State v. Wilson
| Citation | 330 S.E.2d 450,313 N.C. 516 |
| Decision Date | 04 June 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 610A83,610A83 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Horace Edward WILSON. |
Lacy H. Thornburg, Atty. Gen. by Ralf F. Haskell, Sp. Deputy Atty. Gen., Raleigh, for the State.
Kellum Morris, Asst. Public Defender for Judicial District Twenty-Seven-A, Gastonia, for the defendant-appellant.
The defendant brings forward numerous assignments of error in which he contends that certain evidence was improperly admitted, that errors were made concerning the selection of jurors, that the jury was improperly instructed on certain facets of the case and that the evidence presented by the State was insufficient to permit the case against him to be submitted to the jury. We conclude that the defendant received a fair trial free from prejudicial error.
This case arises out of events occurring on the evening of September 16, 1982 at the Bishop Motel located in Belmont, near Charlotte, North Carolina. The State presented evidence tending to show that at approximately 12:00 noon on September 16, 1982, the defendant checked into the 321 Motel in Charlotte with a woman and two young children. The defendant was driving a blue Chevrolet Vega.
Mrs. Ruparib Jethwa, the victim's aunt, testified that she and her husband operated the Stonewall Motel located in Belmont, North Carolina. The Bishop Motel, which was managed by the victim, Probhatsing Dipubha Jadeja, was located about a block away from the Stonewall Motel. Sometime between 11:00 and 11:30 p.m. on September 16, 1982, the defendant with another black male entered the office of the Stonewall Motel and inquired about renting an apartment. During the ensuing conversation, the witness saw what looked like a knife partially concealed in the defendant's pocket. Upon being informed that an apartment could only be rented in the daytime hours, the defendant stated that they would return in the morning. He and his companion then left.
Ray Collins testified that he owned an automotive parts store located next door to the Bishop Motel. He and an employee, Wanda Miller, stayed late at the store the night of September 16, 1982. Shortly after 11:00 p.m., as they were preparing to close, Collins observed two black males walking toward the Bishop Motel. As Collins and Miller left the store they observed a blue Vega pull up to the corner of the building. A man got out of the car and went to a nearby telephone booth. Collins and Miller got into Collins' car and left. The blue Vega followed them for approximately a block and then turned to go back toward the Bishop Motel.
Ralph Cohn testified that he was living at the Bishop Motel on September 16, 1982 and had been residing there for approximately four months prior to that date. During this period Cohn and the victim Jadeja had become close friends. On the evening of September 16, 1982, Cohn, his girl friend and Jadeja had dinner together. Afterwards Cohn and Jadeja drove to the Stonewall Motel and stopped at a store to buy a pack of cigarettes. They returned to the Bishop Motel around 10:50 p.m. and planned to watch a ballgame together at 11:00 p.m.
Robert Fullerton was also living at the Bishop Motel on September 16, 1982. At approximately 11:00 p.m. he went to his car. In the parking lot he heard someone moving. He discovered Jadeja lying in the parking lot covered with blood. Jadeja stated that he had been stabbed and robbed by three black men. Fullerton then ran to a phone booth beside the Bishop Motel to call the police. A black male was in the phone booth, however, and Fullerton ran back to the crowd which had gathered around Jadeja.
In the meantime Ralph Cohn had been informed that Jadeja had been attacked. He knelt beside Jadeja and asked him what happened. Jadeja told Cohn that two black males had stabbed him. At that time the victim was not wearing the wristwatch that he had been wearing when Cohn had last seen him a few minutes earlier. Cohn then ran to the motel office to phone for assistance and discovered that the telephone had been ripped off its hook. There were papers scattered throughout the office and blood was all over the office as well. Cohn then went to a nearby house and called the Belmont Police Department.
Officer Robert Johnston, a member of the Gaston County Police Department assigned to the Identification Section of the department, testified that at approximately 11:25 p.m. on the evening of September 16, 1982, he was instructed to go to the Bishop Motel. He arrived about twenty minutes later and went to the motel office. He found the office disarranged with the telephone, a key, an insurance folder, a small envelope covered with black tape and other items scattered on the floor. He proceeded to photograph the room.
