State v. Simpson

• Decision Date: 08 September 1995
• Docket Number: No. 43A93,43A93
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Perrie Dyon SIMPSON.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Page 191

462 S.E.2d 191

341 N.C. 316

STATE of North Carolina v. Perrie Dyon SIMPSON.

No. 43A93.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Sept. 8, 1995.

Michael F. Easley, Attorney General by Joan Herre Byers, Special Deputy Attorney General, for the State.

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

LAKE, Justice.

This appeal marks the third time this case has been before this Court for sentencing review. The defendant, Perrie Dyon Simpson, confessed to the 27 August 1984 murder and robbery of Jean E. Darter, a ninety-two-year-old retired Baptist minister. On 4 March 1985, defendant entered pleas of guilty to the first-degree murder of Reverend Darter, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and conspiracy to commit murder. In the intervening years, defendant has received three capital sentencing proceedings pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000, and each of the three juries, after hearing the evidence and arguments of counsel, has recommended a sentence of death.

Defendant appealed to this Court as of right from his first judgment and sentence of death, and he was allowed to bypass the Court of Appeals as to the judgments and sentences for the additional offenses. Upon review, this Court found no error in the judgments and sentences for robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit murder and found no error in the conviction of defendant for first-degree murder. However, this Court found prejudicial error in the capital sentencing proceeding and remanded to the trial court for a new sentencing proceeding for the first-degree murder. State v. Simpson, 320 N.C. 313, 357 S.E.2d 332 (1987), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 963, 108 S.Ct. 1230, 99 L.Ed.2d 430 (1988).

Following his second capital sentencing proceeding and the recommended sentence At the third capital sentencing proceeding, as in the two previous proceedings, the State presented evidence tending to show that on 27 August 1984, ninety-two-year-old Reverend Jean E. Darter was murdered in his Reidsville home. Reverend Darter's daughter, Doris Darter Faircloth, testified she tried to telephone her father the night of his murder but was unable to reach him. Faircloth and her husband decided to drive to Reverend Darter's house, and when they arrived, they noticed that the only light turned on was in the bathroom. Mr. and Mrs. Faircloth unlocked the back door and went to the bathroom to see if Reverend Darter had fallen and hurt himself. He was not in the bathroom. Mrs. Faircloth went to her father's bedroom and saw him lying across the bed. "I knew that he was dead because he was so still." Mr. Faircloth turned the bedroom light on, and what they saw was "so horrible that I seemed not to be able to see it all collectively. I saw it in bits and pieces." Mrs. Faircloth noticed a strap around her father's neck, "and it was tied to the bedpost and then I looked at his eyes and by that time I said somebody did this to him." Because the telephone cords had been cut, Mr. and Mrs. Faircloth called the police from a neighbor's telephone.

of death and judgment accordingly, defendant [341 N.C. 327] again appealed as of right to this Court. Based on the ruling of the United States Supreme Court in McKoy v. North Carolina, 494 U.S. 433, 110 S.Ct. 1227, 108 L.Ed.2d 369 (1990), this Court vacated defendant's sentence of death and remanded for a third capital sentencing proceeding. State v. Simpson, 331 N.C. 267, 415 S.E.2d 351 (1992).

Mrs. Faircloth testified her father was an avid gardener and at the age of ninety-two, was still very active. He continued to study and still preached occasionally. "His health was remarkable for his age. His mind was very alert." Reverend Darter wore glasses and had injured his back jumping out of a fishing boat a few years before his death. He wore a back brace to maintain his active life when his back gave him pain.

Detective Sergeant Ronnie Ellison responded to the Faircloths' call for help. When he entered Reverend Darter's house, he observed there were no signs of forced entry, and that the cords on the telephones in the hall and in the bedroom had been cut. Mobile Crime Laboratory Operator W.F. Lemmons with the State Bureau of Investigation ("SBI") identified, collected, and preserved evidence at the murder scene. He conducted a walk-through of the house to determine the housekeeping habits of Reverend Darter and to help identify anything out of place. Lemmons' inspection revealed that although Reverend Darter kept the inside of the house neat and clean, in one bedroom, the sheets and covers were wadded up, the dresser drawers were pulled out, and the contents dumped onto the floor. He noticed there was a bundle of knives lying in the kitchen sink, and that both the freezer and refrigerator doors were cracked open. The food inside was beginning to thaw. In a room just off of the kitchen was a storage area where Lemmons found a carton of glass Tab bottles; one bottle was missing. In the bathroom, Lemmons observed a pack of razor blades in the sink. Lemmons also discovered a writing pad with the names "Lisa Marie Johnson" and "Curtis Anthony Parker" written on it.

