State v. Young

• Decision Date: 01 April 2014
• Docket Number: No. COA13–586.,COA13–586.
• Citation: 756 S.E.2d 768
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Jason Lynn YOUNG.

756 S.E.2d 768

STATE of North Carolina

v.Jason Lynn YOUNG.

No. COA13–586.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

April 1, 2014.

Appeal by Defendant from judgment entered 5 March 2012 by Judge Donald W. Stephens in Wake County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 12 December 2013.

Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Special Deputy Attorney General Robert C. Montgomery, Assistant Attorney General Amy Kunstling Irene, and Assistant Attorney General Daniel P. O'Brien, for the State.

Appellate Defender Staples S. Hughes, by Assistant Appellate Defender Barbara S. Blackman, for defendant-appellant.

HUNTER, JR., ROBERT N., Judge.

Jason Lynn Young (“Defendant”) appeals a jury verdict finding him guilty of first-degree murder of his wife, Michelle Fisher Young (“Michelle”). Defendant argues that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of the entry of a default judgment in a wrongful death action and a child custody complaint against Defendant in his subsequent criminal trial. We agree, vacate the judgment, and remand for a new trial.

I. Facts & Procedural History

The Wake County Grand Jury indicted Defendant for first-degree murder on 14 December 2009. Defendant's case was tried in Wake County Superior Court on 31 May 2011 with Judge Donald W. Stephens presiding. On 27 June 2011, a mistrial was declared when the jury deadlocked eight to four to acquit Defendant.

Defendant's retrial began at the 17 January 2012 session of Wake County Superior Court, with Judge Stephens again presiding. On 5 March 2012, the jury found Defendant guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment without parole. Notice of appeal was given in open court. The testimony presented at trial tended to show the following facts.

A. State's Evidence

Michelle Young was found at her home by her sister, Meredith Fisher (“Meredith”), around 1:00 p.m. on 3 November 2006. Meredith found Michelle after Defendant called Meredith, asking her to retrieve some printouts of eBay searches for Coach purses. Defendant was out of town on a business trip and left a voicemail for Meredith stating his plan to purchase these purses as a belated anniversary present. Defendant did not want Michelle to find out beforehand.

Meredith complied with Defendant's requests and entered the Youngs' home through the garage door, which was broken, and then through the unlocked kitchen door to the home's mudroom. Meredith noticed her sister's car was in the garage and that her keys and purse were visible near the kitchen counter. After entering, Meredith called out Michelle's name and heard no response. Meredith heard the Youngs' dog, “Mr. G.,” whimpering, but she did not see him. The house was cold.

As Meredith ascended the home's stairs, she saw what she thought was dark red hair dye at the top of the staircase in the bathroom of the Youngs' two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Emily.¹ Meredith first thought that Emily had smeared hair dye around the home and that Michelle would be angry about the mess. When Meredith reached the top of the stairs and looked to the left, she saw Michelle lying on the floor, surrounded by a large amount of blood.

Meredith called 911, and as she did, Meredith said “[Emily] lifted up the covers and just kind of stared at me and I just kind of stared back at her and then she just kind of got on me and clung to me as I called 911.” During the call, Emily continually asked for band-aids and said that her mother “has boo-boos everywhere.” The 911 operator asked Meredith if Michelle had any personal problems, to which Meredith replied “[u]m not really. You know her and her husband fight a little bit, but nothing too ridiculous.” Meredith also told the 911 operator that her “niece is very smart for her age” and that she thought Emily was saying “there was somebody in the house.” Paramedics and the Wake County Sheriff's Office responded to Meredith's call.

Emily was not injured and appeared “clean” when Meredith arrived, except for some dried blood on Emily's toenails and on the bottom of her pajama pants. Meredith said she did not clean Emily. Emily was wearing fleece pajamas, was not wearing underpants or footwear, and did not urinate or defecate on herself or the bed. Emily clung to Meredith's hip until they both were taken away by emergency personnel. Later, Meredith called her mother Linda Fisher (“Linda”) in New York to tell her of Michelle's passing and later told Defendant's mother Pat Young (“Pat”) of Michelle's death.

Sheriff's officers found Michelle with a large amount of coagulated, dried blood around her body and with blood splattering against the walls of her bedroom. Michelle's body was discolored, cold, and stiff. She was not wearing shoes and was dressed in sweatpants and a zip-up sweatshirt. Blood was observed on the opposite side of the bed from where Meredith found Emily. Defendant's DNA and fingerprints were present in the bedroom, although none of his fingerprints contained blood.

