State v. Hyde

• Decision Date: 16 June 2000
• Docket Number: No. 529A98.,529A98.
• Citation: 530 S.E.2d 281,352 N.C. 37
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Johnny Wayne HYDE.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

530 S.E.2d 281

352 N.C. 37

STATE of North Carolina v. Johnny Wayne HYDE.

No. 529A98.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

June 16, 2000.

Michael F. Easley, Attorney General, by William N. Farrell, Jr., Senior Deputy Attorney General, for the State.

Elizabeth G. McCrodden, Raleigh, for defendant-appellant.

PARKER, Justice.

Defendant Johnny Wayne Hyde was indicted for one count each of first-degree murder; first-degree burglary; robbery with a dangerous weapon; and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and robbery with a dangerous weapon. He was tried for first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary at the 6 July 1998 Criminal Session of Superior Court, Onslow County. Defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder on the basis of premeditation and deliberation and under the felony-murder rule, first-degree burglary, and conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary; he was found not guilty of robbery with a dangerous weapon. Upon the jury's recommendation following a capital sentencing proceeding, the trial court, on 23 July 1998, sentenced defendant to death for the murder; the trial court also sentenced defendant to consecutive terms of 77 to 102 months' imprisonment for first-degree burglary and 29 to 44 months' imprisonment for conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary.

Based on defendant's statement to Onslow County Sheriff's Detective W. Len Condry and Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown, the State's evidence tended to show that on the night of 1 August 1996, defendant was drinking with James Blake and Joel Coleman at a shed next to defendant's house. Defendant heard Blake and Coleman discussing where they could obtain other drugs since the blue pills that they were ingesting were not intoxicating enough. Blake and Coleman mentioned that Leslie Egbert Howard, the victim, always had drugs in his residence. Defendant then listened as Blake and Coleman planned the break-in of the victim's mobile home; the victim was considered an easy target since he was always alone. Sometime after midnight, Blake and Coleman asked defendant for his assistance in breaking into the victim's residence to steal "weed." Defendant agreed, and they gathered several items from defendant's shed. Blake and Coleman dressed in camouflage-style coats, gloves, and toboggans. Defendant carried a knife and a hand saw, while Blake carried an ax head and a pipe.

Defendant, Blake, and Coleman then walked to the victim's mobile home. Blake used the ax head and pipe to pry open the front door. Defendant led the way down the hallway to the victim's bedroom and found the victim sitting up in the bed. The victim then lunged at defendant, and defendant stabbed the victim several times with the knife. When the victim fell to his knees, either Blake or Coleman hit the victim in the back of the head with the pipe. The victim then fell to the floor on his back. Defendant stabbed the victim in the side and in the back with a drill bit from the shed. Defendant then began cutting the victim's throat with the hand saw until the sight of blood and the foul smell became nauseating. Sheriff Brown asked defendant about his intention when he used the saw. Defendant replied, "I guess to kill him. I guess we thought he would tell the next day if we didn't after all we did." Defendant further stated, "I went over there that night just to be the muscle to help them get the herb. I had no intention of killing [the victim] when we went over there." Coleman resumed cutting the victim's throat for about three minutes while Blake was in the living room keeping a lookout. Someone then yelled that a car was approaching, and then all three men ran from the victim's mobile home back to defendant's shed. Blake set fire to all the weapons in a barrel to "burn off the blood" and then placed them in a trash receptacle to be picked up the next day.

When defendant returned to his residence, his sister saw that defendant was covered in blood and asked him what had happened. Defendant told his sister that he thought that he and the others "had just killed [the victim]." Defendant's sister assisted defendant in washing his bloody clothing. All the clothing came clean except for a small spot of blood on the T-shirt he had worn.

On 2 August 1996 the victim's father discovered the victim's body. Shortly thereafter members of the Onslow County Sheriff's Department and the Onslow County Emergency Medical Services arrived. An emergency medical technician determined that the victim was deceased. The cause of death was a combination of multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen, blunt trauma to the head, and massive lacerations to the neck. None of the weapons used to kill the victim were recovered at the murder scene.

