State v. Sloan, 349A85

Decision Date03 June 1986
Docket NumberNo. 349A85,349A85
PartiesSTATE of North Carolina v. James Walter SLOAN, Jr.
CourtNorth Carolina Supreme Court

Lacy H. Thornburg, Atty. Gen. by Steven F. Bryant, Asst. Atty. Gen., Raleigh, for State.

Benny S. Sharpe, Rockingham, for defendant-appellant.

BRANCH, Chief Justice.

By his first assignment of error, defendant contends that the trial court improperly allowed into evidence the rectal swab and slides taken from the victim and certain related testimony. Defendant argues that the State failed to establish a sufficient chain of custody to adequately identify these items as the ones taken from the victim.

The State's chain of custody evidence with regard to the rectal slides is as follows:

(1) Dr. Clifford James Long testified that he brought the rape kit, State's Exhibit 12, into the operating room with Mrs. Shelton. With cotton swabs taken from the kit, he sampled the victim's vaginal pool and rectum. From the swabs, he made slides which were appropriately identified by him or at his direction. Dr. Long stated that he actually sealed the rectal and vaginal slides and their respective swabs in separate containers, but that the rape kit box itself was sealed by the nurse. He indicated that the box was not sealed at that time because hair samples from Mrs. Shelton remained to be submitted by the nurse who was shaving her head for her craniotomy. Dr. Long stated that he left the operating room before the rape kit box was sealed. Dr. Long identified State's Exhibit 12A as the rectal smears taken from Mrs. Shelton.

(2) Operating Room Nurse Marilyn Rogers testified that she observed Dr. Long use the swabs as indicated and make slides. She stated that she closed the rape kit box, State's Exhibit 12, and handed it to Deputy Sheriff Timmy Monroe who was waiting outside the operating room.

(3) Deputy Sheriff Monroe testified that he observed Mrs. Shelton in the operating room and received the rape kit box, State's Exhibit 12, from Nurse Rogers. He stated that he placed his identification marks on the box and that it remained in his presence until he gave it to Detective Lanny Patterson.

(4) Detective Patterson testified that he obtained the sealed rape kit box from Deputy Monroe, that he placed his identification marks on the box, and that it remained continuously in his possession until he delivered it to SBI Agent Pamela Tulley.

(5) Agent Tulley testified that she received the rape kit box, State's Exhibit 12, from Detective Patterson, and placed her identification marks on the box which remained in her custody until she delivered it to SBI forensic serologist Joanna Medlin.

(6) Agent Medlin stated that she received the rape kit box from Agent Tulley, placed her identification marks on the box, and removed from it State's Exhibit 12A, identified as "rectal smears collected from the rectum of Sharon Shelton." Agent Medlin further testified that she performed various tests on the rectal slides to determine the presence of spermatozoa.

Defendant argues in particular that the State's chain of custody with regard to the rectal swab and slides is insufficient because Dr. Long testified that he left the operating room before the rape kit box was sealed, that some of the writing on one of the rectal slides was not his, and that Nurse Rogers failed to specifically testify that she observed Dr. Long take a rectal sample or make slides from the rectal swab.

We disagree that these alleged lapses in the rectal swab and slides chain of custody require that this evidence be excluded. The particular problems with the chain mentioned by defendant are easily solved by the testimony of other witnesses. For instance, although Dr. Long admitted that he left the operating room before the rape kit box was sealed, Nurse Rogers testified that she was in the operating room the entire time with the box and that items placed inside the box by Dr. Long were in the same condition when she observed the placement of other items into the box immediately before she closed it and handed the box to Deputy Monroe. Moreover, although Dr. Long stated that some of the writing on one of the rectal slides was not his, he testified that he gave the slides to the nurse who would have written the identification on the slides. He further indicated that State's Exhibits 12A were in fact the slides he made from Mrs. Shelton's rectum. Finally, even though Nurse Rogers failed to state that she observed Dr. Long take a rectal sample and make slides from this sample, Dr. Long specifically testified that he placed a cotton swab into Mrs. Shelton's rectum and prepared two slides from the swab which he sealed in a cardboard container and placed into the rape kit box.

