State v. Kandies, No. 197A94

• Docket Nº: No. 197A94
• Citation: 342 N.C. 419, 467 S.E.2d 67
• Case Date: February 09, 1996
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina

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467 S.E.2d 67 342 N.C. 419 STATE of North Carolina
v.
Jeffrey Clayton KANDIES. No. 197A94. Supreme Court of North Carolina. Feb. 9, 1996.

Michael F. Easley, Attorney General by William B. Crumpler, Assistant Attorney General, for the State.

J. Kirk Osborn, Chapel Hill, for defendant-appellant.

WHICHARD, Justice.

Defendant was tried capitally for the first-degree murder and first-degree rape of Natalie Lynn Osborne, the four-year-old daughter of defendant's fiancee. The jury found defendant guilty on both charges and recommended a sentence of death for the first-degree murder. The trial court sentenced accordingly on the murder charge and sentenced defendant to life imprisonment for the rape, to begin at the expiration of the murder sentence. We hold that defendant received a fair trial and capital sentencing proceeding, free of prejudicial error, and that the sentence of death is not disproportionate.

Patricia Craven lived in Asheboro with her four-year-old daughter, Natalie, and her sons, Zachary and Jeremy, ages six and one, respectively. Defendant was Craven's fiance and Jeremy's father. Although defendant had a separate residence approximately ten miles away in Randleman, he often stayed with Craven at her apartment in Asheboro.

On Easter Monday, 20 April 1992, defendant and Craven disciplined Natalie for eating Zachary's Easter candy by requiring her to stay in her room for the remainder of the day. Craven saw Natalie periodically throughout the day, but last saw her alive between 4:00 and 4:30 p.m. Around 4:45 p.m., defendant left the apartment to go to the grocery store. He did not return until 7:30 that evening. He attributed his tardiness to helping an elderly couple who had mechanical problems with their Winnebago. Once home, defendant began fixing a pizza for the children. When it was ready, he told Zachary to call for Natalie. When Zachary did not find Natalie in her bedroom, defendant

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and Craven began looking for her. One neighbor told Craven that he had noticed Natalie outside playing sometime that afternoon, but no [342 N.C. 431] one recalled seeing her since that time. After a while, defendant called the Asheboro Police Department to report Natalie missing. An extensive search for her was conducted that night, but without success.

Earlier that evening, around 7:00 p.m., defendant entered the Tank and Tummy, a small convenience store located about one-half mile from the Craven residence. Carolyn Wood, the clerk, testified that at that time, defendant was complaining about his hand hurting. He told Wood that he had gotten into a fight with his brother. Wood noticed that the hand was beginning to swell and suggested that defendant let a medical technician who happened to be in the store look at his hand to see if it was broken. Defendant declined and immediately left the store.

Later that evening, close to midnight, defendant returned to the store to ask if Wood had seen Natalie. He showed Wood a picture of Natalie and told her to call the police if she saw the little girl. At the time, Wood observed black garbage bags in the back of defendant's truck.

On Tuesday, 21 April 1992, defendant agreed to accompany officers to his residence in Randleman to look for Natalie. The police surmised that perhaps Craven and defendant had hidden Natalie at the Randleman residence because Craven had been in a custody dispute over Natalie with her former husband, Ed Osborne. The police looked through the house but did not find Natalie.

On Wednesday, 22 April, Craven and defendant went to the Asheboro Police Department for questioning. Craven was questioned and released around 7:30 p.m., while defendant remained at the station for further interrogation. Defendant was finally taken home by Sergeant Rickey Wilson about 1:00 a.m. Upon defendant's return to the apartment, Craven asked him if he knew anything about what happened to Natalie. Defendant responded by telling Craven that he had hit Natalie with his truck when he was leaving to go to the grocery store on Easter Monday. Natalie was outside rather than in her room, and defendant did not see her in time to stop. Defendant said he panicked because he had been drinking. He picked Natalie up and took her to the house in Randleman to clean her off and see how badly she was hurt. During the drive to Randleman, defendant said that Natalie was making gurgling noises and that her head did not look right. After trying to clean her up, defendant concealed Natalie and her clothes in [342 N.C. 432] a garbage bag and put the bag in a bedroom closet. Defendant then got in his truck and took his time returning to Asheboro.

