State v. Young
| Decision Date | 12 August 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 612A84,612A84 |
| Citation | 346 S.E.2d 626,317 N.C. 396 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina v. Sherman Lee YOUNG. |
Lacy H. Thornburg, Atty. Gen. by Kaye R. Webb, Asst. Atty. Gen., Raleigh, for the State.
Malcolm Ray Hunter, Jr., Appellate Defender by Geoffrey C. Mangum, Asst. Appellate Defender, Raleigh, for defendant-appellant.
Defendant assigns as error the trial court's failure to suppress statements he made to a police detective, testimony by a witness offered by the State that the defendant had assaulted and robbed her, certain statements made by the prosecutor in his argument to the jury, and the trial judge's jury instructions to the jury that a knife was a deadly weapon as a matter of law. We find no error in defendant's trial or in the sentences imposed.
The State's evidence tended to show that, in the early morning hours of Saturday, 17 March 1984, Peggy Jenkins arrived at the emergency room of the Community General Hospital in Thomasville, North Carolina. Her face was bloody, and she had numerous bruises on her body. While she was being examined by the emergency room staff, she told the nurse that she had been beaten and raped by her ex-husband, who had brought her to the emergency room. A member of the emergency room staff called the police. Detective A.W. Odum of the Guilford County Sheriff's Department arrived at the hospital at 10:13 a.m. and spoke to Ms. Jenkins. Shortly thereafter, he located the defendant in the lobby of the hospital and arrested him. The defendant was originally arrested on charges of kidnapping and rape, but was subsequently charged in four, single-count indictments with kidnapping, rape, and two charges of sexual offense.
At trial, the victim, Ms. Peggy Jenkins, testified that she was twenty-four years old; that she and the defendant had been married on 5 September 1981; and that they had divorced in January 1984, following a year's separation. Ms. Jenkins and the defendant had a three-year-old son, Derek Joshua Young.
Ms. Jenkins testified that on Friday, 16 March 1984, she drove to the defendant's place of work at Guilford Mills to obtain a child support payment from the defendant. She drove the defendant to a store to get a money order and then drove him to his home in Thomasville, leaving him at approximately 4:00 p.m. She then drove to her home in High Point, but left again later that evening and drove to a convenience store to get a drink. Ms. Jenkins testified that, as she was preparing to get out of the car, the defendant suddenly entered the passenger side, slid over beside her, and pulled out a knife, which she described as a "small pocket knife." The defendant held the knife to her throat and told her that he had some things to say to her and that she was going to listen to him. Holding the knife to Ms. Jenkins' throat, the defendant told her to drive to the mobile home of a friend, Jennifer Hoots. Upon arriving at the Hoots' mobile home, the defendant tied Ms. Jenkins' hands to the steering wheel and went inside. After a couple of minutes, he came back to the car, untied Ms. Jenkins, and told her to drive to Greensboro. At this time, the defendant placed his arm around Ms. Jenkins and once more held the knife to her throat.
On the way to Greensboro, the defendant told Ms. Jenkins that he wanted her to come back to him. He also told her that he wanted custody of his son and was going to get his son, one way or the other. The defendant also argued with Ms. Jenkins concerning the fact that she was dating another man. Jenkins testified that, during this period, the defendant was extremely upset.
Ms. Jenkins testified that, upon arriving in Greensboro, the defendant demanded that they go to the Taco Bell to eat, and they did so. The defendant warned Ms. Jenkins not to try anything or he would kill her. At this time, the defendant had the knife in his pocket. Although they were inside the Taco Bell for approximately fifteen minutes, Ms. Jenkins testified that she made no attempt to escape or to alert anyone because she was afraid of the defendant. They drove to a bar and pool hall in Greensboro which the defendant frequented. Once again, the defendant threatened to kill Ms. Jenkins if she tried to get away. They stayed at the bar and pool hall about two hours. Ms. Jenkins did not attempt to escape or to alert anyone at the bar and pool hall because she felt the people at the bar were all friends of the defendant.
Ms. Jenkins and the defendant then left for Thomasville with Ms. Jenkins driving. On the way, the defendant told Ms. Jenkins that he wanted her to come back to him and that he did not want the man that she had been seeing to have her. At one point, the defendant told Ms. Jenkins that if he could not have her back, he would kill her. They stopped several times on the way to High Point at the defendant's insistence. Eventually, they stopped in High Point.
