheel, horn, seat, and the driver's side floor mat. Also found was a brown leather brief case on the back seat and a man's shaving kit under the front seat containing a .38-caliber revolver. The revolver was lying exposed on the top of the kit and, unlike the kit, had blood on it.
Roger McQueen, currently serving time for a double murder, testified for the State. In 1986, McQueen met defendant in the course of his work in the law library at the Eastern Correctional Center, where McQueen assisted inmates in legal research. Defendant confided in McQueen that he was charged with one count of first-degree murder. Defendant went into great detail so that McQueen could provide an opinion as to whether premeditation and deliberation existed and whether an insanity defense was tenable. Defendant first told McQueen that the killing occurred as a result of an argument between him and his wife. At a subsequent meeting, defendant informed McQueen that there was actually a second killing, the latter involving Wilma Dale Hudson. Defendant related that the child was present at the time Kathryn was killed, that the child began to cry, and that defendant sent her to her room. The daughter returned and defendant killed her. McQueen asked defendant how long the interval was between killings, and defendant replied that it was longer than fifteen minutes. Defendant told McQueen that he killed the little girl "to make it fit." Defendant never told McQueen anything about his wife's approaching him with a butcher knife.
Defendant testified in his own behalf. Defendant and Kathryn Hudson met while in school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The couple married in 1971. In 1974, defendant graduated from dental school and began a practice in Robbinsville, North Carolina. He left the practice in 1979, moving to Greensboro to begin a practice with Dr. Julian Rogers. After a year and a half, defendant became a full partner. The Hudsons adopted a female child in 1983, naming her Wilma Dale Hudson. In December 1985, defendant was informed by his partners that they wanted him out of the practice. He was disassociated in 1986 and thereafter worked on a temporary basis for other dentists.
On the evening of 7 March 1986, defendant arrived at his home and discovered a letter from his wife informing him that she and Wilma Dale had moved out and that she had an attorney. After several unsuccessful attempts, defendant finally located his wife by phone; she refused to discuss the problem and kept telling defendant to read the letter. On 13 March, defendant and Kathryn signed a separation agreement. Shortly after signing the agreement, defendant left the country for a vacation.
Upon his return, defendant arranged to spend the day with Wilma Dale. When they returned, defendant and his estranged wife talked. Some time later, Kathryn asked defendant to leave, as she had to prepare dinner. Defendant testified that he resisted and became hysterical. He began to leave and Wilma Dale ran over to him and he began hugging and kissing her. Kathryn became angry and began yelling at defendant. Kathryn then came over to defendant and slapped him twice. She then approached defendant with a knife, and defendant was unable to remember anything else until he was washing his hands at the sink. Defendant turned around and Wilma Dale was on the floor. He noticed the two bodies and that they lacked signs of life. Defendant then entered his car and drove around the area. He eventually made his way to the police station. When at the station, he contemplated suicide but was unable to carry it out. Defendant testified that he remembered being cut on his left hand but none of his other injuries.
Considerable testimony was mounted concerning defendant's mental condition at or about the time of the killings. Dr. Bob Rollins, Clinical Director of the Forensic Unit at Dorothea Dix Hospital, evaluated defendant in March and April 1986. Rollins diagnosed defendant as having a mixed personality disorder with narcissistic and dependent features. He also testified that defendant was able at the time of the murder to distinguish right from wrong and that defendant did not suffer from a brief reactive psychosis at the time of the killings.
Drs. John Edwards, Selwyn Rose, and Donald Fidler all testified that defendant was unable to distinguish right from wrong and that defendant suffered from a reactive psychosis at the time of the killings.
Dr. Aldo Mell examined defendant in the Guilford County jail on 26 March 1986. Mell testified that defendant was probably suffering atypical psychosis and that he recommended a full psychiatric evaluation and transfer to Dorothea Dix.
The jury convicted defendant of one count of second-degree murder for the murder of Kathryn Hudson and one count of first-degree murder for the murder of Wilma Dale Hudson. The jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment on the first-degree murder conviction. The trial court imposed a mandatory life sentence for the first-degree murder and a consecutive fifty-year term for the second-degree murder.
Defendant raises numerous claims on appeal. We will address these claims seriatim.
Defendant first claims that the trial court committed reversible error in engaging in ex parte conversations that were not recorded and that took place out of the presence of defendant and his counsel.
Defendant was the first witness to testify for the defense. During the course of the lengthy direct examination, the court took its regularly scheduled afternoon recess. When court reconvened, outside the presence of defendant and the jury, the judge recounted to counsel at a recorded bench conference conversations he had had with various jurors during the recess. The following colloquy occurred involving the court, defense attorneys Manning and O'Donnell, and district attorneys Greeson and Goodman:
(A recess was taken at 3:16 p.m.)
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Montgomery
...Clause. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). We addressed this same issue recently in State v. Hudson, 331 N.C. 122, 415 S.E.2d 732 (1992). In that case, the defendant also argued that the trial court's instruction on reasonable doubt violated Cage. The trial c......
-
State v. Syriani
...thereof, even though such latter evidence would be incompetent or irrelevant had it been offered initially." State v. Hudson, 331 N.C. 122, 154, 415 S.E.2d 732, 749 (1992) (quoting State v. Albert, 303 N.C. 173, 177, 277 S.E.2d 439, 441 (1981)), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1055, 113 S.Ct. 983, 1......
-
State v. Williams
...defendant was not harmed by the violation of N.C.G.S. § 15A-1241, his due process rights were not implicated. State v. Hudson, 331 N.C. 122, 138, 415 S.E.2d 732, 740 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1055, 113 S.Ct. 983, 122 L.Ed.2d 136, reh'g denied, 507 U.S. 967, 113 S.Ct. 1404, 122 L.Ed.2d ......
-
State v. Abraham
...three Supreme Court cases for the proposition that it was error for the trial court not to honor the jury's request. State v. Hudson, 331 N.C. 122, 415 S.E.2d 732 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1055, 113 S.Ct. 983, 122 L.Ed.2d 136, reh'g denied, 507 U.S. 967, 113 S.Ct. 1404, 122 L.Ed.2d 776......