State v. Taylor, 48

• Decision Date: 17 June 1976
• Docket Number: No. 48,48
• Citation: 290 N.C. 220,226 S.E.2d 23
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Gregory James TAYLOR.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Page 23

226 S.E.2d 23

290 N.C. 220

STATE of North Carolina v. Gregory James TAYLOR.

No. 48.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

June 17, 1976.

Atty. Gen. Rufus L. Edmisten by Asst. Atty. Gen. Roy A. Giles, Jr., Raleigh, for the State.

Paul L. Whitfield, Charlotte, for defendant-appellant.

BRANCH, Justice.

Defendant assigns as error Judge Snepp's ruling that defendant had the mental capacity to stand trial.

Pursuant to motion of defense counsel, a pretrial hearing to determine defendant's competency to stand trial was conducted on 2 September 1975. At this hearing, defendant's mother, Eunice Taylor, and his father, Willie James Taylor, testified as to defendant's unusual and strange behavior for a period of about two years preceding the hearing. Their testimony at this time was consistent with their testimony offered at trial in defendant's behalf as related in our statement of facts. Both of these witnesses additionally testified that in his and her respective opinions their son did not understand the nature of these proceedings and was not able to assist counsel in presenting his defense.

Dr. Mildred Keene's testimony at this hearing was in essence consonant with her testimony at trial as summarized in our statement of facts. She did not give an opinion as to whether defendant was mentally competent to stand trial.

Dr. Robert D. Cox, an expert in the field of psychiatry, stated that he treated defendant during September 1974. In his opinion, defendant's unusual behavior 'was most likely a drug-induced psychosis.' He related that defendant's condition 'cleared up' over a period of about three weeks when he was treated with an anti-psychotic drug called Haldon. Dr. Cox gave no opinion as to defendant's competency to stand trial.

Dr. James Gregg Groce, after testifying to facts substantially in accord with his testimony at trial as summarized in our statement of facts, stated:

. . . I believe he can assist you in that he was able to relate to me fairly fully, and at times including trivial detail, what was going on at the time and his thinking at the time, his actions at the time, and I feel that that is the most important part of assisting you in his defense. He does have difficulty with his thinking but I don't feel that it is so severe that he would be unable to participate in the preparation of his defense.

Defendant testified that he knew that he was accused of murder and that he was going to be tried for it. He said that he was able to help his lawyer and 'could talk to you (his counsel) today and tomorrow about what happened on 24 January 1975, so that you (counsel) will understand it.'

Judge Snepp, after finding facts consistent with the evidence, concluded that defendant had capacity to proceed within the meaning of G.S. 15A--1001 and thereupon ordered the Sheriff of Mecklenburg County 'to take special care that the medications prescribed for the defendant are administered as directed and that the defendant actually take such medications.' G.S. 15A--1003, in part, provides:

(a) If a defendant is found to be incapable of proceeding, the court must enter an order directing the initiation of proceedings for judicial hospitalization, and the court's order is a sufficient basis for the initiation of those proceedings.

In State v. Cooper, 286 N.C. 549, 213 S.E.2d 305, Justice Lake, speaking for the Court, stated:

The test of a defendant's mental capacity to stand trial is whether he has, at the time of trial, the mental capacity to comprehend his position, to understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him, to conduct his defense in a rational manner, and to cooperate with his counsel to the end that any available defense may be interposed. State v. Jones, 278 N.C. 259, 179 S.E.2d 433; State v. Propst, 274 N.C. 62, 161 S.E.2d 560; State v. Sullivan, 229 N.C. 251, 49 S.E.2d 458; Strong, N.C. Index 2d, Criminal Law, § 29; 21 Am.Jur.2d, Criminal Law, § 65. When, as here, this question is properly raised before the defendant pleads to the indictment, it should be determined prior to the commencement of the trial, as was done in this instance. State v. Propst, supra, 274 N.C. at page 69, 161 S.E.2d 560. It may be determined by the trial court with or without the aid of a jury. State v. Propst, supra, at page 68, 161 S.E.2d 560. When the court, as here, conducts the inquiry without a jury, the court's findings of fact, if supported by evidence, are conclusive on appeal. State v. Squires, 265 N.C. 388, 144 S.E.2d 49. . . .