Craven called the police immediately upon hearing defendant's story. Defendant was taken to the Asheboro Police Department, where Sergeant Wilson read him his Miranda rights and then interviewed him. Defendant told Sergeant Wilson what he had told Craven. Shortly after giving a statement to Sergeant Wilson, defendant gave a statement to Lieutenant Lanny McIver. This statement was more detailed but in substance was the same as that given to Sergeant Wilson. Defendant gave details as to the location of Natalie's body and signed consent to search forms for the Randleman house.

The police searched the Randleman residence and found Natalie's body in a plastic bag, buried under a pile of clothes and carpet pieces in a bedroom closet. A bloody playsuit and a bloody pair of panties, both turned inside out, were also found in the bag. The process of recovering the body was videotaped, and photographs of the crime scene were taken.

Dr. Thomas Clark, a forensic pathologist, performed an autopsy on the body shortly after it was recovered. He found two lacerations to the top of the head which he characterized as blunt-force injuries. He also found lacerations on the right side of the head and abrasions on the left side of the head and on the front of the neck; there was evidence the skull had been fractured. There were multiple bruises on the back and both sides; the bruises were small and rounded and had a distribution and shape suggestive of an adult hand. Clark also

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found injuries to the pelvic region. There were bruises on both sides of the vagina, which was full of blood. The opening of the vagina was patulous, and there was a laceration a half-inch wide and an inch long on the back wall of the vagina. Clark opined that these injuries were indicative of sexual assault and that they had occurred at or about the time of death.

That evening, after the results of the autopsy had been revealed, Lieutenant McIver again interrogated defendant. When McIver mentioned the possibility of sexual assault, defendant stated, "I told Pat you were going to say I did something like that to Natalie." Thereafter, in his statement, defendant denied doing anything sexual to Natalie. He remembered taking Natalie to his house, putting her in the bathtub, and taking off her clothes to see how badly she was hurt. At that time Natalie was bleeding extensively but appeared to be alive [342 N.C. 433] and moving. Defendant stated that he could not handle the situation and may have strangled Natalie.

A rape suspect collection kit test was completed on defendant. The kit included samples of head and pubic hair, saliva, and blood, and was submitted to the SBI crime lab for examination. Agent Lucy Milks, an SBI forensic serologist, performed a luminal and blood test on the Randleman residence and on defendant's truck. At the Randleman residence, she found the presence of blood on the bathroom floor and tub; the bedroom floor; the laundry room floor; the kitchen floor; and the floor between the bedroom, bathroom, and den. She also found a small amount of blood on the interior of the passenger door of defendant's truck.

Defendant presented no evidence during the guilt-innocence phase. During the sentencing phase, defendant presented evidence through Dr. Brian Glover, a clinical psychologist, who testified as an expert in substance abuse treatment. Glover testified that by age seventeen, defendant was using alcohol and marijuana on a daily basis and that for the several years preceding this offense, defendant was drinking between twelve and twenty-four beers per day. It was Glover's opinion that defendant had severe alcohol dependence and that on the day of the offense, defendant was suffering from acute intoxication which affected his judgment and ability to control his emotions. Glover also opined that on 20 April 1992, defendant was under a mental disorder and that his ability to appreciate the criminality of his actions was impaired.

The jury found defendant guilty of first-degree murder based on both the felony murder rule and on premeditation and deliberation. It also found him guilty of first-degree rape. At the capital sentencing proceeding, the jury found as aggravating circumstances that the murder was committed while defendant was engaged in the commission of first-degree rape and that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. The jury found three of the five proposed statutory mitigating circumstances and eighteen of the twenty-eight nonstatutory mitigating circumstances submitted. It unanimously recommended a sentence of death, which the trial court accordingly imposed.

JURY SELECTION ISSUES

Defendant first argues that the prosecutor violated his state and federal constitutional rights by peremptorily challenging prospective [342 N.C. 434] jurors solely on the basis of their race. Article I, Section 26 of the Constitution of North Carolina prohibits such use of peremptory challenges. State v. Glenn, 333 N.C. 296, 301, 425 S.E.2d 688, 692 (1993). The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution also prohibits such discrimination. Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986).

In Batson the United States Supreme Court set out a three-pronged process to...