Byron Carpenter, a member of the South Point Lifesaving Crew, testified that he and two other crew members arrived at the Bishop Motel at about 11:20 p.m. They found Jadeja lying in the motel parking lot, his shirt covered with blood. Carpenter cut away the victim's shirt and discovered a stab wound to the upper left quadrant of his chest. The victim was placed in an ambulance which proceeded to Gaston Memorial Hospital. Jadeja went into full cardiac arrest enroute to the hospital and efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
Dr. Phillip Leone was qualified and accepted by the court as an expert in the field of pathology. He testified that he performed an autopsy on the body of Jadeja which revealed that the victim had sustained a laceration beneath his chin and abrasions over his left eye, over the left hip and to the left temple. He also found a stab wound to the victim's chest a quarter of an inch wide and approximately three inches deep which penetrated the heart. Dr. Leone stated that in his opinion the chest wound was caused by a knife and that the cause of Jadeja's death was this stab wound.
Bhartsang Jadeja, the victim's brother, testified that the day after the stabbing he went to the Bishop Motel and checked the motel records to ascertain what, if anything, was missing. According to the daily records, $219.40 in receipts had been received since the last deposit of money received for the rental of rooms. Bhartsang Jadeja did not find any money in the motel office. Also, no money was discovered on the body of the victim.
Charles Fernanders, an acquaintance of the defendant, testified that in late September or early October of 1982 he saw Merinda Graham with a wristwatch which was later identified as that of the victim. Other witnesses testified that Graham was the defendant's girl friend. Approximately a week later Fernanders saw the watch in the possession of the defendant. The defendant said that he wanted to pawn the watch. Feranders rode with the defendant to a pawnshop in Mecklenburg County to attempt to sell the watch. The defendant was driving a blue Vega. The defendant was unsuccessful in selling the watch at the pawnshop. The defendant and Fernanders then drove to see James Ford who operated a garage in Mount Holly. Ford testified that the defendant offered to pawn the watch to him. When Ford replied that he was not interested in such a transaction but would consider buying it outright, the defendant offered to sell it to him. Ford bought the watch from the defendant for $5.00. At that time Ford asked the defendant if the watch was stolen. The defendant replied that the watch was not stolen and was his personal property.
The defendant first contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for the sequestration and individual voir dire of prospective jurors. The defendant argues that the presence of all the prospective jurors during the voir dire resulted in their exposure to the beliefs and prejudices of the other prospective jurors and kept them from candidly answering the voir dire questioning. He also contends that as a result of the collective voir dire, many jurors were able to observe other jurors being excused for cause due to their opposition to the death penalty and were therefore able to frame their responses so as to achieve disqualification as well.
N.C.G.S. 15A-1214(j) provides: This provision does not grant either party any absolute right. See State v. Jackson, 309 N.C. 26, 305 S.E.2d 703 (1983). The decision whether to grant sequestration and individual voir dire of prospective jurors rests in the sound discretion of the trial court and its ruling will not be disturbed absent a showing of abuse of discretion. Id.; State v. Johnson, 298 N.C. 355, 259 S.E.2d 752 (1979). The defendant's arguments that the collective voir dire made the prospective jurors aware of prejudicial matters and inhibited the candor of the jurors are the same arguments rejected as mere speculation in Johnson. The argument that a collective voir dire permits prospective jurors to become "educated" as to responses which would enable them to be excused from the panel is equally speculative. The defendant offered no proof and failed to show that the trial court's denial of his motion was an abuse of discretion. This assignment of error is overruled.
In his next assignment of error the defendant contends that he was prejudiced when the trial court ordered the Sheriff of Gaston County to randomly recruit jurors in the middle of the jury selection process. N.C.G.S. 9-11(a) provides in pertinent part: "If necessary, the court may, without using the jury list, order the sheriff to summon from day to day additional jurors to supplement the original venire." We have held that N.C.G.S. 9-11(a) clearly authorizes the trial court to order the summoning of supplemental jurors as a means to ensure orderly, uninterrupted and speedy trials. State v. Fountain, 282 N.C. 58, ...
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