In another bedroom, Lemmons found Reverend Darter lying on the bed, with his feet on the floor. Two belts were wrapped around Reverend Darter's neck. The outer belt was the largest and thickest, and it was tied to the bedpost. The inner belt was broken. Reverend Darter's face was bloated and bloody. He had glass in his left eye, and a design composed of many small circles and dots was imprinted on the Reverend's left cheek. Both of the Reverend's arms were cut open from his elbows to his wrists. Blood was on the bed and had run down the side of the bed and formed a puddle on the floor; there was blood on the walls and window blinds. Also on the bed were the contents of two dresser drawers, shattered glass, the Reverend's broken glasses, his false teeth, a razor blade, and the neck of a glass Tab bottle. Directly under Reverend Darter's elbow was a photo album entitled, "My Grandchildren."

Agent Walter L. House, also with the SBI, was a member of the Darter murder investigation team. He testified that the Faircloths turned over to him Reverend Darter's telephone bill. According to the bill, a long-distance telephone call had been made from Reverend Darter's house to a telephone in Greensboro on 26 August 1984. Agent House and Captain Eddie Lambeth determined the telephone number belonged to a woman named Ruby Locklear. House and Lambeth visited her and asked if she knew anyone in Reidsville. Locklear replied that the only person who ever called from Reidsville was a man named Perrie Dyon Simpson and that he called her when he wanted to reach his father. Agent House also testified that eight latent fingerprints found in the Darter house matched the defendant's.

The police learned there was an outstanding warrant for defendant in Greensboro for simple assault, so defendant was arrested on 21 September 1984. Defendant was advised of his Miranda rights and agreed to talk with officers about the Darter murder. He signed a written statement to the effect that he had read about the Darter murder but knew nothing about it. Defendant stated he had never met or seen Reverend Darter and had never been inside Reverend Darter's house. Defendant was then transported to Greensboro for a bond hearing on the assault charge. In Greensboro, police asked defendant if they could talk some more about the Darter murder, and defendant agreed.

During this questioning period, defendant made a sixteen-page written statement confessing his involvement in the murder. Defendant confessed that on 26 August 1984, he and his pregnant, sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Stephanie Eury, went for a walk to look for some money. Stephanie went to the front door of Reverend Darter's house and rang the doorbell. She told Reverend Darter she was hungry, so he brought her a diet soft drink and gave the defendant a glass of milk. Stephanie asked if they could come inside, so the three went into the front living room. Stephanie told the Reverend that she and defendant were traveling to Florida and had gotten stuck in Reidsville. The Reverend suggested they contact the Salvation Army or the police. Stephanie asked Darter if he could give them some money, and Reverend Darter gave her four dollars, explaining that was all the money he had in cash. Defendant told police that he and Stephanie "noticed the preacher had a nice home." After getting permission to use the telephone, defendant called Ruby Locklear in Greensboro to see if she had seen defendant's father. When defendant got off of the telephone, he heard Stephanie tell the Reverend her name was "Lisa" and defendant's name was "Curtis Anthony." Defendant watched the Reverend write these names down on a pad of paper. Defendant told the police that before he and Stephanie left the house, the Reverend gave them some sponge cake and peaches to take with them. Defendant admitted that "Reverend Darter was real friendly to us and was very helpful."

The next day, 27 August 1984, defendant said that he and Stephanie "both talked about going back to preacher Darter's house to get some money. Stephanie and I decided we would go back to Darter's house and we would not come back empty-handed no matter what." Defendant told police that he and Stephanie walked around outside waiting for it to get dark. Once it was dark enough, the two walked to Reverend Darter's house, looking around to make sure no one saw them. They rang the doorbell, and when Reverend Darter answered the door, they forced their way inside. Reverend Darter ran to the telephone, but defendant "pulled the preacher's hands off the telephone." Defendant told Stephanie to cut the telephone cords, and in the meantime, he was "struggling with Preacher Darter holding onto the preacher's arms to control him and force him back in his bedroom so he would tell me where some money was." Defenda...