State v. Silhan
| Decision Date | 04 March 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 93,93 |
| Citation | 275 S.E.2d 450,302 N.C. 223 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Stephen Carl SILHAN. |
Rufus L. Edmisten, Atty. Gen. by Charles M. Hensey, Asst. Atty. Gen., Raleigh, for the State.
Mary Ann Tally, Public Defender, and Fred J. Williams, Asst. Public Defender, Fayetteville, for defendant-appellant.
Defendant brings forward numerous assignments of error relating to both phases of his trial. 1 After a careful consideration of these assignments, as well as the record which is before us, we find no error in the guilt determination phase of defendant's trial. However, for error in the sentence determination phase, we vacate defendant's death sentence on the first degree murder conviction and remand for a new sentencing hearing. We also arrest judgment on defendant's first degree rape conviction. We find no error in the felonious assault conviction and judgment.
At trial, the state introduced evidence which tended to show: On 13 September 1977, between the hours of 5:00 p. m. and 6:00 p. m., passersby saw Barbara Lynne Davenport, age 17, stagger from a wooded area and collapse on Manchester Road in the city of Spring Lake, North Carolina. Her throat had been cut severely, and a wound of between four and five inches in length was visible. Ms. Davenport had also been stabbed in the back. Her hands were tied behind her with a shoestring, and her brassiere had been tied around her mouth and throat.
Unable to talk because of her throat injury, Mrs. Davenport could nonetheless communicate through gestures and written messages. She indicated to her attendants that "my friend is in the woods." An ensuing search of an adjacent wooded area revealed the dead body of Mary Jo Nancy Coates, age 14, lying face down on the ground approximately twenty yards from the road. Ms. Coates was nude from the waist down; her hands were tied behind her back with a black bootlace; and her brassiere had been tied around her neck. Ms. Coates had received two knife wounds: one to the back and one to the chest. In the immediate area of the body, searchers found a pair of cut-off blue jeans and a pair of panties hanging in a tree. The items belonged to Ms. Coates. Searchers also found a pair of tortoise shell glasses which belonged to Ms. Davenport and several smaller items near the body. A search of the area between the wooded area where the body was found and a nearby cornfield uncovered a laceless tennis shoe, an open bag of Doritos, several cigars and a pack of cigarettes. Another laceless tennis shoe was found in the cornfield itself. All of these items, as well as jewelry and clothing taken from the body of Ms. Coates, were taken into custody and preserved for trial.
The decedent and Ms. Davenport were close friends who lived in separate homes in a trailer park in Spring Lake. On the afternoon of 13 September 1977, the pair left Ms. Davenport's home to go to a convenience store located approximately a quarter mile from the trailer park. The girls shopped often at the convenience store and habitually took a path between the cornfield and the wooded area in making the trip to and from the establishment. The journey normally took between five and ten minutes each way. On this particular day, the girls purchased six packs of cigars for Ms. Davenport's father, as well as two packs of cigarettes for themselves and a bag of Doritos.
On their return trip from the store Ms. Coates and Ms. Davenport stopped in a clearing to smoke cigarettes. As they sat in the clearing with their backs to the convenience store, Ms. Coates pointed to a cluster of vines and brambles in the direction of the trailer park saying that someone was spying on them. Ms. Davenport looked to where her friend was pointing and saw a man wearing a fatigue cap and sunglasses standing about sixty feet away. Ms. Davenport got up from where she was seated and walked towards where the man was standing. He started walking away from the two girls down the path in the direction of the trailer park. Ms. Davenport went back to the clearing whereupon she and Ms. Coates proceeded to gather their belongings. The two women headed for home.
After Ms. Davenport and Ms. Coates had traveled some distance, they saw a man apparently the same individual they had seen earlier, coming towards them on the path. He passed by the pair at an arm's length distance. As he passed by her Ms. Davenport was able to notice that he was wearing a fatigue cap, a camouflage jungle shirt, and sunglasses. The man had dark hair which was cut in military fashion. As he passed by the girls he spoke to them. At the time of this encounter, Ms. Davenport was several feet ahead of Ms. Coates as they walked together on the path.
