State v. Robbs, No. COA08-621 (N.C. App. 12/2/2008)
| Decision Date | 02 December 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. COA08-621,COA08-621 |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. STEVEN MICHAEL ROBBS. |
Office of the Appellate Defender, by Assistant Appellate Defender Kristen L. Todd, for Defendant.
On 3 January 2002, Defendant pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to: (1) second-degree murder; (2) assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury; (3) driving while impaired (DWI); (4) driving while license revoked; (5) driving a motor vehicle with an unsealed alcoholic beverage in the passenger area; (6) operating a vehicle with no insurance; (7) displaying a fictitious, cancelled, revoked, suspended, or altered registration card, certificate of title, or registration; (8) operating a motor vehicle which was not registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles; and (9) operating a motor vehicle in an improper lane. The sentencing hearing was held on 17 January 2002, and the following facts were established through the testimony of two law enforcement officers.
On the evening of 24 July 2001 Defendant, the driver of a pickup truck, entered an exit ramp on Interstate 40 near Asheville traveling east in a westbound lane. On the exit ramp, Defendant passed several signs indicating that he was going the wrong way, but he continued traveling on Interstate 40 for approximately 812 feet before striking a Ford Escort head-on. The passenger in the Escort suffered broken bones in his neck, leg, and hand, and Defendant suffered lacerations on his nose and a concussion. The driver of the Escort died at the scene of the accident. Trooper Gene Williamson testified that, three-and-a-half hours after the accident, Defendant was not understandable, had slurred speech, was confused, smelled of alcohol, was combative, and could not remember anything before the accident. A blood sample was taken three hours after the accident and revealed that Defendant's blood alcohol content was .213. Trooper Williamson later spoke with defendant at the jail. Defendant told Trooper Williamson that he lived in Maiden and was going to Gastonia. Defendant drank three six-ounce bottles of Crown Royal as he drove, and had also taken some medication for depression that day. The only thing Defendant could remember about the accident was that he was trying to find Interstate 77 and thought "he could go that way."
At sentencing, the trial court found one aggravating factor, that Defendant "knowingly created a great risk of death to morethan one...
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