State v. Rose

• Decision Date: 30 December 1994
• Docket Number: No. 32A92,32A92
• Citation: 451 S.E.2d 211,339 N.C. 172
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Clinton Ray ROSE aka Wayne Raymond Grice.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Page 211

451 S.E.2d 211

339 N.C. 172

STATE of North Carolina v. Clinton Ray ROSE aka Wayne Raymond Grice.

No. 32A92.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Dec. 30, 1994.

Michael F. Easley, Atty. Gen. by John H. Watters, Sp. Deputy Atty. Gen., for State.

Burton Craige, for defendant-appellant.

WHICHARD, Justice.

Defendant was convicted of the first-degree, premeditated and deliberated murders of Richard Dean Connor and Larry Dale Connor. Following a sentencing proceeding pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000, the jury recommended, and the trial court entered, a sentence of death for each murder. Defendant was also convicted of the armed robbery of each victim and sentenced to a forty-year term of imprisonment for each robbery. We conclude that the trial was free from prejudicial error, and that the death sentences are not disproportionate.

On 23 April 1990 defendant, Clinton Ray Rose, escaped from a minimum security prison in Alabama. Sometime in May Allen Wagner saw him on the Mayo River off Anglin Mill Road in Rockingham County where defendant had set up a campsite. Wagner talked to defendant on one occasion, and defendant introduced himself as Wayne Grice. Defendant also met Steve Harvey and John Nance while camping on the river.

While camping defendant would go regularly to Dalton's Market, a mile or a mile and a half from the campsite, to buy a cookie and a Pepsi. On 10 June 1990 someone broke into Dalton's; beer, money, and canned foods were stolen. Defendant did not return to Dalton's following the robbery.

On 22 June 1990, while David Stanley's truck was parked near the river, his pistol was stolen from the truck. On 22 June 1990, while Steve Harvey was at the river, he saw defendant and talked to him for a few minutes around dusk. The two men began walking on Anglin Mill Road. During the walk Harvey passed the tents and truck of the victims, Larry and Richard Connor. Defendant wanted to see if the victims would give him some beer; Harvey did not go with defendant into the victims' campsite.

Allen Wagner saw defendant early in the morning on 24 June 1990. Defendant was carrying a camera, was dressed better than normally, and had several watches and a Browning automatic .22-caliber pistol with him. He also showed Wagner money he had in his billfold. Later that day John Nance saw defendant at the river. Defendant was carrying a .22-caliber pistol and appeared nervous. Defendant began talking to Nance and to Jerry Lester, Billy Anders and Patty Best, who were with Nance. Lester testified that defendant had the pistol out and was waving it around, stating that "he was ready for anything if anything went on like what went on last night." Defendant also noted that "ain't nobody going to f--- me no more."

Thomas Holliman also saw defendant on 24 June 1990. Holliman recognized the .22-caliber pistol defendant was carrying as the one lost by his friend David Stanley on 22 June 1990. Holliman told defendant his friend would give a reward if he was given back his gun. Defendant said the gun was given to him by his brother, who had bought it in Greensboro.

On 25 June 1990 Deputy Sheriff Mike James received information that Larry Dale Connor and Richard Dean Connor were missing. That evening he spotted the Connors' red GMC pickup truck in a camping area off of Anglin Mill Road next to the Mayo River. James investigated the campsite and saw two tents but no people. After noticing that the right side window of the pickup truck had been broken, James called for assistance.

Sheriff's Deputy Hutchinson, an off-duty officer who lived in the area, was the next officer to arrive at the scene. Hutchinson and James began to search the area. James went to unzip one of the tents and noticed a strong odor. He then saw one of the victims, who appeared dead, in a lawn chair. James radioed Sergeant Lunsford, who was en David Hudson, a crime scene investigation and identification officer, arrived later. He photographed the area and took fingerprints. Hudson noticed impressions of tennis shoes and heavy-soled shoes, such as hiking boots, in the area. He also found four shotgun shells in the area of the victims' tents. Hudson then discovered the bodies of Larry and Richard Connor. Larry was lying face down on his left arm; when he was turned over, Hudson observed a large wound to his chest and a hunting knife near his left arm. Richard was sitting in a lounge chair; he had a large wound over his right eye, and one of his fingers had been cut off.

route to the scene, and told him what he had found.

