State v. Sexton

• Decision Date: 17 June 1994
• Docket Number: No. 499A91,499A91
• Citation: 336 N.C. 321,444 S.E.2d 879
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Michael Earl SEXTON.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Page 879

444 S.E.2d 879

336 N.C. 321

STATE of North Carolina v. Michael Earl SEXTON.

No. 499A91.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

June 17, 1994.

Michael F. Easley, Atty. Gen. by Valerie B. Spalding, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

Malcolm Ray Hunter, Jr., Appellate Defender by Henderson Hill, Director, Death Penalty Resource Center, for defendant-appellant.

PARKER, Justice.

Defendant was tried capitally on an indictment charging him with the first-degree murder of Kimberly Crews (herein "victim"). The jury returned a verdict finding defendant guilty of first-degree murder upon the theories of (i) premeditation and deliberation and (ii) felony murder. Following a sentencing proceeding pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000, the jury recommended that defendant be sentenced to death. Execution was stayed 12 November 1991 pending defendant's appeal. The jury also found defendant guilty of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense, and common-law robbery; and the trial court sentenced defendant to forty years for the kidnapping, life for the rape, life for the sexual offense, and ten years for the robbery, each sentence to run consecutively. For the reasons discussed herein, we conclude the jury selection, guilt-innocence phase, and sentencing proceeding were free from prejudicial error and the death sentence is not disproportionate.

State's evidence tended to show that the victim was a child sexual abuse counselor whose office was located in the Wake Area Health Education Center at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Alan Crews, the victim's husband, testified that she usually left her office around 3:30 p.m. each day to pick up their daughter; but on Wednesdays she worked later in order to accommodate clients. Shortly before 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 8 August 1990, the victim telephoned her husband, who was at home with their daughter, to ask if the family needed anything from the store. The victim habitually telephoned to let her husband know she was leaving work, and the trip home took from twenty to thirty minutes. By 7:00 p.m., she had not arrived at home; and although her husband was concerned, he thought her delay might be related to the stormy weather that evening. By 8:00 p.m. the victim had not come home, and her husband was worried. It was not her habit to be late when she said she was coming home, nor was it her habit to be away from home at night without telling her husband where she would be. Not wanting to alarm his daughter, Alan Crews put her to bed and waited for her to fall asleep before attempting to locate his wife. Thinking he might have forgotten or been unaware of his wife's plans, he first telephoned a friend with whom his wife often exercised. The friend said she and the victim had in fact planned to exercise but changed their plans on account of the stormy weather. Crews next telephoned 911 and was advised to call area hospitals. He telephoned three hospitals, but none had admitted his wife. He again telephoned 911 and asked that an officer come to his home.

The officer arrived, took a brief statement, and asked some questions. He was called away to a robbery but soon returned. The officer asked about possible routes used by the victim in driving home from work and then left to begin checking the routes. Later the officer returned and reported the victim had not been found. Sometime after 1:00 a.m. on 9 August, other officers came to the Crews' residence and told Alan Crews they had found his wife dead in her grey 1986 Plymouth Voyager van.

Raleigh Police Detective Ronnie Holloway testified that shortly after midnight he and another officer searched for the victim around Wake Medical Center. It was raining heavily. They searched the employee and public parking lots, and as they drove towards the rear parking deck, Holloway saw a vehicle with its lights on. The vehicle was on Galahad Street and about 200 yards away from and facing a medical center parking deck. The officers approached the vehicle, confirmed that it was the Voyager van they were seeking, and saw a body in the backseat. Holloway testified that at first he thought the body was a mannequin, "but it was a white female with black hair, nude. She was lying on her back side and her arms were down[,] the left hanging toward to [sic] the floor of the van and the right one was laying [sic] across her body and the legs were spreaded [sic] open." The officers did not touch anything in the van; they sealed off the area and summoned other investigators.

