State v. Sanders, 88A85

• Citation: 327 N.C. 319,395 S.E.2d 412
• Decision Date: 29 August 1990
• Docket Number: No. 88A85,88A85
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Stanley SANDERS.

Page 412

395 S.E.2d 412

327 N.C. 319

STATE of North Carolina v. Stanley SANDERS.

No. 88A85.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Aug. 29, 1990.

Lacy H. Thornburg, Atty. Gen. by J. Michael Carpenter and William N. Farrell, Jr., Sp. Deputy Attys. Gen., Raleigh, for the State.

Ann B. Petersen and James R. Glover, Chapel Hill, for defendant-appellant.

EXUM, Chief Justice.

Defendant was tried on proper bills of indictment charging him with first degree murder and first degree rape. After hearing arguments, we remanded for a hearing on defendant's motion to suppress certain evidence. 319 N.C. 399, 354 S.E.2d 724. This hearing was conducted at the 24 August 1987 Special Session of Superior Court, Transylvania County, Saunders, J., presiding. On 25 September 1987, Judge Saunders, after making findings of fact and conclusions of law, ordered that defendant's motion be granted in part and denied in part. Defendant assigned error to various aspects of this order, additional briefs were filed and the case was reargued on 14 December 1988.

We find no error in the hearing on defendant's motion to suppress or in Judge Saunders' 25 September 1987 order. Neither do we find error in the guilt phase of defendant's trial. The decision in McKoy v. North Carolina, 494 U.S. 433, 110 S.Ct. 1227, 108 L.Ed.2d 369 (1990), requires that we remand for a new sentencing proceeding.

I.

The State's evidence at trial tended to show the following:

On 10 November 1981 the seventeen-year-old victim Jackie Lee lived with her two sisters and her mother in Brevard. Her mother worked at a local paper mill on the midnight to 8 a.m. shift. On the afternoon of 10 November 1981 the victim arrived home from school at around 3:15 p.m., changed into sweatclothes and went jogging. After returning, she watched television with her mother until 7:30, and then dropped her mother off at a restaurant.

Mrs. Lee returned home at approximately 10:45 p.m. She discovered her car parked in front of the house with the door ajar and her daughter's purse on the ground. The front door of her home was also open and inside lights were on. Two of Jackie's friends subsequently arrived and began looking for her.

Mrs. Lee reported to work at 11:55 p.m. Approximately five minutes later, she received a telephone message from one of the friends reporting that Jackie's keys had been found near the front porch. Mrs. Lee immediately returned home and called the police. She discovered her daughter's jogging pants strewn on the bathroom floor and that her own white gold watch and topaz ring were missing. Mrs. Lee later provided investigating officers with drawings of both items.

The police began searching for Jackie. Between 3 and 4 a.m., they found a necklace belonging to Jackie behind the house. They also found some coins and bloody leaves near the picnic table in the Lees' backyard.

At approximately 5:30 p.m. on 11 November a neighbor discovered the victim's body in a nearby field. Her face was badly bruised; there were scratches on her arms and a gunshot wound in her chest. A fencepost, approximately four feet long with bloodstains on one end, was found nearby.

Dr. Page Hudson performed an autopsy on 12 November 1981. Injuries to the victim's head included a badly fractured skull, a bruised right cheek, a linear scrape on the chin, numerous tiny-dot hemorrhages on both sides of the head, lacerations on the lip, and a chipped front tooth. The bruising in the right cheek extended approximately five inches. Dr. Hudson testified that these injuries could have been inflicted by a hand and the bruising to the right cheek was likely caused by several blows. There was blood on the surface of the brain and a tear in the cerebellum. On the opposite side, there were small hemorrhages on the brain's surface. Dr. Hudson testified that a blunt object, possibly the fencepost found near the body, caused the skull fracture. Scratches and bruise lines were also found on the victim's neck. Between the lines were small circular bruises. Dr. Hudson testified that the victim had been strangled by a belt with grommets surrounding its perforations. He stated that defendant's belt, which had been examined, could have caused these marks. Dr. Hudson testified that the victim was alive when she was shot in the chest. He also found superficial tears in the vulva area and next to the anus. Spermatozoa was found both inside and outside the vagina. He testified that these injuries were consistent with forcible sexual intercourse. Dr. Hudson stated that the injury to the back of the head, the gunshot wound, and the strangulation were each potentially fatal.