In instant case, Dr. Groce, an expert in psychiatry, unequivocally stated that in his opinion defendant would be able to assist counsel in the preparation of his defense. Defendant testified that he was aware of the nature of the charges against him, and that he could talk to his counsel from day to day so that counsel could understand the happenings of 24 January 1975. The other expert witnesses did not contradict the crucial opinion given by Dr. Groce and, in fact, the only contradiction of Dr. Groce's expert opinion came from defendant's mother and father. We hold that the court's findings of fact were supported by the evidence and the findings in turn supported Judge Snepp's conclusions and ruling and defendant had the capacity to proceed within the meaning of G.S. 15A--1001 Et seq.

Defendant next assigns as error the overruling of his objection to the admission of certain portions of Dr. Groce's expert opinion. He first challenges the form of the following hypothetical question:

Dr. Groce, let me ask you a question. If the jury should find as the following facts: One, that the defendant joined with two other persons to travel to another location, that he carried a large and heavy weapon in a concealed manner, that he wore clothes especially to conceal the weapon, that he provided a wig to conceal the identity of a partner, that he attempted to commit an armed robbery, that he warned a storekeeper, 'Don't do anything foolish,' that he fired a singleshot weapon then fled because the storekeeper was armed, that he threw down the weapon and left the clothes used to conceal it, that he concealed himself in a nearby mill, that he asked directions calmly how to escape, that he took off identifying clothes, that he left a get-a-way car in a remote location, that he answered questions of another as to what he had done and why, and that he concealed himself until the following day, do you have an opinion satisfactory to yourself, based upon your medical knowledge and experience, as to whether or not the defendant could or might have had the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of, and in respect to the matter under investigation?

Expert testimony may be presented to the jury through the testimony of an expert based on his own personal knowledge and observation or through testimony of an expert based on a hypothetical question addressed to him in which the pertinent facts are assumed to be true, or rather, assumed to be found by the jury. State v. David, 222 N.C. 242, 22 S.E.2d 633. However, a hypothetical question should include only facts supported by the evidence already introduced or those facts which a jury might logically infer therefrom. Questions should not contain repetitious, slanted or argumentative words or phrases. Petree v. Duke Power Co., 268 N.C. 419, 150 S.E.2d 749; Ingram v. McCuiston, 261 N.C. 392, 134 S.E.2d 705; 3 Strong, North Carolina Index 2d, Evidence § 49 at 681.

Defendant first argues that the hypothetical question erroneously assumed that defendant concealed a weapon under a coat worn for that purpose and that defendant provided a wig to conceal the identity of an accomplice. The state's witness Dennis Weathers, who drove defendant to the scene of the crime, stated that defendant wore a coat over his sweater and that he did not see a shotgun. He testified that as Taylor left the car, he put his hand in his coat 'as if indicating he was holding some kind of weapon.' Weathers further testified that when defendant returned to the car, he said that he had shot a woman with a shotgun and 'he had it under his coat all the time.' This evidence would be sufficient for the jury to logically infer that defendant wore the coat for the purpose of concealing the shotgun. Admittedly there was no evidence in the record at the time the hypothetical question was asked concerning the provision of a wig to conceal the identity of an accomplice. We have held that the incorporation into a hypothetical question of an assumed finding as to a Vital fact of which there was no evidence is ground for a new trial. State v. Simpson, 244 N.C. 325, 93 S.E.2d 425. In our opinion, the erroneous assumption as to the furnishing of a wig to an accomplice by defendant in the hypothetical question was not of such vital nature as to require a new trial.

Defendant further attacks the form of the hypothetical question on the ground that it made no reference to defendant's extensive history of mental illness and to his prior judicial commitments.

The general rule is that a hypothetical question which omits any reference to a fact which goes to the essence of the case and therefore presents a state of facts so incomplete that an opinion based on it would be obviously unreliable is improper and the expert's answer to such a question will be excluded. However, it is not necessary to include in the hypothetical question all the evidence bearing upon the facts to be proved. The adversary has the right to present other phases of the evidence in counter-hypothetical questions so as to supply omitted facts and to ask the expert on cross-examination if his opinion would have been modified by the inclusion of such omitted facts. Dean v. Coach Co., 287 N.C. 515, 215 S.E.2d 89; State v. Stewart, 156 N.C. 636, 72 S.E. 193.

We concede that the challenged hypothetical question was not a model question, however, the deficiencies in the form of the question do not...