State v. Scott
| Decision Date | 13 June 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 261A94,261A94 |
| Citation | 343 N.C. 313,471 S.E.2d 605 |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. William Lee SCOTT. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Michael F. Easley, Attorney General by William B. Crumpler, Assistant Attorney General, for the State.
Malcolm Ray Hunter, Jr., Appellate Defender by Daniel R. Pollitt, Assistant Appellate Defender, for defendant-appellant.
On 26 July 1993, an Alamance County grand jury indicted defendant, William Lee Scott, for the murder of Nancy Funderburke. A superseding indictment for this crime was returned on 7 March 1994. In a noncapital trial, the jury found defendant guilty of first-degree murder on the basis of premeditation and deliberation. On 5 April 1994, the trial court entered a judgment imposing a sentence of life imprisonment for the first-degree murder conviction.
On appeal to this Court, defendant makes thirteen arguments. After reviewing the record, transcript, briefs, and oral arguments of counsel, we conclude that defendant received a fair trial, free of prejudicial error.
The State's evidence presented at trial tended to show the following facts and circumstances: In 1969, defendant met the victim, Nancy Funderburke, in Savannah, Georgia. Defendant was a singer in a night club where Funderburke waited tables. At that time, Funderburke had two young daughters, Gina and Stacy. Funderburke, then a widow, had been married twice.
In 1972, after dating for a while, defendant moved in with Funderburke and her daughters. They lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, until 1976, when they moved to Saxapahaw, North Carolina. Funderburke and defendant had a son, William Lee Scott, Jr. (Billy), born 8 July 1977. In 1984, after defendant's mother died, they moved to Burlington, North Carolina, to live in defendant's mother's home. Except for a few brief separations, Funderburke and defendant continued to live together for twenty-one years until Funderburke's death. Although Funderburke often referred to defendant as her husband, they were never married.
There were numerous documented occasions of physical abuse of Funderburke by defendant. The police had been to the house on several occasions for complaints about loud music and for domestic violence. Funderburke's daughters and Billy witnessed the violence, and several hospital officials and friends saw evidence of the abuse. There was also evidence that Funderburke and defendant often drank excessively and that, during these times, they engaged in fights. Funderburke often left the residence during or after these altercations and stayed at a hotel or slept in her car. Sometimes, Funderburke and Billy would leave and stay at a family abuse shelter. Once, Billy threatened to kill defendant if defendant hurt his mother again.
On Friday, 2 July 1993, Billy, who was then fifteen years old, went to the beach with some friends for the weekend. At around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. on 5 July 1993, Billy returned home and asked defendant where was his mother. Defendant, who was very intoxicated, mumbled that she had gone to the Ramada Inn or something. Defendant also mumbled something about being sorry about taking a life.
Billy noticed that his mother's bar stool was in the backyard. Defendant told Billy that he had placed the bar stool in the backyard to clean it because some beer had spilled on the bar stool. Defendant said that he was sorry for the things that he had done to Funderburke but did not say where she was at the time.
The next morning, Billy called his sister, Gina Anderson, and expressed his concern about their mother. He told Anderson that the floor had been freshly mopped, which he considered unusual. Billy stated that he had been directed not to call his sisters and that he believed his mother was dead. Anderson said she would call the police. After talking to Anderson, Billy visited a friend's house to see if he could stay there. Anderson contacted her sister, Stacy Strader, and then contacted the police and reported her mother missing. Later that night, the police contacted Billy, and he went to the police station.
On 6 July 1993 at approximately 7:30 p.m., Sergeant Bobby Davis of the Burlington Police Department went to defendant's residence to investigate the missing person's report filed by Anderson. Two vehicles were in the driveway, but when Davis knocked on the front door, no one answered. While knocking on the door, Davis noticed large green flies flying under the house through an air vent. He had previously seen these types of flies on dead animals and people. He then proceeded to the rear of the house, where he noticed the flies at the access door to the underside of the house and could smell an odor of decaying flesh. He then noticed that there was a green carpet against the access door going underneath the house.