In determining the standard of certainty that is required to show that an object offered is the same as the object involved in the incident and is in an unchanged condition, the trial court must exercise sound discretion. State v. Campbell, 311 N.C. 386, 388-89, 317 S.E.2d 391, 392 (1984). We hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the rectal swab, slides, and related testimony into evidence. In the first place, defendant has provided no reason for believing that this evidence was altered. Based on the detailed and documented chain of custody presented by the State, the possibility that the real evidence involved was confused or tampered with "is simply too remote to require exclusion of this evidence." State v. Grier, 307 N.C. 628, 633, 300 S.E.2d 351, 354 (1983). Furthermore, any weaknesses in the chain of custody relate only to the weight of the evidence, and not to its admissibility. Id.

Also, defendant argues under this assignment of error that even if the chain of custody was sufficiently established by the State, the rectal slides should, nevertheless, have been excluded. Defendant asserts that these slides were irrelevant for any purpose except to show penetration. Dr. Long testified that he inserted the swab into the rectum a centimeter, or one-half inch. According to defendant, because Dr. Long stated that the swab would gather anything it touched from outside the rectum to a centimeter inside the rectum, the slides did not establish that penetration had occurred and should not have been admitted into evidence.

Again, we disagree that this evidence should have been excluded. Evidence is relevant if it has any logical tendency, however slight, to prove a fact in issue in the case. State v. Hannah, 312 N.C. 286, 294, 322 S.E.2d 148, 154 (1984). See also N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 401 (Cum.Supp.1985). Dr. Long's testimony that the material collected on the rectal swab "came within that one centimeter length of rectum" surely created an inference that the spermatozoa detected on the slides were removed from inside the rectum. This inference was not destroyed by the fact that Dr. Long could not conclusively state that the swab did not also collect material from the rectal opening. Rather, his testimony logically tends to prove that penetration of the rectum did occur. We hold, therefore, that this evidence was relevant and properly admitted by the trial court.

Defendant similarly assigns as error the admission of evidence relating to the vaginal swab and slides made from the victim. However, since this particular vaginal swab and slides showed no evidence of sperm or semen, defendant concedes that he was not prejudiced by the introduction of this evidence. Consequently, this assignment of error is overruled.

Defendant's remaining three assignments of error deal with the sufficiency of the evidence. Defendant contends that the trial court improperly denied his motions to dismiss the charges of first degree rape and sexual offense at the close of the State's evidence and at the close of all the evidence, and his motion to set aside the verdicts as being against the greater weight of the evidence.

With regard to his rape conviction, defendant argues that the State produced no evidence, apart from his statement, that he raped or specifically engaged in vaginal intercourse with the victim. Defendant is correct in his assertion that a naked extrajudicial confession, uncorroborated by other evidence, is not sufficient to support a criminal conviction. State v. Franklin, 308 N.C. 682, 304 S.E.2d 579 (1983). According to the law of this jurisdiction, the State must at least produce corroborative evidence, independent of defendant's confession, which tends to prove the commission of the charged crime. Id. In State v. Parker, 315 N.C. 222, 337 S.E.2d 487 (1985), this Court expanded the type of corroboration which may be sufficient to establish the trustworthiness of the confession in cases in which independent proof is lacking but where there is substantial independent evidence tending to establish...

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27 cases
  • State v. Murillo, 209A96.
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • December 31, 1998
    ... ... "Evidence is relevant if it has any logical tendency, however slight, to prove a fact in issue in the case." State v. Sloan, 316 N.C. 714, 724, 343 S.E.2d 527, 533 (1986) ; see also N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 401. We have held that ... "in a criminal case every ... ...
  • State v. Ingle
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • July 29, 1994
    ...extrajudicial confession, uncorroborated by other evidence, is not sufficient to support a criminal conviction." State v. Sloan, 316 N.C. 714, 725, 343 S.E.2d 527, 534 (1986). "According to the law of this jurisdiction, the State must at least produce corroborative evidence, independent of ......
  • State v. Graham
    • United States
    • North Carolina Court of Appeals
    • October 2, 2007
    ...more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." N.C. Gen.Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 401; see also State v. Sloan, 316 N.C. 714, 724, 343 S.E.2d 527, 533 (1986) ("Evidence is relevant if it has any logical tendency, however slight, to prove a fact in issue in the case."); Stat......
  • State Carolina v. Hartley, COA10–964.
    • United States
    • North Carolina Court of Appeals
    • May 17, 2011
    ...swabs were taken on 19 June 2004, but were not picked up by Officer Dixon until 24 June 2004. Our Supreme Court stated in State v. Sloan, 316 N.C. 714, 723, 343 S.E.2d 527, 533 (1986) (quoting State v. Grier, 307 N.C. 628, 633, 300 S.E.2d 351, 354 (1983)): In the first place, defendant has ......
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