Defendant's campsite was about a quarter of a mile away. Officers went there around 9:30 a.m. on 26 June 1990. Defendant identified himself as Wayne Grice; he did not attempt to leave when the officers arrived. Deputy Hudson went to defendant's campsite to investigate on that same day.

Deputy Hudson found a cooler with Rick Connor's name on it at defendant's campsite. Hudson also saw a pair of work boots with a pattern similar to that he had seen at the victims' campsite, as well as a 16-gauge shotgun. Scott Connor, the son of Richard Connor, testified that a camera found at defendant's campsite was his and that he had loaned it to his father before his father went camping. Scott also identified other items found at defendant's campsite as his father's, including: a Craftsman tool kit, a brown tent bag, a lounge chair, a sleeping bag, a hatchet, a wristwatch, tennis shoes, fishing rods, a checkbook, and a diamond ring.

Debra Grubbs was living with Larry Connor in June of 1990. She identified camouflage pants and Nike tennis shoes which were being worn by defendant on 26 June 1990 as being the clothes Larry had worn the day he went camping.

Annie Cassidy, who worked at Dalton's Market, identified a number of items found at defendant's campsite as having come from her store. She identified the goods based on the handwritten price stickers found on the food items. She also testified that some were items stolen from the Market on 10 June 1990.

A 16-gauge Mossburg, bolt-action shotgun also was found at defendant's campsite. Michael Gavin, a Special Agent for the State Bureau of Investigation, concluded that a 16-gauge shell found at the victims' campsite had been chambered in and ejected from this shotgun. The shotgun waddings and pellets recovered from the victims' bodies and the crime scene were consistent with waddings and pellets in Remington's 16-gauge shells.

Dr. Robert Thompson performed an autopsy on Larry Connor on 26 June 1990. He determined that Larry had been dead about three or four days. He had been shot from a distance of about four feet; the bullet had run from left to right, backward, and slightly upward. Larry died from the shot to his heart and the bleeding that resulted. Dr. Thompson testified that Larry would not have died instantly but could have lived eight to ten minutes after he was shot.

Dr. Thompson also participated in Richard Connor's autopsy. Richard seemed to have been dead for the same period as Larry. He had died from a shotgun wound to the head; the gun had been fired from a distance of three to four feet. The shotgun wound track appeared to go downward, slightly to the left, and then slightly backward. The autopsy also noted that Richard's ring finger had been cut off.

Defendant presented no evidence during the guilt phase.

During sentencing evidence was presented that defendant had been convicted of the first-degree murder of Gary Fidslar and sentenced to life in prison in Alabama in 1975. Defendant also had been convicted of the second-degree kidnapping of Michael O'Malley in Oregon.

Defendant presented evidence at sentencing that he had not stolen from a family he had met on the river, even though the members were camped next to him and left their campsite--with a new gas grill, diamond set, rifle, and shotgun in it--unattended. He had taken care of himself while growing up in a family of bootleggers. He was a good artist

and would draw pictures and sell them or give them to people he met in the area.

PRETRIAL PHASE

In his first assignment of error, defendant argues the trial court erred in denying his motion for a change of venue. He contends he could not obtain a fair and impartial trial in Rockingham County, as virtually the entire jury pool was familiar with media reports containing information that would have been inadmissible in the guilt phase of his trial--information guaranteed to predetermine his guilt.

In his motion defendant noted that information about the crime and his criminal history had permeated the county through the press, other media, and community discussion. In support of his motion, defendant introduced twenty-seven articles addressing (i) the killing of the victims, (ii) the fact that he had escaped from an Alabama prison while serving a life sentence for murder, and (iii) the fact that he had attempted to escape from prison in Rockingham County while awaiting this trial. The last article submitted had been published in December 1990. Most had appeared in the papers in June and July 1990, immediately after the murders.

Defendant presented a local attorney who stated that the deaths had been a regular topic of conversation in the area where he lived, near where the murders had occurred. The discussions included the fact that defendant had been charged with murder in Alabama. The witness also testified, however, that he had not heard any conversation about the case in a number of months.

Judge Preston Cornelius denied the motion at the 16 September 1992 Criminal Session of Superior Court, Rockingham County. Defendant renewed the motion at the beginning of his trial, noting that two articles on commencement of the trial had been published since the motion was previously made. Judge Wood denied the motion but did allow for individual questioning of jurors on the issue of pretrial publicity and their feelings on capital punishment.

The statute pertaining to ...