State v. Lentz, 417
| Decision Date | 19 April 1967 |
| Docket Number | No. 417,417 |
| Citation | 153 S.E.2d 864,270 N.C. 122 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Charlie LENTZ and Willie Leon Williams. |
Randolph & Drum, by Clyde C. Randolph, Jr., Winston-Salem, for defendant appellant Charlie Lentz.
Booker & Sapp, by Robert H. Sapp, Winston-Salem, for the defendant appellant Willie Leon Williams.
T. W. Bruton, Atty. Gen., and Harry W. McGalliard, Deputy Atty. Gen., for the State.
The defendants have presented one case on appeal, but each has filed a separate brief.
The case largely depends upon the identity of the persons who robbed Mrs. Mize. All of the elements of armed robbery are present, and the only seriously contested issue was the question 'who did it?' Mrs. Mize, Mabelline Barringer and Herman Stimpson identified the defendants, while the defendant Lentz offered as an alibi that he was at the home of Victoria Carethers at the time, while Mary Rose Young and her two children testified that the defendant Williams was at her home at the time of the robbery.
Even though a defendant offers evidence of an alibi, he is not required to prove it. The burden is still cast upon the State to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Minton, 234 N.C. 716, 68 S.E.2d 844, 31 A.L.R.2d 682; State v. Bridgers, 233 N.C. 577, 64 S.E.2d 867; State v. Sheffield, 206 N.C. 374, 174 S.E. 105.
Lentz excepts to the admonishment of the Court that he answer the questions being propounded to James Carethers. The Court rather emphatically instructed the witness Carethers not to argue with the solicitor but to answer his questions. The Court has the right and the duty to require witnesses to answer the questions propounded, and in so doing there was no error. 88 C.J.S. Trial § 49(3).
Lentz also excepts to the admission of photographs of Mrs. Mize which showed the bruises and injury on her face. They were offered to illustrate the testimony of Mrs. Mize and were properly admitted for this purpose.
The defendant particularly complains that the picture showed the condition a week or so after the event rather than at the time of it. This point was made clear to the jury, and the Court was correct in its ruling. A witness may use a photograph to illustrate his testimony and make it more intelligible to the court and jury. Simpson v. American Oil Co., 219 N.C. 595, 14 S.E.2d 638. 'It will not necessarily be excluded because * * * it was not made at the time of the event to which the testimony relates.' Stansbury, N.C. Evidence, 2d Ed. § 34.
The defendant Lentz further excepts to the evidence of Mrs. Mize that she had told Mabelline Barringer that she was sure she was right in identifying Lentz. This feature of Mrs. Mize's testimony was the subject of examination and of cross examination several times. It must be recalled that the witness was testifying as to what she had said rather than attempting to corroborate somebody else as to what the other person had said. There is a distinction, since the State may lay the foundation for corroborating evidence in this manner even though the latter is not offered or is excluded because it does not corroborate. State v. Journegan, 185 N.C. 700, 117 S.E. 27.
The State offered the testimony of Officer E. G. Cook that Lentz told him that he went to his brother's home about 8:00 o'clock; that a party was going on; that he got intoxicated and laid on the sofa and slept there. This was offered to contradict the evidence offered for Lentz that he was at the Carethers' home at the time of the robbery. The exception is based upon the claim that there was no finding by the court that Lentz's statement was voluntary. However, Officer Cook had previously testified that when he first talked with Lentz and Williams he had advised...
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State v. Duvall
...by the witness, they need not be an exact reproduction, nor must they have been made at the time the event occurred. See State v. Lentz, 270 N.C. 122, 153 S.E.2d 864, cert. denied, 389 U.S. 866, 88 S.Ct. 133, 19 L.Ed.2d 139 (1967). Here, the photograph was relevant in establishing the ident......
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State v. Atkinson, 22
...body at some time after the homicide occurred does not, of itself, make the photograph incompetent. State v. Hill, supra; State v. Lentz, 270 N.C. 122, 153 S.E.2d 864; State v. Porth, supra; Stansbury, North Carolina Evidence, 2d Ed., § The photographs in question, meeting the test of relev......
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State v. Yoes, 659
...court to instruct the jury concerning any lesser offense, included within the offense charged in the bills of indictment. State v. Lentz, 270 N.C. 122, 153 S.E.2d 864; State v. Jones, 249 N.C. 134, 105 S.E.2d 513; State v. Brown, 227 N.C. 383, 42 S.E.2d 402; State v. Jackson, 199 N.C. 321, ......
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State v. Chance
...and material, the fact that it is gory or gruesome will not alone render it inadmissible. State v. Atkinson, supra; State v. Lentz, 270 N.C. 122, 153 S.E.2d 864; State v. Porth, 269 N.C. 329, 153 S.E.2d 10; State v. Gardner, supra. The photographs in this case were used by the physicians to......