W.E. Hensley, crime scene specialist for the City-County Bureau of Identification ("CCBI"), videotaped the scene. The tape was shown to the jury. Leonard Colvin, identification technician for the CCBI, made still photographs of the scene and gathered trace evidence. At trial he identified evidence including the victim's panties and panty hose, a rape suspect kit from Alan Crews, a similar kit from the defendant, and various items of personal property belonging to the victim. Colvin testified that the victim's keys, employee parking lot entry card, health club membership card, and other personal items were recovered from a water filled ditch on Old Bunch Road. The victim's pocketbook, grey portfolio containing books, and panty hose were found beside the same road. Her black and tan umbrella was found nearby, as well as her checkbook, which was propped up against a tree. Her dress was recovered from the side of Hodge Road. Defendant cooperated with and assisted the officers in recovering many of these items. Colvin also identified defendant's Wake Medical Center employee identification badge and clothing worn by defendant at the time of the murder. Defendant gave these to officers at his home in Plummer's Trailer Park.

Johnny Leonard, latent examiner for the CCBI, identified the victim's shoes. The left shoe was found near the front passenger seat; the right shoe was underneath the brake pedal. No prints from these shoes were found in the van, and both shoes had striate scars on the toes and toe tops. Further, Leonard examined the shoes worn by defendant and determined that muddy footprints in the van were made by them. One of defendant's footprints was lifted from the victim's shoe recovered near the front passenger seat. Leonard also testified on direct and redirect examination that the front floor mat was upside down. On recall he testified that the backseat floor mat was upside down. Further, although defendant's left shoe made two separate impressions on a floor mat near the sliding door of the van, only one print showed traces of mud.

Scott Worsham, forensic chemist for the State Bureau of Investigation ("SBI"), was accepted by the court as an expert in hair examination and identification. He identified exhibits consisting of tapings made from the victim's body and her van. He testified that head hair consistent with defendant's was found on (i) the carpet around the driver's and passenger's front seats, (ii) the driver's seat cushion and seat back, (iii) the van's middle seat, (iv) the van headlining above the backseat and over the victim's head, and (v) the victim's chest or shoulder. Pubic hair consistent with defendant's was found on the rear seat underneath the victim's body, in combings from the victim's pubic area, and on the victim's back and buttocks. Defendant's pubic hairs found on the victim's body bore follicular tags, indicating removal under force.

Worsham also noted that the victim's brassiere and slip were on the van floor near her left foot, and both garments were saturated and clean. Further, the victim's hair was wet. It was soaked through, rather than damp in areas which would be consistent with exertion. Her body was damp, cool, and clean; and there were bruises on the insides of her elbows, on her kneecaps, and on her lip. In addition, the legs of her panty hose had been stretched, and there were striate holes in the knee areas.

SBI Agent John Wayne Bendure was accepted by the court as an expert in fiber identification and comparison. He testified that fibers from defendant's shirt and shorts were found on the victim's dress, and in Worsham's tapings from the victim's (i) back and buttocks, (ii) legs, abdomen, chest, and arms, and (iii) chest and shoulders. In addition, fibers from the seat covers in the van were found on defendant's clothes. Bendure also noted abrasions, holes, and runs in the knees of the victim's panty hose.

SBI Agent David J. Spittle was accepted by the court as an expert in serology. He testified that defendant's blood type was B and he was a secretor. The victim's blood type was O, her husband's was A, and no type A fluids were found on the victim's body. By contrast, swabs taken from the victim's mouth showed the presence of spermatozoa consistent with defendant's blood type. Fluid on the victim's upper arm was semen, but the quantity was insufficient for complete analysis. In addition, vaginal swabs from the victim showed the presence of defendant's spermatozoa, which was also found on the seat under her buttocks. Fingernail scrapings from the victim did not contain any blood. Spittle also observed that the victim's hair was very wet.

Robert McCoy testified that he supervised the Wake Medical Center laundry, where defendant was employed. On 8 August 1990 defendant was already at work when McCoy arrived around 2:00 p.m. Sometime around 3:30 p.m., when the laundry room shift changed, defendant was missing. Another employee came in, and McCoy told him to begin operating the machinery since defendant was not there. The next time McCoy saw defendant was after "everybody had punched out." Defendant came running in through the back ramp, and he was soaking wet. Defendant said, "I got to go. I got to go. I was out there fixing my young lady's car and that was the only thing I was out there doing." McCoy said he would discuss the matter with defendant the next day because defendant "sai...