State v. Mlo

• Decision Date: 28 January 1994
• Docket Number: No. 177A93,177A93
• Citation: 440 S.E.2d 98,335 N.C. 353
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Ysut MLO.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Page 98

440 S.E.2d 98

335 N.C. 353

STATE of North Carolina v. Ysut MLO.

No. 177A93.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Jan. 28, 1994.

Appeal as of right pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(a) from a judgment imposing a sentence of life imprisonment entered by Fulton, J., at the 24 August 1992 Criminal Session of Superior Court, Mecklenburg County, upon a jury verdict of guilty of first-degree murder. Heard in the Supreme Court 15 October 1993.

Michael F. Easley, Atty. Gen. by Jane R. Garvey, Asst. Atty. Gen., Raleigh, for the State.

Isabel Scott Day, Public Defender by Julie Ramseur Lewis, Asst. Public Defender, Charlotte, for defendant-appellant.

MEYER, Justice.

On 23 March 1992, a Mecklenburg County grand jury indicted defendant for the murder of Yhue Kbuor. Defendant was tried noncapitally in the Superior Court, Mecklenburg County, in August 1992 and was found guilty. Judge Shirley L. Fulton thereafter imposed the mandatory life sentence.

The evidence presented by the State at trial tended to show the following: On Thursday, 14 November 1991, a body later identified as that of Yhue Kbuor was found by a state wildlife officer in a pond located in a wooded area off Reedy Creek Road in Wake County. There were no dwellings in the area, and the pond was approximately five to six miles from where defendant once worked as a laborer. The body had been wrapped in a blanket that had become snagged on a tree root and was only partially submerged. Drag marks led down a steep embankment to the body.

The victim had sustained gunshot wounds all over his body. During the autopsy, a total of thirty-three wounds were discovered, although some may have been multiple wounds from a single bullet passing through the body. One wound to the upper abdomen passed upward into the heart and lung. A second wound extended from underneath the chin into the face and brain. The pathologist testified that these two wounds were the only wounds that caused significant internal injury. Eleven projectiles, which appeared to be .22-caliber bullets, were recovered from the body.

A search of the area in which the body was found disclosed several garbage bags roughly one hundred feet from the body. These bags contained various items, including documents that included what was later discovered to be the victim's name and his Charlotte, North Carolina, address. The bags also contained bloody clothing and nineteen expended .22-caliber shell casings. There were several sets of tire tracks in the area. Tire casts were made of some tracks but not all of them.

Members of the Wake County Sheriff's Department contacted and met with members of the Charlotte Police Department on Friday, 15 November 1991. Together they went to the address listed on a bank deposit slip found near the body. They took with them a Polaroid photograph of the deceased victim. The address listed, 2900 # 3 Seymour Drive, was a duplex located in North Charlotte. After knocking on the door and getting no answer, the officers knocked on the door of a neighbor. A woman answered and identified the photograph as that of Yhue Kbuor and indicated that he lived in apartment # 3. When the officers attempted once again to get an answer at apartment # 3, Detective Roseman of the Charlotte Police Department noticed what appeared to be a bloodstain on the lower part of the screen door. At that point, he requested that a uniformed officer secure the premises while he returned to the law enforcement center to obtain a warrant to enter the apartment. Prior to their return, an Oriental man drove a beige-colored Oldsmobile into the driveway and attempted to gain access to the apartment. The officer stationed there told the individual that he could not go inside the apartment, and the individual got back into the car and drove away.

Upon returning with a warrant, law enforcement officers conducted a search of the apartment. A mattress in the left rear bedroom of the apartment had bullet holes in it, and two spent .22-caliber projectiles were found: one inside the mattress and one in the bottom drawer of a dresser in the bedroom. One live round was found under the bed, and spent shell casings were found under the bed and near the bathroom doorway. Later analysis revealed that the shell casings found in Wake County and the shell casings found in the apartment were from the same manufacturer and had been fired by the same weapon.

