State v. Peterson
| Decision Date | 19 September 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. COA05-973.,COA05-973. |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Michael Iver PETERSON. |
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorneys General John G. Barnwell and William B. Crumpler, for the State.
Winston and Maher, by Thomas K. Maher, Chapel Hill, for defendant-appellant.
Smith Moore, L.L.P., by James G. Exum, Jr., Greensboro, and Law Offices of Kerstin Walker Sutton, P.L.L.C., by Kerstin Walker Sutton, Durham, for the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, amicus curiae.
Michael Peterson (defendant) appeals from a judgment entered consistent with the jury's verdict finding him guilty of first-degree murder. After a thorough review of the record, relevant law, and arguments of the parties, we hold that defendant received a trial free from prejudicial error; as such, we affirm the judgment against him.
Defendant argues that a warrant used to collect evidence from his house, specifically his computer, was constitutionally deficient and tainted the outcome of his trial. While we wholeheartedly agree the warrant in question is void of sufficient probable cause, and the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress, our review of the trial court's error supports a determination it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant also argues that evidence of prior misconduct and sexual orientation was errantly introduced to the jurors and affected their ability to render a fair decision. We determine that there is no prejudicial error in the trial court's decision to allow presentation of this evidence. Further, although defendant disputes the relevancy and admissibility of his wife's financial status, we find no error in the trial court's rulings. And finally, in a lengthy and contentious trial where both the State and defendant were ably represented, we see no prejudicial error in the State's remarks during closing statements.
On 9 December 2001, at 2:40 a.m., defendant called the City of Durham's 911 center from his residence. He stated that his wife, Kathleen Peterson (Kathleen), had fallen down the stairs. Defendant further stated that she was unconscious but was still breathing. Defendant hung up and then called back to 911 a short time later, claiming that Kathleen was not breathing. Approximately seven to eight minutes after defendant's initial 911 call, James Rose and Ron Paige — paramedics with the Durham County Emergency Medical Services — arrived at the Peterson residence. Defendant's son, Todd Peterson (Todd), arrived at the same time as the paramedics.
The Peterson house is a large estate home with an open foyer entrance. The paramedics found the front door open and noticed blood on it. Straight ahead through the front door is the large, main staircase leading to the second floor. Immediately to the left after entering, however, is a front hallway leading down to the kitchen. Off of this hallway near the kitchen is an enclosed, narrow stairwell also leading to the second floor. Upon entering the house, the paramedics observed Kathleen lying at the bottom of this stairwell. Her legs were out into the hallway and her head was just inside the encased, open doorframe where the first few steps are located. The stairwell runs parallel to the hallway, but has a few angled steps at the bottom designed to open up the staircase perpendicular to the hallway. Defendant was seen standing over Kathleen in a "semi-knees-bent position" with blood on his hands, arms, legs, and feet; he wore shorts and a t-shirt partially blood-soaked with splatter spots.
When paramedics arrived at Kathleen's body, Todd tried to pull defendant away, stating, "Dad, she's dead, the paramedics are here." Paramedics Rose and Paige quickly determined that Kathleen had no pulse and was not breathing. Defendant stated that he had gone outside to turn off the lights, came back in, and found her at the bottom of the steps. Paramedic Rose testified that there was an "enormous amount of blood involved." He saw He testified that based on his experience there was an unusual amount of blood for a fall, and the most severe injury he had seen from a fall was a broken neck. The blood under Kathleen's head had already clotted and started to harden.
Later that day, Dr. Deborah Radisch, a pathologist with the Office of the North Carolina Medical Examiner, performed an autopsy on Kathleen's body and determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma of the head. The autopsy revealed multiple contusions and abrasions on the head and neck; seven distinct lacerations on the posterior scalp; and contusions and abrasions on the arms, wrists, and hands.
