State v. Stanton
| Decision Date | 17 June 2003 |
| Docket Number | NO. COA02-708.,COA02-708. |
| Parties | STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. HENRY EMORY STANTON. |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Parish & Cooke, by James R. Parish, for defendant appellant.
Defendant Henry Emory Stanton was tried before a jury at the 4 September 2001 Session of Bladen County Superior Court after being charged with one count of first-degree rape and one count of first-degree kidnapping. The State's evidence at trial showed that the victim, Ms. Emileigh Barker, was a salesperson for Bardusch Corporation, a uniform supply company in Lumberton, North Carolina. On 28 July 1999, a caller named Mr. Smalls indicated he wanted to place an order for uniforms and was directed to call back the next day to speak to Ms. Barker. The next day, the caller, who identified himself as Dwayne Smalls, informed Ms. Barker that he wanted to purchase twelve uniforms for workers at his company, Pullium Construction. Ms. Barker testified that Mr. Smalls did notgive her a phone number or address, but did give her directions to his office. Mr. Smalls said his office had no sign, but that she would see a trailer 1/2 mile past the county line. Ms. Barker called information, but was unable to get a phone number for Mr. Smalls or Pullium Construction Company.
A short time later, Ms. Barker left to meet Mr. Smalls. She drove her Jeep and took sample uniforms and other materials for sales calls. On the way, she deposited her paycheck and withdrew some cash. As she approached the area Mr. Smalls described, she saw a man, later identified as defendant, flagging her down. She pulled over, and the man asked, "Are you Emileigh?" Ms. Barker asked if he was Mr. Smalls, to which defendant replied "yes." He told Ms. Barker to pull in front of the trailer, and she complied. She retrieved her samples and apologized to defendant for interrupting his lunch.
Defendant told Ms. Barker that he had to run some errands, and that his wife was in the trailer waiting to pick out the uniforms. Ms. Barker entered the trailer and looked for defendant's wife. When she got to the end of the hall, she discovered no one was there. Ms. Barker turned around to face defendant, who tackled her and threw her to the floor. According to Ms. Barker, defendant tied her arms and wrists together using electrical cord, tied her ankles together, then forced her to lay face down while he tied her hands to her ankles. Defendant then stuffed a cloth ball in Ms. Barker's mouth, and wrapped a bungee cord around the back of her head and attached the hook into the cloth in her mouth. Defendantthen wrapped her head in tape, which covered the gag and partially covered her nose. Ms. Barker testified she was scared for her life and had great difficulty breathing.
Defendant left the room for several minutes, then came back and started asking, Defendant paced back and forth, then left momentarily and returned with a large kitchen knife. Ms. Barker told defendant she could not breathe and defendant used the kitchen knife to cut off the tape, then removed the gag and the cord. She asked for a cigarette and told defendant that her hands were numb. Defendant cut the cord that held her ankles and hands tied together and moved her from room to room before retying her hands in front of her body and retying her ankles together. Defendant also tied a scarf around Ms. Barker's eyes. As he did so, defendant began talking about drug cartels, money owed by a man named Mike, and his belief that the drug cartels were after him. Defendant untied Ms. Barker's ankles, walked her down the hall, and made her sit on the edge of a bed. When Ms. Barker asked defendant to remove the blindfold, he refused and said, "No, I can't take it off because there's things in this room that you can't see." Ms. Barker indicated that she would rather be tied up in the other room without the blindfold, so defendant took her back to the end of the trailer and retied her ankles.
Defendant left the room and Ms. Barker heard him pacing up and down the hallway and saw his reflection as he raised the blinds andlooked out the windows. He returned a few minutes later with a blanket. He spread the blanket on the floor, then untied Ms. Barker's ankles, removed her underwear and bra, lifted up her dress, and raped her. Defendant untied Ms. Barker's hands and ankles and allowed her to use the bathroom, but kept the door open to prevent her escape. While Ms. Barker pleaded for her release, defendant left the room, returned with her purse, and took her money and credit cards.
