State v. Painter
| Docket Number | COA22-864 |
| Decision Date | 05 July 2023 |
| Parties | STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. SCOTT ST. JOHN PAINTER |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Heard in the Court of Appeals 6 June 2023.
Appeal by defendant from judgment entered 24 May 2021 by Judge William W. Bland in Wayne County, Nos. 16 CRS 54517-18 Superior Court.
Attorney General Joshua H. Stein, by Special Deputy Attorney General Kathryne E. Hathcock, for the State.
Vitrano Law Offices, PLLC, by Sean P. Vitrano, for defendant-appellant.
Scott St. John Painter ("defendant") appeals from the judgment entered upon his conviction for second-degree murder following a fatal car accident. On appeal, defendant argues the trial court erred in: (1) admitting his prior traffic convictions as evidence of malice under Rules 404(b) and 403; (2) denying his motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence of malice; and (3) sentencing him in the aggravating range since the evidence supporting the aggravating factor was the same evidence supporting the conviction of second-degree murder. For the following reasons, we find the trial court did not err.
On 11 October 2016, Robert Gibson Woodcock ("Mr. Woodcock"), his fiancee, Alyssa Lee Van Bourgondien ("Ms. Van Bourgondien"), and their dog, were traveling down Kelly Springs Road in his Nissan Frontier truck. The couple, who were on the way to Wilmington for their wedding, set to occur in five days, were unable to take their usual route due to road closures, and had to utilize this rural, two-lane road. There was no water on the road, it was still daytime, and the weather was clear.
As their vehicle was "approaching a curve" in the road, Mr. Woodcock saw a white Dodge truck in the wrong lane of traffic, traveling "at a very high speed" towards them head on. Although Mr. Woodcock attempted to slam on his brakes in the "split second" he had to react, he was unable to avoid the collision. Mr. Woodcock heard Ms. Van Bourgondien scream and his dog yelp, as he felt the "substantial" "force of the impact[.]"
After he caught his "breath from the force of the impact[,]" Mr. Woodcock attempted to get out of the vehicle, but his "legs were trapped under the steering column" and his door was badly damaged. Once he was able to get free, he went to check on Ms. Van Bourgondien. Ms. Van Bourgondien's side of the vehicle had taken the majority of the impact, and she was "trapped" in the vehicle, making only her upper torso visible. Ms. Van Bourgondien had "blood on her neck[,]" mouth, and forehead, "her arm was severely broken" with an open fracture, and she had no pulse. Mr. Woodcock attempted to get his first aid kit, and when he opened a door to the vehicle, his dog "fell out completely stiff" and he "knew that she had probably been killed" in the accident. The items the couple had planned to use to decorate their wedding venue and Mr. Woodcock's dress blues, which he intended to wear at the wedding, were "thrown out of the truck" by the impact and strewn "all over the road."
While Mr. Woodcock was attempting to aid Ms. Van Bourgondien, he realized the driver of the white truck, later identified as defendant, was inside the truck, attempting to leave, and on the phone, telling someone "that he had just hit someone and that he needed to leave." Mr. Woodcock noticed defendant's "speech was heavily slurred," and he sounded drunk. At no time did defendant attempt to aid Mr. Woodcock or Ms. Van Bourgondien and he never called 911 to report the accident.
Shortly after the collision, Morris Carmack, II ("Mr. Carmack"), arrived at the scene. Mr. Carmack observed Mr. Woodcock trying to get out of his vehicle, but his "door was wedged[.]" Mr. Carmack heard Mr. Woodcock yell at defendant that he had "killed her" and Mr. Carmack looked inside the vehicle and saw Ms. Van Bourgondien was not breathing. Mr. Carmack saw defendant "digging for something" in his vehicle and noticed defendant had slurred speech and was "intoxicated[.]" Defendant threatened to "kill all of [them]" and he had a revolver in a holster on his thigh.
Sheila Faulk ("Ms. Faulk") was driving down Kelly Springs Road with her husband, David Faulk ("Mr. Faulk"), on the day of the accident. After she passed defendant's truck, she looked in her rearview mirror and saw defendant's "whole" truck in the opposite lane of traffic headed towards oncoming traffic and told Mr. Faulk that defendant "was going to kill somebody." Ms. Faulk saw defendant's "white truck hit" Mr. Woodcock's vehicle. Ms. Faulk saw defendant's truck travel on the wrong side of the road for about 100-150 feet. Ms. Faulk did not know how fast defendant's truck was going, but opined that "he was going too fast, for that curve."
