State v. Williams
| Decision Date | 06 May 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. COA07-1080.,COA07-1080. |
| Citation | 660 S.E.2d 189 |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Theodore Jerry WILLIAMS. |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Richard E. Jester, Louisburg, for Defendant-Appellee.
The State of North Carolina (the State) appeals from an order dismissing the charge of felony assault on a government officer or employee against Theodore Jerry Williams (Defendant). For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm.
Defendant was charged with misdemeanor assault on a government official or employee on 20 April 2004. Defendant was then indicted on 1 November 2004 for felony assault on a government officer or employee and for having attained the status of habitual felon. The habitual felon indictment alleged that Defendant previously had been convicted of the following felonies: (1) breaking or entering a motor vehicle; (2) assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury; and (3) possession of cocaine. The grand jury returned a superseding indictment on 30 October 2006, charging Defendant with felony assault on a government officer or employee. Specifically, the superseding indictment stated that Defendant
unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did assault and strike Brad Mosely, a government officer of the Union County Sheriff's Office by punching him. At the time of the offense, the officer was attempting to discharge the following duty of that office: removing . . . [D]efendant from a holding cell in the Union County Jail.
Defendant filed a pro se motion to "dismiss for prosecutorial misconduct and Brady violation N.C.G.S. § 15A-954" on 28 November 2006. In his motion, Defendant alleged that since 19 April 2004, he had been "the victim of a vicious conspiracy between Stanly and Union County Law Enforcement and Prosecutors . . . to retaliate against . . . [D]efendant for the filing of a civil rights complaint . . . against [an] Assistant District Attorney, . . . [the] Stanly County Sheriff, . . . and the Stanly County Commissioners." Defendant further alleged that Stanly County Sheriff's Deputy Jeffrey Brafford and Stanly County Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Vlahos had created and displayed a two-picture "poster" of Defendant, in which
the first picture showed . . . [D]efendant to be unmarked and in good health, with the words, "Before He Sued The DA's Office" written above it. The second picture was located directly below the first picture and showed . . . [D]efendant to be badly beaten and bruised, with the words "After He Sued The DA's Office" written above it.
Defendant asserted that "by and through counsel, . . . [Defendant] [had] made known [his] intent to use this `poster' in his defense by motion in Union County Superior Court on March 23, 2005[.]" Defendant also alleged that he had subpoenaed Assistant District Attorneys Patrick Nadolski and Steve Higdon to produce the poster. Defendant further argued that those assistant district attorneys "willfully and intentionally destroyed the poster[.]" Defendant argued that "the intentional destruction of . . . potentially exculpatory evidence by prosecutors . . . created such irreparable prejudice to . . . [D]efendant's preparation of his case that there is no remedy but to dismiss the prosecution."
The trial court heard evidence and arguments on 18 January 2007, and announced its ruling in open court. The State did not present evidence and did not cross-examine Defendant's witnesses. The trial court made the following findings of fact:
1) That on November 17th of 2003 . . . Defendant was arrested in Stanly County for alleged violations not related to this prosecution and at that time . . . Defendant was processed into the Stanly County Jail.
2) That upon processing, the staff of the Stanly County Jail made an identification photograph of . . . Defendant. The photograph of . . . Defendant did not reveal that he had sustained any injuries during his apprehension or processing.
3) That during the February-March 2004 time period, . . . Defendant sued the Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Vlahos, Union County Sheriff Tony Frick, and the Union County Commissioners in various courts, alleging, in essence, unlawful detention.
4) That on April the 19th of 2004 . . . Defendant was transported [from Stanly County] to Union County for processing regarding criminal violations alleged to have been committed by . . . Defendant in Union County.
5) That later on that same day, April the 19th, 2004, . . . Defendant was transported back to Stanly County, to the Stanly County Jail, in a manner and for reasons that . . . Defendant alleges violated his United States Constitutional rights. . . . Defendant alleges that he correspondingly complained of this to the detention officers of Stanly County.
