State v. Williams
Decision Date | 12 June 1970 |
Docket Number | No. 41,41 |
Citation | 276 N.C. 703,174 S.E.2d 503 |
Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Willie B. WILLIAMS. |
Atty. Gen. Robert Morgan and Deputy Atty. Gen. Ralph Moody, for the State.
Downing, Downing & David, by Harold D. Downing, Fayetteville, for defendant-appellant.
Despite the fact that defendant did not want to appeal, his attorney filed a brief posing four questions for decision.
Defendant contends first that the trial court erred when it admitted defendant's confession and other evidence obtained as a result thereof without first inquiring into its voluntariness. Defendant did not object to this testimony, so the real question is: should the trial court in the absence of an objection inquire Sua sponte into the voluntariness of an alleged confession offered by the State? We think not. The general rule is stated in 29 Am.Jur.2d Evidence § 583 as follows:
(Emphasis ours.)
In State v. Vickers, 274 N.C. 311, 163 S.E.2d 481, Branch, J., carefully reviewed the authorities concerning the admission of confessions, reaffirming the long-established rule in North Carolina that admissions or confessions to the police officer would not be rendered incompetent solely because defendant was under arrest when they were made, and that an extrajudicial confession is admissible against a defendant when and only when it was voluntarily and understandingly made. In Vickers the Court held that a general objection to testimony concerning an alleged confession was sufficient to require a Voir dire to determine its voluntariness, saying:
'See 3 Wigmore, 3d Ed., § 860, 1964 Pocket Supplement, for full note and cites as to modern trend in other jurisdictions.
'We hold that hereafter when the State offers a confession in a criminal trial And the defendant objects, the trial judge shall determine the voluntariness of the admissions or confession by a preliminary inquiry in the absence of the jury.' (Emphasis ours.)
It is no longer the rule that a confession is presumed to be voluntary and the burden is on a defendant to show the contrary. The burden of showing the voluntariness of a confession is now upon the State. State v. Thorpe, 274 N.C. 457, 164 S.E.2d 171; State v. Vickers, supra.
In both Vickers and Thorpe objections were made to the introduction of the testimony concerning the alleged confessions. This Court has generally held that there is no necessity for a Voir dire when there is no objection to the proffered testimony. State v. Stubbs, 266 N.C. 274, 145 S.E.2d 896; State v. Camp, 266 N.C. 626, 146 S.E.2d 643. Due to 'peculiar' circumstances, this rule was relaxed to some extent in State v. Pearce, 266 N.C. 234, 237, 145 S.E.2d 918, 921. There, speaking for the Court, Higgins, J., said:
The instant case can be clearly distinguished from Pearce. The error there was the continuation of the interrogation over a period of two months while the defendant was in custody on a capital charge without benefit of counsel. Here the defendant made his statement to the officer the day after the crime was committed after having been fully advised by the officer of his constitutional rights; namely, he had a right to be silent; anything he said could be used against him in court; he had a right to talk to the lawyer for advice before he was asked any questions and to have him with him during the questioning; if he could not afford a lawyer, one would be appointed for him before he was questioned if he so wished; and if he decided to answer questions without a lawyer being present, he had the right to stop answering questions at any time. He stated he understood his rights, and then made his statement to the officer. There is nothing in this record to indicate that the confession was anything less than voluntary, and we hold that in the absence of such indication no Voir dire is necessary unless there is an objection to the testimony concerning the alleged confession. State v. Painter, 265 N.C. 277, 144 S.E.2d 6.
In United States v. Inman, 352 F.2d 954 (4th Cir.1965), the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit seemed to take the opposite view when it said:
However, the same Court in Morris v. Boles, 386 F.2d 395 (4th Cir. 1967), cert. den. 390 U.S. 1043, 88 S.Ct. 1640, 20 L.Ed.2d 304 (1968), later acknowledged that what was said in Inman did not prescribe a rule of constitutional application to prosecutions in state courts within the Circuit, but was based on the court's supervisory power over district courts within the Circuit. In a more recent opinion written by Judge Burger (now Chief Justice) the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia chose specifically not to follow the Inman decision. In Woody v. United States, 126 U.S.App.D.C. 353, 379 F.2d 130 (1967), cert. den. 389 U.S. 961, 88 S.Ct. 342, 19 L.Ed.2d 371 (1967), Judge Burger said:
Woody has been approved in State v. Oliva, 183 Neb. 620, 163 N.W.2d 112 (1968), cert. den. 395 U.S. 925, 89 S.Ct. 1780, 23 L.Ed.2d 242 (1969), and in State v. Armstrong, 103 Ariz. 280, 440 P.2d 307 (1968). We think this is the correct rule, and this assignment of error is overruled.
Defendant next assigns as error the admission of testimony by Deputy Sheriff King concerning the comparison of tire tracks found at the scene of the crime with the tires on the car which the defendant admitted he was driving. A plaster cast was made of the tire marks at the scene and compared with the tires on the 1967 Chevrolet which defendant was using. The car was equipped with four tires bearing the trademark of 'Pure Pride.' The witness, without objection, said the tread on the plaster cast was compared with the tires and found to be the same. This was simply a...
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