Ms. Jenkins further testified that once they arrived in High Point, the defendant directed Ms. Jenkins to turn down a road off Highway 68 and pull off the road. At this point, the defendant slapped Ms. Jenkins, hit her in the chest, and told her that she was going to die and would not live to see the morning. Holding the knife in his hand, the defendant instructed Ms. Jenkins to get out of the car. They proceeded to the rear of the car, where the defendant hit Ms. Jenkins in the face and stomach with his fist. Once again, the defendant told her that she was going to die. He then opened the trunk and told her to get in. Ms. Jenkins complied. The defendant then shut the trunk and started driving. After fifteen or twenty minutes of driving, the defendant stopped the car and opened the trunk. The defendant struck her in the face again and ordered her to remove her clothes. As she was disrobing, the defendant became impatient and used the knife to cut off Ms. Jenkins' bra and camisole and cut the front of her blue jeans open. He then removed her clothes, struck her in the face again, and forced her out of the trunk. At this point, Ms. Jenkins' nose was bleeding. The defendant continued arguing about his son and the man that Ms. Jenkins was dating. The defendant told Ms. Jenkins that if she "wanted something up inside [her] so bad, he would give [her] something." At that time, the defendant inserted the blade of the pocketknife into Ms. Jenkins' vagina. She testified that this caused a "stinging, burning sensation." She identified a knife identified as State's Exhibit No. 2 as resembling the knife which the defendant had. The knife was admitted into evidence to illustrate her testimony.
Ms. Jenkins further testified that after the defendant removed the knife from her vagina, he forced her to perform fellatio on him. The defendant then pulled her up by the hair and struck her in the face and stomach. At this time, Ms. Jenkins collapsed on the ground. The defendant kicked her in the ribs, pulled her back up, and hit her in the face. He then pushed her over the trunk. He used Ms. Jenkins' shirt to tie her hands behind her back. The defendant engaged in anal and vaginal intercourse with Ms. Jenkins. During this entire period, the defendant had the knife in his hand. After engaging in vaginal intercourse with Ms. Jenkins, the defendant struck Ms. Jenkins and placed her back in the trunk. The defendant tied Ms. Jenkins' hands behind her with her pantyhose and used her shirt as a gag over her mouth. He also tied her ankles together. The defendant then closed the trunk and drove off.
Ms. Jenkins eventually managed to untie herself. She then hid her jewelry in the trunk lid. The defendant subsequently stopped the car and upon discovering that Ms. Jenkins had freed herself from her bonds, struck her again, pulled her out of the trunk, and forced her into the front seat of the car. Seeing that Ms. Jenkins' face had stopped bleeding, the defendant said he "couldn't have that" and struck her in the face once again. The head wound reopened and blood splattered on the side windows of the car. After driving further, the defendant stopped the car and once again forced Ms. Jenkins at knifepoint to perform fellatio. Ms. Jenkins testified that the defendant continued to tell her that she was not going to live, and he stated that she had to die because he was not "going back to prison." The defendant again engaged in vaginal intercourse with Ms. Jenkins. Ms. Jenkins soon became sick and began to vomit. She asked the defendant to take her to a hospital because she was a diabetic and needed insulin. He told her that if she would lie down for awhile, she would be all right. Ms. Jenkins continued to request that the defendant take her to a hospital. She promised that she would come back to the defendant and that she would tell the hospital personnel that she had been in a fight somewhere else. Eventually, the defendant agreed to take Ms. Jenkins to his house, clean her up, and then take her to the hospital. They drove to Jennifer Hoots' mobile home, arriving in the early morning. The defendant carried Ms. Jenkins inside and cleaned her with a washcloth.
Ms. Jenkins testified that she did not say anything to Ms. Hoots because Ms. Hoots was the defendant's friend, and she did not know if she could trust her. She asked Ms. Hoots to go to the hospital with her, but Ms. Hoots refused. After spending approximately twenty minutes at the mobile home, the defendant took Ms. Jenkins to the hospital. Once inside the hospital, Ms. Jenkins told the nurses that she had been cut, beaten, and raped by the defendant. Ms. Jenkins described her injuries as swelling in her face; cuts, scrapes, and bruises on her arms, legs, and stomach; a fractured bone in her nose; a cut inside her vagina; and black eyes.
There was also testimony concerning Ms. Jenkins' condition at the hospital from an emergency room nurse and the emergency room physician. Barbara Yandle testified that she was the...
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