A few moments later, Ms. Davenport heard a noise which caused her to stop walking. She turned to find Ms. Coates kneeling on the ground. The man they had passed on the path was kneeling behind Ms. Coates holding a knife to her throat. As Ms. Davenport looked on, the man told her to do what he said or he would kill Ms. Coates.
The assailant took off one of Ms. Coates' tennis shoes. Before he threw the shoe into the cornfield nearby, he removed the shoelace and used it to tie Ms. Davenport's hands behind her. At the time she was tied up Ms. Davenport was lying face down on the ground. The man then apparently, though not in Ms. Davenport's view, tied Ms. Coates' hands in similar fashion. Having bound the girls the assailant forced them into the woods.
Once they were in the wooded area away from the nearby highway, the man forced both Ms. Coates and Ms. Davenport to lie upon the ground. Ms. Davenport could not see what happened next, but she did hear her companion repeatedly say "no, no, no." Ms. Coates protests continued for about half a minute. The assailant thereupon went over to Ms. Davenport. After sexually assaulting her, the man produced a knife which had a blade about a foot long with a dull finish. He used the knife to cut the straps of her brassiere and then used the garment to gag her mouth. The man then pulled both girls to their feet and forced them to walk about sixty feet to an area where the vegetation was particularly thick. Again, they were forced to the ground. Ms. Davenport could not see what happened next, but she heard the sound of a zipper, some jingling, and the screams of her friend. Ms. Davenport was able to get the gag out of her mouth, but the assailant came over to her and bound her again before he returned to Ms. Coates. Ms. Davenport then heard the man beating Ms. Coates. After a short while, he came over to Ms. Davenport and began beating her about her back. The man then pulled Ms. Davenport's head up from the ground as the rest of her body still laid flat. With his knife in his right hand, the man pulled the knife across her neck several times. Despite her struggling, the man stabbed Ms. Davenport in the back twice. At that point, though she was still conscious, Ms. Davenport stopped struggling and pretended to be dead.
After several minutes, Ms. Davenport was able to get to her feet and spit the gag out of her mouth. As she got up to leave the area, Ms. Davenport noticed that Ms. Coates was nude from the waist down with her hands tied behind her. She was still. Ms. Davenport went down the path in the direction of Manchester Road where she collapsed.
As passersby attended to her, Ms. Davenport was able to provide them with a rough description of her assailant. Over the course of the next several days, while she was hospitalized, Ms. Davenport assisted law enforcement officers in developing a composite drawing of the man who had attacked her and her friend. On 20 September 1977 several police officers visited Ms. Davenport in the hospital and showed her a number of photographs. At that time, she identified a photograph of defendant as being that of her assailant. At trial, Ms. Davenport again positively identified defendant as her assailant.
Defendant was a sergeant in the United States Army. From 10 September 1977 until 13 September 1977, defendant's unit was on field training manuevers at Camp Hill, Virginia. Members of his unit observed defendant having in his possession an old bayonet which was approximately twelve to fourteen inches long. Defendant was also seen wearing sunglasses during the encampment. At approximately 4:30 a. m. on 13 September, defendant left Camp Hill to return to Fort Bragg, North Carolina via the morning chow truck. When he left he was wearing a fatigue cap and camouflage shirt. Defendant arrived at Fort Bragg at approximately 3:50 p. m. that same day and went immediately to the motor pool where he picked up his light blue Chevrolet van. Defendant was seen at Fort Bragg around 5:00 p. m. leaving his barracks. A light blue Chevrolet van was independently observed by two persons shortly after 5:00 p. m. on 13 September in the area where the two girls were attacked. The van was seen on Manchester Road, parked on the same side of the road as the wooded area where the women were assaulted. After the photographic lineup was conducted on 20 September 1977, defendant was arrested at a shopping center in Spring Lake. At the time of his arrest defendant was driving his light blue Chevrolet van.
Defendant offered no evidence during the guilt determination phase of trial.
Upon receiving from the jury verdicts finding defendant guilty of first degree murder, first degree rape, and assault with a deadly weapon, the court convened the sentence determination phase of trial before the same jury pursuant to the provisions of G.S. §§ 15A-2000, et seq. in connection with the first degree murder conviction. The state at first offered no evidence during this phase, choosing to rely instead upon the evidence introduced at the guilt determination phase. Defendant offered evidence of his family background, his conduct as a husband and father, and his satisfactory behavior...
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