Case Title: State v. McGirt

Citation: 139 S.E.2d 640, 263 N.C. 527

Docket Number: 

State: north-carolina

Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Date: 1965-01-15T00:00:00Z

Document:
139 S.E.2d 640 (1965)
263 N.C. 527
STATE
v.
David McGIRT.
No. 732.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.
January 15, 1965.
*641 Atty. Gen., T. W. Bruton and Asst. Atty. Gen., James F. Bullock, for the State.
L. J. Britt & Son, by L. J. Britt and Robert Weinstein, Lumberton, for defendant appellant.
PER CURIAM.
The State's evidence shows these facts: Defendant David McGirt and Modes McGirt were husband and wife, and lived in a house together. Charlie Calahan, after his release from serving a prison term in Florida, spent considerable time in defendant's home, in spite of defendant's protests. Defendant had also served a prison term for armed robbery. He (McGirt) had said "if he took one's life, he would take the other." On the night of 28 November 1963 Calahan brought to defendant's home a bottle of vodka and a bottle of whisky. Defendant, his wife, and Calahan were drinking the vodka and whisky. Verrell Ray, Evelyn Locklear, and a baby were present. There was a TV on in one room and a piccolo was playing in another. Calahan stood up and was dragging his feet as if dancing by himself in the room where the piccolo was playing. Defendant came into the piccolo room with a shotgun and said: "Charlie, I have got you where I want you." He then shot Calahan with the shotgun inflicting a wound causing death.
Defendant's evidence shows these facts: He had repeatedly asked Calahan to quit coming to his house, and had previously had an officer to carry him away. On the fatal night he drank no intoxicants. This is defendant's testimony as to the shooting:
Defendant has two assignments of error: each assigns as error a part of the court's charge to the jury on self-defense, the defense upon which defendant relies.
Defendant first assigns as error that the judge instructed the jury in effect as follows: If the State has satisfied the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally assaulted the deceased with a deadly weapon, and such an assault caused death, there are two presumptions that arise in the State's favor, (1) that it was an unlawful killing and (2) that it was done with *642 malice, and then the burden is upon the defendant, not the State, to satisfy the jury, not beyond a reasonable doubt nor by the greater weight of the evidence, but merely to satisfy the jury of the legal provocation that will rob the crime of malice and thus reduce it to manslaughter, or that will excuse it altogether upon the grounds of self-defense. Defendant contends this part of the charge is erroneous, in that it places a burden upon defendant, and the burden of proof is always on the State, and the charge as to burden of proof is conflicting. When an intentional killing with a deadly weapon is admitted judicially in court by the defendant or is proven by the State beyond a reasonable doubt, self-defense is an affirmative plea, with the burden of satisfaction cast upon the defendant. The assignment of error is overruled. The challenged part of the charge is in strict accord with well-established law stated in repeated decisions of the Court. State v. Benson, 183 N.C. 795, 111 S.E. 869; State v. Utley, 223 N.C. 39, 25 S.E.2d 195; State v. Childress, 228 N.C. 208, 45 S.E.2d 42; State v. Jernigan, 231 N.C. 338, 56 S.E.2d 599; State v. Howell, 239 N.C. 78, 79 S.E.2d 235; State v. Mangum, 245 N.C. 323, 96 S.E.2d 39. State v. Holloway, 262 N.C. 753, 138 S.E.2d 629, relied upon by defendant is not in point because the instruction there challenged was in respect to the recent possession of stolen property.
The second assignment of error is in respect to a defendant's right of self-defense when he is assaulted in his own home, as defendant contends he was here. This assignment of error is overruled. The judge's charge in this respect is in substantial compliance with the law as stated in the following decisions of the Court. State v. Harman, 78 N.C. 515; State v. Roddey, 219 N.C. 532, 14 S.E.2d 526; State v. Miller, 221 N.C. 356, 20 S.E.2d 274; State v. Anderson, 222 N.C. 148, 22 S.E.2d 271; State v. Sally, 233 N.C. 225, 63 S.E.2d 151.
In the trial below we find
No Error.