6) . . . Defendant alleges that [while he was in Union County] he was assaulted by various officers and members of the Union County Jail. One of them was Deputy Brad Moseley. This incident is the subject of this prosecution and in an indictment it alleges that . . . Defendant assaulted a government official by punching in the face [of] Deputy Moseley. That on April the 20th, 2004, . . . Defendant was photographed by the staff of the Stanly County Jail in order to complete the in-processing of . . . Defendant.
7) That the photograph of . . . Defendant made on April 20th, 2004, showed . . . Defendant's condition during a time relevant to the subject prosecution.
8) That in May of 2004, Detention Officer Becky Green of the Stanly County Sheriff's Office went on an unrelated matter to the Stanly County office of the District Attorney for the 20th Prosecutorial District, that while in the office Ms. Green saw a poster which contained two photographs of . . . Defendant. One photograph of . . . Defendant was made when . . . Defendant was processed into the jail on November 17th of 2003, with a caption saying, in quotation, "Before suing the District Attorney's office," closed quotation, and a second photograph of . . . Defendant that was made when . . . Defendant was processed back into the Stanly County Jail between April 19th and 20th of 2004, which showed . . . Defendant's injuries and was captioned . . . "After he sued the District Attorney's office," . . . and that this poster was in the portion of the District Attorney's office occupied by Assistant District Attorneys Nicholas Vlahos and Steve Higdon.
9) That during proceedings regarding this case and upon the request of . . . Defendant for discovery and disclosure that Assistant District Attorney Higdon stated in open court that the poster had been destroyed and was not available, and that the subject photographs originally taken at the Stanly County Jail were not available as well.
Based upon these findings of fact, the trial court concluded:
1) That the photographs of . . . Defendant made during his processing into the Stanly County Jail on November 17th of 2003 and again between April the 19th and 20th of 2004 are relevant and material to the defense of the subject prosecution.
2) That the poster of the photographs described herein was willfully destroyed and not made available to . . . Defendant although . . . Defendant made a valid and timely request for same.
3) That the original photographs described herein have not been made available and as represented by the State of North Carolina are unavailable to . . . Defendant, even though implicitly requested by . . . Defendant.
4) That due to the destruction or failure of the State to provide this evidence, which is material and may be exculpatory in nature, . . . Defendant's rights pursuant to the Constitution of the United States and the North Carolina Constitution have been flagrantly violated and there is such irreparable prejudice to . . . Defendant's preparation of his case that there is no remedy but to dismiss the prosecution.
The trial court dismissed the charge of felony assault on a government officer or employee, and stated as follows: "I suggest that you dismiss [the habitual felon charge], unless [the State has] got another charge to attach to." The State appeals.
The State argues "the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the prosecution against Defendant, as the trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law were unsupported and erroneous." N.C. Gen.Stat. § 15A-954(a)(4) (2007) provides:
The court on motion of the defendant must dismiss the charges stated in a criminal pleading if it determines that:
. . .
(4) The defendant's constitutional rights have been flagrantly violated and there is such irreparable prejudice to the defendant's preparation of his case that there is no remedy but to dismiss the prosecution.
On appeal, our review
is strictly limited to determining whether the trial judge's underlying findings of fact are supported by competent evidence, in which event they are conclusively binding on appeal, and whether those factual findings in turn support the judge's ultimate conclusions of law. Indeed, an appellate court accords great deference to the trial court in this respect because it is entrusted with the duty to hear testimony, weigh and resolve any conflicts in the evidence, find the facts, and, then based upon those findings, render a legal decision, in the first instance, as to whether or not a constitutional violation of some kind has occurred.
State v. Cooke, 306 N.C. 132, 134, 291 S.E.2d 618, 619-20 (1982) (citations omitted). We apply de novo review to a trial court's conclusions of law. State v. Hernandez, 170 N.C.App. 299, 304, 612 S.E.2d 420, 423 (2005).
The State argues that the trial court's findings of fact four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine were not supported by the evidence and that the...
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