Defendant continued to talk about drug cartels and his belief that people were after him. Eventually, he decided to leave the trailer with Ms. Barker and warned her not to run away. Once outdoors, Ms. Barker ran to the road and tried to flag down a passing truck, but it did not stop. She then made her way to her Jeep, which had been moved further away from the trailer. Ms. Barker started the Jeep and attempted to drive away, but the Jeep was stuck in sand and would not move. Defendant pushed it out and forced Ms. Barker to get into the passenger seat while he drove to a location where he had to "make a score." Defendant pulled into a trailer park and warned Ms. Barker that the men he was meeting were armed and dangerous. Defendant gave a man some money and returned to the Jeep with small packets in his hand, which he told her was crack cocaine. As defendant began driving, Ms. Barker told him she wanted some beer so that he would take her to a public area. Defendant agreed and drove to a convenience store. Ms. Barker mouthed the words "help me" to a person parked next to her, but did not attempt to flee because she was afraid of defendant. She and defendant went into the store, where defendant purchased beer and cigarettes. When they left the store, the person whom Ms. Barker asked for help was gone.
Defendant drove to a dirt road, took out a pipe, and began smoking the crack cocaine. Ms. Barker drank one of the beers, and defendant told her to smoke with him. Despite her protests, defendant forced Ms. Barker to smoke the pipe. She pretended to cough, and defendant told her to drink another beer. When the can was empty, he used it to fashion another smoking implement because his pipe was clogged. Soon thereafter, Ms. Barker's beeper went off and she persuaded defendant to take her to a rest stop with pay phones so she could call in. She went to a pay phone and defendant followed her. She then pretended to dial some numbers, handed defendant the phone, and asked, "Can you make any sense of this?" While defendant was distracted, Ms. Barker ran screaming toward several police officers. She told them she had been kidnapped and raped by defendant.
Later that evening, Ms. Barker rode with law enforcement officers to show them defendant's trailer. She was then taken to the emergency room by her fiancé at the request of Bladen County Sheriff's Sergeant Rodney Warwick, who met Ms. Barker at defendant's trailer.
At the conclusion of Ms. Barker's testimony, the State called Ms. Tracie Crookham, who stated that she had been abducted, bound, and serially raped by defendant in July of 1991. The State offered Ms. Crookham's testimony as evidence of modus operandi. SergeantWarwick testified regarding his interaction with Ms. Barker on 29 July and her trip to the emergency room. He also testified that he and several other officers conducted a search of defendant's residence based on defendant's wife's consent. Sergeant Warwick discovered a phone book open on a bed with a piece of paper lying on the page. The paper had the victim's name on it, as well as the name "Dwayne Smalls." The phone book also had a notation near the entry for Bardusch under the uniforms section of the yellow pages. Sergeant Warwick also discovered a roll of duct tape, several uniforms, a woman's scarf, a towel, a gag, a bedspread, electrical cords, and duct tape with what appeared to be human hair on it. Sergeant Warwick also photographed Ms. Barker from several different angles to document her injuries, which included bruises on her arms, scabbing wounds on her wrists and elbows, and a mark on her neck.
State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) Agent Brenda Bissette performed a DNA testing on evidence samples taken from Ms. Barker's rape kit and testified that the semen found in Ms. Barker's body was a genetic match for defendant. After calling seven witnesses, the State rested.
Defendant presented the testimony of four witnesses, including himself. Defendant testified he met Ms. Barker a week before 29 July 2001 at a shopping center in Fayetteville. According to defendant, Ms. Barker asked him to walk to Food Lion with her to get beer, and he did so. He stated they drank the beer in her SUV and drove around looking for drugs. After defendant stopped by amotel to pay someone a debt, he agreed to follow Ms. Barker to another motel. After a few minutes, defendant stated Ms. Barker ran into some people she knew and told him they had to leave. Defendant stated he and Ms. Barker drove around the Spring Lake area, bought crack cocaine, smoked it, and went to a motel room. Ms. Barker left and returned with another man, who repeatedly asked defendant for money. Defendant testified he eventually called security, who escorted Ms. Barker and the man off the premises.
Defendant stated he did not see Ms. Barker again until 29 July, when she arrived at his trailer looking for a man named Dwayne Smalls; he told her his name was T.J. and that he was handling things for Mr. Smalls. Defend...
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