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on Saturday, 16 November 1991, Detective Roseman received a call from the Charlotte Police Department duty officer informing him that defendant, who at this time was a "possible suspect," was at his place of employment and was driving the victim's car, a beige Oldsmobile. Upon arrival at defendant's place of employment, Lida Manufacturing Company, Detective Roseman located the victim's car. An exterior inspection revealed red spots, which appeared to be blood, on the bumper. Roseman knocked on the door of the business and asked to speak to defendant. When defendant appeared, Detective Rosemen conducted a "pat search" of defendant and removed from defendant's pocket what was later learned to be the victim's watch. Upon questioning, defendant stated that he was driving the victim's car because the victim was sick. At the car, Roseman asked defendant if he knew anything about the stain on the bumper, and defendant initially denied knowing anything about it. Later, defendant stated that it came from some meat that the victim had purchased and placed in the trunk of the car.

Detective Roseman then looked in the trunk of the car and noticed what appeared to be blood on a plastic oil container. Roseman then closed the trunk, and the car was towed to the law enforcement center where a more thorough search was conducted. The search produced several samples of human blood collected from the trunk of the car. Some samples were too small or had deteriorated too badly for detailed examination, but stains from the spare tire cover panel and the trunk carpet were consistent with the victim's blood type. There were no inconsistent samples.

After inspecting the trunk of the car, Roseman asked defendant to accompany him to the law enforcement center to answer questions. Because Roseman anticipated potential language difficulties, an interpreter was summoned. At this time, Roseman believed that defendant spoke Vietnamese, but it was later learned that defendant, a native of the Montagnard region of Vietnam, spoke Dega as well as some English and Vietnamese.

During the interview, defendant appeared to understand what was being asked of him and for the most part responded in English without assistance from the interpreter.

During this interview, defendant completed a waiver of rights form. He stated that he was living with the victim at 2900 # 3 Seymour Drive and that the victim had loaned him his automobile because he (the victim) was sick. Defendant stated that he had been in exclusive possession of the automobile since the time the victim loaned it to him. He indicated that the victim did not like defendant's girlfriend and that the victim had told him that if he continued to bring her to the apartment, defendant would have to move.

Defendant admitted once owning a rifle that he had purchased from a gun shop but stated that the rifle had been lost when his car was stolen the previous September. No police report concerning the theft of the rifle had been filed.

Records from the Hyatt Gun Shop in Charlotte indicated that defendant had purchased a .22-caliber automatic rifle from there in May 1991.

The victim's best friend in America, Yjuen Eban, testified that he had helped the victim purchase the automobile in question, a 1984 Oldsmobile. The victim had provided the purchase money, but Eban had registered the car and insured it in his own name because the victim did not have a driver's license. This witness lived with the victim for some six months after the car was purchased and testified that he had never known the victim to loan the car to anyone. This witness also testified that although he had known defendant for many years, he had never known him to wear a watch. He further testified that a watch found in defendant's possession on 16 November 1991 had belonged to the victim.

During testimony given by the controller for Lida Manufacturing, defendant's time card was introduced into evidence. This time card showed that during the week of the killing, defendant reported to work only one time--late Friday evening just a few hours before he was first contacted by Detective Roseman.

Defendant's girlfriend, Mary Ann Mirelez, testified that defendant had come to see her in her motel room the evening of Thursday, 14 November 1991, the same day the body was discovered in Wake County. Defendant was driving the victim's car. He asked her to accompany him to another motel and she did. Defendant then left Mirelez at this motel, stating that he needed to go pick up his paycheck. Defendant returned after midnight. Defendant and Mirelez then went to defendant's home. Mirelez testified that the door to the victim's bedroom was closed and that defendant gave her varying accounts of the victim's whereabouts, saying first that he was sick and later that he had gone out of town. After staying at this location for a short time, defendant dropped Mirelez off back at her motel room and departed. He returned later that day around noon, again driving the victim's car. He and Mirelez drove to a laundromat to wash clothes; defendant cashed his check at a bank and again dropped Mirelez off at her motel.

Defendant returned again at around 3:00 p.m., still driving the victim's car. He then told Mirelez that the police were at his apartment.

Mirelez also testified that defendant had once shown her a gun. The description of the gun by Mirelez matched the general description given by the salesperson from the Hyatt Gun Shop.

Another witness, Kpoh Cilbiet, testified that he...