When Davis moved the carpet, he observed that the grass under it was green, which indicated that the carpet had been placed there recently. He opened the access door to the crawl space and shined his flashlight under the house. At this point, he saw the body of a female about midway under the house. After securing the scene, he notified the detective division.
Additional officers arrived on the scene. The officers did not know whether defendant or other victims were inside the house injured or dead. After knocking on the door and yelling for someone to answer, they decided to enter the residence to see if anyone else was injured inside as well as to ensure their own safety. When the officers forced open the door, they found defendant in the living room. Defendant walked over to a bar stool, sat down, and said, "Come on in."
Defendant was handcuffed and led to a patrol car. Officers quickly walked through the residence to check for additional victims. After no more victims were found in the residence, officers removed the handcuffs from defendant's wrists and advised him that he was not under arrest and that he could voluntarily come to the police station. An officer told defendant that they were investigating a missing person's report regarding Funderburke and that they had found a body under his residence. Defendant was cooperative and agreed to talk with the police. Defendant rode with an officer to the police station, where he was questioned and released.
After a search warrant arrived at 2:30 a.m. on 7 July 1993, the police retrieved Funderburke's body from underneath the house. An autopsy revealed that she had suffered a shotgun wound to the chest and that this wound quickly caused her death. The gun was pointed straight at her, and her left hand was positioned between her chest and the muzzle of the gun when the gun was fired. In the medical examiner's opinion, Funderburke's wound could not have been self-inflicted, and the gun could have been within twelve inches of Funderburke's chest when fired.
A search of the house, including chemical testing for blood, revealed evidence of blood in several places. Also, evidence of wipe marks, consistent with someone attempting to clean up a mess, were found. A disassembled twelve-gauge shotgun, two boxes of shotgun shells, and a loose shell were found in a speaker in Billy's bedroom. A fired shotgun shell was found in the shed outside the residence. The shotgun shells found in the house and shed were all the same kind and were consistent with the deformed pellets removed from Funderburke's body. Tests performed on the shotgun revealed that it would not fire accidentally, even if dropped.
Defendant testified at trial. He stated that he and Funderburke spent 2 July 1993 getting drunk. She was very depressed and talked about suicide. He went to the bathroom, and when he returned, she was attempting to position the shotgun so that she could shoot herself in the head. He began to struggle with her, and the shotgun went off, killing her instantly. Defendant did not know what to do, but he did not want to call the police because he and Funderburke had a lot of trouble with the police. Defendant also presented testimony that he and Funderburke had agreed that, when the other died, the survivor would not spend any money for a burial or funeral but instead would bury the other on defendant's property. Defendant testified that he decided to wait until Billy returned home to bury Funderburke. He stated that he wanted Billy to have an opportunity to see and touch his mother one more time.
Defendant further testified that, if Funderburke had been alive, he would have taken her to the hospital. However, since she was dead, he did not see the harm in letting her remain on the bar stool. For the rest of the evening, he sat beside her and drank. On the next day, he went to see his sister because he was feeling depressed. When asked about Funderburke's whereabouts, defendant said that he did not know and that she had probably gone to the Ramada Inn or something.
On the evening of 4 July 1993, defendant cleaned the house because he was concerned that his aunt would visit him. He took Funderburke's body off the bar stool and put it in another room because he did not want anyone to see her before Billy had a chance to see her. Bruce Bunting visited defendant, and they talked. That night, the body started to smell rotten.
On the evening of 5 July 1993, defendant placed Funderburke's body in the crawl space underneath the house and waited for Billy to come home. Defendant testified that he placed the body under a hole in the floor so he could see her. Billy arrived home at about 10:30 p.m. that night. Defendant testified that he (defendant) was intoxicated. When Billy asked for his mother, defendant said that she had gone to the Ramada Inn or something. According to defendant, he then told Billy that his mother was dead and asked Billy if he wanted to see her. Defendant told Billy that he (defendant) was going to work in the morning and that Billy could do what he wanted about the body.
Defendant further testified that the police...
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