Additional facts will be presented as needed to discuss specific issues.

On appeal to this Court, defendant brings forward sixteen assignments of error. For the reasons stated herein, we conclude that defendant's trial and capital sentencing proceeding were free of error and that the death sentence is not disproportionate.

PRETRIAL ISSUES

In his first assignment of error, defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for sequestration and segregation of the State's witnesses during motion hearings. In his motion defendant alleged "[t]hat a collective gathering of the State's witnesses during the motion hearings may well lead to a loss of individual recollection and the substitution of a `mass consensus' recollection when the witnesses are actually called upon to testify." Defendant argues that the trial court's ruling allowing witnesses to hear the testimony of one another on the same subject matter undermined his ability to effectively cross-examine those witnesses in violation of both the North Carolina and the United States Constitutions. We disagree.

"A ruling on a motion to sequester witnesses rests within the sound discretion of the trial court, and the court's denial of the motion will not be disturbed in the absence of a showing that the ruling was so arbitrary that it could not have been the result of a reasoned decision." State v. Call, 349 N.C. 382, 400, 508 S.E.2d 496, 507-08 (1998). In this case, defendant has failed to show any abuse of discretion in the trial court's ruling. Moreover, although defendant claims that the denial of his motion to sequester violated several of his federal and state constitutional rights, he made no constitutional claims at trial. "Constitutional questions not raised and ruled upon at trial shall not ordinarily be considered on appeal." Id., 508 S.E.2d at 508. Accordingly, we overrule this assignment of error.

In his next assignment of error, defendant contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress and to exclude from evidence defendant's inculpatory statements made to Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown, Onslow County Sheriff's Detective Len Condry, and Onslow County Sheriff's Detective Captain Keith Bryan on 1 November 1996. Defendant contends that the statements were involuntary since they were improperly obtained as a direct result of promises and threats made by the law enforcement officers. We disagree.

At the voir dire on defendant's motion, at which defendant testified, the trial court made certain findings of fact, which we summarize: On 1 November 1996 at 3:30 p.m. in an interview room of the Onslow County Sheriff's Department, Detective Condry advised defendant of his rights. Defendant waived his rights orally and in writing. Defendant remained in the locked interview room for approximately one hour while Detective Condry was interviewing another suspect. Defendant knocked on the door in order to go to the rest room, and Captain Bryan escorted defendant to the rest room and gave defendant access to a water fountain. While waiting back at the interview room, Captain Bryan told defendant that "if the defendant was asked any questions, it would be best if the defendant told the truth because the truth would come out anyway and it would take a load off of him." Captain Bryan never made any promises or threatened defendant.

Detective Condry moved defendant from the interview room down the hallway to the conference room. Before starting the examination, Detective Condry readvised defendant of his rights; and defendant agreed to talk with the officers. Defendant appeared coherent and did not appear to be impaired from alcohol or drugs. After initially denying any involvement in the murder, defendant admitted his participation in the murder. During the questioning, neither Detective Condry nor Sheriff Brown made any promises, threats, or suggestions of violence to defendant in order to induce him to make a statement. Defendant stated that a shirt he had worn when he committed the murder was located at his residence, and he gave the police permission to retrieve the shirt. Defendant also made a drawing of two of the murder weapons. The interview ended at approximately 6:30 p.m. Around 7:00 p.m. defendant rode with Detective Condry and Detective Frank Terwiliger to his residence to retrieve his shirt and was allowed to visit his mother, who lived at the residence. After leaving defendant's residence, the officers purchased food for defendant. The officers made no promises, threats, or suggestions of violence to defendant in order to persuade defendant to obtain the shirt. On 3 November 1996 during the booking of defendant, defendant "spontaneously and voluntarily told Detective Condry that he not only deserved the death penalty, but that he also wanted the death penalty."

Based upon its findings of fact, the trial court concluded that defendant's statements had been made after "defendant, on two occasions, freely, knowingly, intelligently, understandingly, and voluntarily waived his Miranda Rights." The trial court further concluded that none of defendant's...