After witnessing the accident, Ms. and Mr. Faulk called 911 and turned around to go to the scene of the accident. When Mr. Faulk approached defendant's truck, he noticed defendant was attempting to leave so he "reached in to cut [the vehicle] off" and defendant told Mr. Faulk "to leave him alone[.]" Ms. Faulk also noticed defendant was attempting to leave the scene of the accident, and both Ms. and Mr. Faulk believed defendant was impaired.
Duplin County EMS was dispatched to the accident around 4:45 in the afternoon. Although EMS attempted to locate a heartbeat for Ms. Van Bourgondien, she was ultimately pronounced deceased at the scene. Ms. Van Bourgondien was pinned inside the vehicle, and the Jaws of Life had to be used to extricate her body from the vehicle. During the accident, Ms. Van Bourgondien suffered "a closed femur fracture [to] [her] right thigh" and head trauma. Her cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma, with the closed femur fracture being "a contributing factor[,]" as a result of the car accident.
The Mt. Olive Police Department was dispatched at 5:01 p.m. and arrived on scene three minutes later. Officer Dennis Brock ("Officer Brock") and Officer Blake Turner ("Officer Turner") were the first law enforcement officers to arrive. Officer Brock, who knew defendant "through a personal relationship with his son" and considered defendant a "second father[,]" immediately "recognized [defendant] standing on the passenger side of the truck" where the victim was when he arrived. Officer Turner noticed defendant "appeared to be talking to the passenger of the Nissan" and making "vulgar statements[,]" such as, "I'll kill every f[******] one of you[.]" Defendant then "retrieved [a pair of sweatpants that were tied up] from [his] truck and then started walking down Kelly Springs Road, away from the crash" and away from law enforcement.
Officer Brock "went and stopped [defendant] . . . so that he could not leave the scene[,]" and noticed a "very strong" odor of alcohol coming from defendant's breath, that defendant "was having difficulty walking normal[,]" and "his speech was slurred." Defendant told Officer Brock that he was "good[,]" but needed "to get the hell out of there." Officer Brock placed defendant in handcuffs because he was "appreciably impaired" and would attempt to leave if not secured. Officer Turner also noted defendant had "a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath, red and glassy eyes and slurred speech." Defendant told Officer Turner that he "had a ride on the way[,]" to "just let him go," to "let [him] go so [he] c[ould] leave already," and to "just f[******] shoot [him] already[.]"
When Officer Brock realized that the accident resulted in a fatality, he walked over to defendant, grabbed him "by the collar of his shirt[,]" and yelled at defendant that he "f[******] killed her[,]" and he "thought [they] f[******] told [him] not to do this." An "emotional" Officer Brock had to be pulled off defendant by a sergeant on scene.
At 5:19 p.m., Trooper Justin Arnette ("Trooper Arnette") with the North Carolina Highway Patrol was dispatched to assist the Mt. Olive Police Department with a traffic accident involving a fatality. While investigating the scene, Trooper Arnette determined the "area of impact" to be the lane of travel Mr. Woodcock was in, meaning that defendant was traveling "on the wrong side of the road" when the collision occurred. When he spoke with defendant, defendant admitted to having three shots of alcohol sometime before the accident. Furthermore, in the sweatpants defendant was trying to leave the scene with, there were three bottles of Crown Royal Apple, with one of the bottles "obviously missing some of it." Trooper Arnette estimated the pint was missing "a half to a third of" liquor.
Trooper Arnette noticed defendant had a "strong odor of alcohol on his breath" that became "stronger when he spoke[,]" "his eyes were red and glassy[,]" his speech was "thick[,]" and "it was obvious that he had a drunk like appearance." Trooper Arnette thought it was "obvious" that defendant was impaired. Trooper Arnette followed as an ambulance transported defendant to Mt. Olive Family Medical Practice, which "had been set up as a makeshift hospital" for triage.
Although defendant initially agreed to provide a blood sample, he revoked consent and "become irate" after the paramedic could not get a sample and poked him "a couple times[.]" Defendant began "yelling" and "threatening" to "kick [Trooper Arnette's] f[******] a[**]," so the doctor asked Trooper Arnette to leave the room so defendant would calm down. At this time defendant began emptying "the contents of his wallet looking for his lawyer's card." Thereafter, defendant was transported to Vidant Duplin hospita...
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