On 4 December 1981, law enforcement officers searched defendant's residence. They seized jewelry thought to be stolen and ammunition boxes. Defendant was subsequently arrested as he approached his house.

Included in the jewelry listed as seized during the search were the gold watch and topaz ring belonging to Jackie's mother. The State introduced these items at trial, and Jackie's mother identified them. She testified that she remembered seeing both pieces of jewelry on top of her dresser before leaving for work on the night Jackie was murdered.

Sheriff's Deputy Hobert Brown also testified about the topaz ring and gold watch. He maintained that law enforcement officers recovered these items while searching defendant's home.

After defendant's arrest, SBI Assistant Supervisor Dan Crawford and Deputy Brown questioned defendant at the Transylvania County Sheriff's Department. Defendant waived his rights and agreed to speak with the officers. When shown the watch and ring that had been stolen from the victim's home and recovered in defendant's bedroom, defendant claimed that he had owned the items for "about a year." Until then, there had been no mention of the Lee murder or theft. Deputy Brown stated that he could not understand how defendant could have possessed both items for a year since they belonged to the Lee family on 10 November 1981. At that point, defendant denied killing anyone. Deputy Brown then left the room.

The conversation continued between Agent Crawford and defendant. The interview room had a two-way glass mirror through which several officers, including Deputy Brown, SBI Agent Davis Jones and Chief L.B. Vaughan of the Brevard Police Department observed the interview. Crawford advised defendant that the victim had been strangled, shot, and had her head bashed.

Defendant eventually stated that "it was an accident," he "didn't mean to do it," and that he wanted to tell about it. Defendant related that he had known the victim and had talked to her on the telephone. He described leaving his home on 10 November 1981 after dark and walking to the Lee home. He went around to the rear of the house where he watched the victim through a bedroom window. He came to the front of the house and as he was entering the porch, the victim came out the front door. She saw defendant and screamed. He grabbed her and forced her around the side of the house to the rear. The victim fell and hit her head on a bench. He told her he needed money. She replied that her pocketbook was in the car in front of the house. He forced the victim back up the side of the house, across the yard and between several houses to Maple Street. They proceeded down another street and into a field. He removed his coat and they sat down and began to talk, subsequently having sexual intercourse. The victim then dressed herself and they continued talking. Defendant saw a light on in a house and thought he saw a man watching.

Defendant decided to put the victim "to sleep" by the use of a choke hold he had learned in the military, squeezing her neck until she went limp. He realized that he had choked her too hard and believed she was dead. When defendant thought he saw her move, he picked up a fencepost and hit her in the head. Unsure whether she were dead, he hit her again.

As defendant got up to leave he saw the moon reflect off his gun, which was on the ground. Defendant went back, picked up the gun and fired one time toward the victim's chest. Defendant had borrowed the gun from an acquaintance. ³ After shooting the victim, defendant walked from the field to his girlfriend's house. He played cards and later went home to bed.

Defendant admitted to Agent Crawford that he had been in the Lee residence before 10 November 1981 and had taken jewelry. He specifically admitted that he took the gold watch and topaz ring on 10 November 1981. Several officers who observed the discussion between defendant, Brown and Crawford corroborated the versions of defendant's statement presented by the State at trial.

Defendant's evidence tended to show he was not with the victim on the evening of the murder. Several witnesses testified that defendant was at a Carver Street poolroom that night. Curtis Gardin, a civilian, also testified. He related his role in the investigation and the 4 December 1981 search of defendant's home. Gardin claimed that he had procured the topaz ring and white gold watch from defendant's bedroom after defendant's sister invited him into their home.

The jury convicted defendant of first degree murder and first degree rape.

During the capital sentencing proceeding, the State presented no additional evidence. Defendant introduced the testimony of Billy Williamson Royal, M.D., a forensic psychiatrist at Dorothea Dix Hospital. Dr. Royal had examined defendant and determined that he was competent to stand trial and had been functioning well enough at the time of the Lee murder to be considered responsible for his actions. Dr. Royal testified that even though defendant was competent to stand trial, he suffered from a significant mental illness, possibly paranoid schizophrenia. Dr. Royal further diagnosed identity disorders and antisocial traits as aspects of defendant's illness and testified that defendant had a history of psychological problems. No other witnesses...