Michelle was lying face-down just outside of a closet labeled “his closet.” A child's doll was near Michelle's head. Blood was also found on the exterior of this closet, and inside of the closet door. The only blood found outside of the second floor of the Youngs' home was found on the doorknob leading from the kitchen to the garage, and its DNA markers were consistent with Michelle's DNA. No blood was found in or on Defendant's vehicle, his clothes, or in the hotel room where he stayed on 2 November 2006.

The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, Dr. Thomas Clark (“Dr. Clark”), opined that Michelle experienced blunt force trauma to her head and body. The trauma included a broken jaw, skull fracturing, brain hemorrhaging, lacerations, abrasions, and dislodged teeth. Dr. Clark stated that there were likely at least thirty blows delivered to Michelle, and the medical examiner testified that he thought the blows were inflicted by “a heavy blunt object” with a rounded surface that produced crescent-shaped skull fractures. Dr. Clark said the autopsy did not produce evidence of a sexual assault against Michelle. Michelle was approximately twenty weeks pregnant when she passed away.

Small footprints in blood, consistent with a child's footprints, were found around the bedroom and at the top of the stairwell landing. Investigators testified that blood was smeared on the walls at a child's level in Emily's bathroom. Investigators said the blood smearing could indicate that Emily was in her bathroom with the door closed. Investigators did not find blood in the sink or bathtub of either the master bathroom or Emily's bathroom.

Several other pieces of evidence were presented by federal, state, and county investigators. Michael Smith of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Andy Parker of the Wake/Raleigh City and County Bureau of Investigation (“CCBI”), and Karen Morrow of the State Bureau of Investigation testified at trial. Smith, Parker, and Morrow testified that footwear impressions in blood were made by two distinct shoe types on pillows found near Michelle. These included impressions that corresponded with size 12 Hush Puppy Orbital, Sealy, and Belleville shoes which all had the same outsole design. Smith, Morrow, and Parker also testified that there were additional impressions made by a different shoe type, consistent with a size 10 Air Fit or Franklin athletic shoe. Karen Morrow and Greg Tart of the State Bureau of Investigation testified that Defendant at one time owned size 12 Hush Puppy Orbitals, which were purchased on 4 July 2005. The State never produced shoes matching either of the impressions. The State also never produced a murder weapon.

A jewelry box in the master bedroom had two drawers removed, and DNA testing showed four markers that did not include Defendant or Michelle's DNA. Meredith testified that Michelle “didn't really have a lot of fancy jewelry” except her wedding and engagement rings, and that she “always wore” her wedding and engagement rings. Michelle's wedding and engagement rings were both missing from her body when she was found and the rings were not recovered. Additional unidentified fingerprints were found in the house. Investigators found no signs of forced entry.

Printouts from eBay concerning purses were found on an office printer with three fingerprints; one matched Defendant and two others remain unidentified. Forensic analyst Beth Whitney of the CCBI (“Ms. Whitney”) also said Internet searches for purses were made between 7:05 p.m. and 7:23 p.m. on 2 November 2006. Ms. Whitney testified that MapQuest inquiries for directions between Raleigh and Clintwood, Virginia, were also made that evening, as well as e-mail logins to Defendant's personal email account. Ms. Whitney also found that, at an undetermined time, Internet searches were made on the Youngs' home computer for “anatomy of a knockout,” “head trauma blackout,” “head blow knockout,” and “head trauma.”

i. Evening of 2 November 2006

Michelle's sorority sister and close friend, Ms. Shelly Schaad (“Ms. Schaad”), arrived at the Youngs' home around 6:30 p.m. on 2 November 2006. Ms. Schaad arrived to have dinner and to watch Grey's Anatomy on televisionwith Michelle. Ms. Schaad said she was surprised Defendant was still home. Ms. Schaad picked up dinner on the way to the Youngs' house and invited Defendant to eat. Defendant said he planned to stop at the Cracker Barrel in Greensboro to have dinner, drive three hours to Galax to spend the evening, and then drive two hours the next morning to a 10:30 meeting. As Defendant left for the evening, Ms. Schaad asked Defendant if he would return for the N.C. State football game on 4 November 2006. Defendant said it depended on whether his father-in-law, Alan Fisher, would come for the weekend. Defendant expected his father-in-law to visit, and Defendant had spent the afternoon cleaning the yard in anticipation of his arrival. Defendant's father-in-law called and cancelled his visit...