Also on that day, Investigator A.H. Holland, Jr., a member of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Durham Police Department, applied for and received a search warrant to search the Peterson residence at 1810 Cedar Street, Durham, North Carolina. The warrant stated that the property to be seized included, inter alia, fingerprints, bloodstains, physical layout and measurements of the premises, documentary evidence indicating ownership, and moving pictures, video, and still pictures to preserve the nature of the crime scene. Investigator Holland's affidavit supporting probable cause included the following underlying facts:
This applicant has been a law enforcement officer for more than nineteen years. I am currently assigned to the Homicide Unit of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Durham Police Department. I have been an Investigator with the Durham Police Department since 1989. During this time I have been assigned to conduct follow-up investigations of Child Sexual Abuse, Adult Rape, Aggravated Assault and Homicide.
On December 9, 2001, 0309 hrs., I, Inv. A.H. Holland, Jr., was paged by On-Call CID Supervisor Sgt. Fran Borden in reference to a Death Investigation at 1810 Cedar St. Sgt. Borden advised that the victim, age 47, fell down a flight of stairs and there was a large amount of blood present at the scene. At 0359 hrs., this investigator arrived at 1810 Cedar St. Prior to entering the front door, I observed blood on the sidewalk that leads to the front door. Upon entering the front door, I observed blood on the inside of the door. Sgt. Terry Wilkins advised that the victim's husband had blood all over his person. I saw the victim at a distance, but did not approach. At this point, this investigator made the decision to obtain this Search Warrant.
On 10 December 2001 Investigator Holland applied for and received a second search warrant. This warrant stated the premises to be searched as defendant's residence along with four vehicles not on the first warrant. The probable cause for the second warrant simply repeated the probable cause from the affidavit for the first warrant.
On 12 December 2001 Investigator Holland applied for and received a third search warrant to search defendant's residence. That warrant stated that the property to be seized included all items from the previous warrant as well as "computers, CPUs, files, software, accessories and any and all other evidence that may be associated with this investigation." The only additional probable cause listed in Investigator Holland's application for the search warrant was the following statement: "After conferring with the District Attorney's Office and the State Medical Examiners Office, this applicant has probable cause to believe that additional evidence remains at the residence."
On 20 December 2001 defendant was indicted on the charge of first-degree murder for the death of Kathleen. Before trial, the court denied defendant's motion to suppress all evidence seized as a result of the 9, 10, and 12 December 2001 search warrants.
At trial, the State's evidence relative to motive tended to show that Kathleen had worked at Nortel Networks. Helen Prislinger, a process analyst and project manager for Nortel Networks, reported directly to Kathleen. Ms. Prislinger testified that Kathleen telephoned her on 8 December 2001, at 11:08 p.m. Ms. Prislinger informed Kathleen that she had documents to e-mail her for a meeting the coming Sunday in Canada. Kathleen asked someone in the room for an e-mail address and gave it to Ms. Prislinger.
Todd Markley, a lead consultant at CompuSleuth which performs forensic processing and investigation, testified as an expert in forensic computer examination. He examined a disk drive from defendant's computer and identified an e-mail sent 8 December 2001 at 11:53 p.m. from Ms. Prislinger. He could not determine if the e-mail had been read, but was "pretty confident" that the attached documents were not extracted. Mr. Markley also testified that he recovered a large volume of pictures of sexual activity that were on the computer as a result of web browsing. The State introduced numerous e-mails between defendant and Brent "Brad" Wolgamott, a male escort. In these e-mails with Mr. Wolgamott, defendant attempted to set a time to "hook up" with Mr. Wolgamott and also indicated that defendant understood he would be paying for sexual services. The State further introduced an e-mail dated 23 February 2001 from Dirk Yates, an operator of a web service dealing in homosexual pornography.
The State also introduced numerous papers that were collected by the police from defendant's den or study area. This paperwork included naked photographs of Mr. Wolgamott, escort reviews of Mr. Wolgamott, and printouts of e-mails between defendant and Mr....
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