State v. Murphy
| Decision Date | 09 March 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 325A87,325A87 |
| Citation | 365 S.E.2d 615,321 N.C. 738 |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Daniel Cornelius MURPHY. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Lacy H. Thornburg, Atty. Gen. by Charles M. Hensey, Sp. Deputy Atty. Gen., Wilmington, for State.
Arnold Smith, Wilmington, for defendant appellant.
In his first assignment of error, defendant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to sequester the prospective jurors during the selection of the jury. Defendant argues that the denial of this motion prejudiced him because of certain remarks by prospective jurors, to wit, by prospective juror number four who said, "but I believe [the death penalty] has some basis both in historical fact and in the Bible references;" by prospective juror number ten who said, "I agree exactly with what he said, again, the Biblical reference;" and by prospective juror number seven who said, "If someone has been convicted of First Degree Murder and found guilty, a life imprisonment sentence does not mean that they will be in there for life and they are capable of committing this crime again."
N.C.G.S. § 15A-1214(j) provides: This statute gives neither party an absolute right to such a procedure. "The decision of whether to grant sequestration and individual voir dire of prospective jurors rests in the sound discretion of the trial court, and its ruling will not be disturbed absent a showing of an abuse of discretion." State v. Barts, 316 N.C. 666, 678-9, 343 S.E.2d 828, 837 (1986). Defendant has not shown, nor can we find, any abuse of discretion by the trial court in the present case. It was defense counsel's question that elicited the remark by prospective juror number seven about life imprisonment. This prospective juror and prospective jurors four and ten were excused and never sat on the case. Furthermore, since defendant did receive a life sentence, these remarks could not have been prejudicial to him. Defendant's assignment of error has no merit.
Defendant next contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to limit the State's photographic evidence of the victim's body. This evidence included four photographs depicting all or part of the victim's body, and a videotape of the crime scene which included the...
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State v. Ward
...a time." N.C.G.S. § 15A-1214(j) (1988). "This statute gives neither party an absolute right to such a procedure." State v. Murphy, 321 N.C. 738, 740, 365 S.E.2d 615, 617 (1988). Instead, whether to grant individual voir dire is within the sound discretion of the trial court and its ruling w......
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State v. Williams
...as they are not aimed solely at arousing the passions of the jury, i.e., if they have some probative value. See, e.g., State v. Murphy, 321 N.C. 738, 365 S.E.2d 615 (1988), State v. Holden, 321 N.C. 125, 362 S.E.2d 513 (1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1061, 108 S.Ct. 2835, 100 L.Ed.2d 935 (19......
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...a witness to illustrate his testimony and an excessive number are not used solely to arouse the passions of the jury. State v. Murphy, 321 N.C. 738, 365 S.E.2d 615 (1988). In the present case, the medical examiner, Dr. Deborah Radisch, utilized a photograph showing the victim's neck and thr......