Opinion ID: 1275421
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: phase iisentencing

Text: Defendant assigns as error the trial court's exclusion at the sentencing hearing of the plea bargain and sentencing agreement between the state and co-defendant Larry Joseph Collen. Collen plead guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in return for a sentence of life imprisonment plus five years, the sentences to run consecutively. Defendant was tried and convicted for first-degree murder, attempted armed robbery and kidnapping and received a sentence of death. Defendant's contention raises the issue of whether the plea bargain and sentencing agreement of a co-defendant is a mitigating circumstance under G.S. 15A-2000(f)(9). At the outset we note that disparate sentences for co-defendants are not unconstitutional. State v. Atkinson, 298 N.C. 673, 259 S.E.2d 858 (1979). A definition of mitigating circumstance approved by this court is a fact or group of facts which do not constitute any justification or excuse for killing or reduce it to a lesser degree of the crime of first-degree murder, but which may be considered as extenuating, or reducing the moral culpability of the killing, or making it less deserving of the extreme punishment than other first-degree murders. State v. Hutchins, 303 N.C. 321, 279 S.E.2d 788 (1981). The U.S. Supreme Court has held that any aspect of defendant's character, record or circumstance of the particular offense which defendant offers as a mitigating circumstance should be considered by the sentencer. Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978). However, evidence irrelevant to these factors may be properly excluded by the trial court. Lockett v. Ohio, supra, p. 604, n. 12, 98 S.Ct., p. 2965, n. 12. Applying the rule in Lockett to the present case, we hold that the evidence of the plea bargain and sentencing agreement between the state and a co-defendant was irrelevant and properly excluded from the jury's consideration as a mitigating factor. Such evidence had no bearing on defendant's character, record or the nature of his participation in the offense. In fact, defendant was himself the triggerman, and therefore the most culpable of the participants. Further, G.S. 15A-2000(d) provides for review by this court to ensure that a death sentence, when imposed, is not excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases. Defendant contends by his next assignment of error that the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury on the mitigating factor of being under the influence of mental or emotional disturbance. At the sentencing hearing, defendant offered evidence tending to show that he had intravenously injected 800 ml of Tuinol, a central nervous system depressant, approximately two hours before the attempted armed robbery. He had also consumed an undetermined quantity of beer that afternoon. There was expert medical testimony to the effect that given the ingestion of the above substances, the capacity of the defendant to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law would be impaired. Defendant argues that the trial judge should have reviewed defendant's evidence on intoxication when he instructed the jury on the mitigating factor of being under the influence of a mental or emotional disturbance. The North Carolina death penalty statute is substantially similar to the American Law Institute Model Penal Code. [2] We find the Code's commentary as to the pertinent mitigating factors helpful. According to the commentary, the provision for mental or emotional disturbance deals with imperfect provocation; that situation where such disturbance is not subject to reasonable explanation as would reduce a first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder or manslaughter, but may be weighed against imposition of the death penalty. American Law Institute, Model Penal Code and Commentaries, § 210.6, p. 138 (1962). Defendant's evidence of intoxication was more appropriately related to the law on the mitigating factor of impaired capacity. G.S. 15A-2000(f)(6). [3] The Model Penal Code Commentary on impaired capacity states that this section encompasses impairment or incapacity resulting from voluntary intoxication. Model Penal Code, supra, p. 138. In the present case, defendant's evidence tended to show that he was in a state of voluntary intoxication. We hold that voluntary intoxication by alcohol or narcotic drugs at the time of the commission of a murder is not within the meaning of a mental or emotional disturbance under G.S. 15A-2000(f)(2). Voluntary intoxication, to a degree that it affects defendant's ability to understand and to control his actions, State v. Goodman, 298 N.C. 1, 257 S.E.2d 569 (1979), is properly considered under the provision for impaired capacity, G.S. 15A-2000(f)(6). The trial judge in the case at bar correctly related defendant's evidence on intoxication to the law on impaired capacity. Defendant's contention is therefore without merit. Defendant next objects to the submission of the aggravating circumstance that the murder was committed for pecuniary gain. Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder under the felony murder rule. G.S. 14-17. Defendant argues that because the jury was instructed not to answer the issues as to second-degree murder or manslaughter, he is entitled to an assumption that his culpability in the murder of Mr. Stewart was the lowest possible to support a verdict of guilty of felony murder. Based on this, he further contends that submission of the aggravating circumstance of pecuniary gain entitled the state to relitigate the question of intentional killing. It is well-established in North Carolina that when the law and evidence justify the use of the felony murder rule, the state is not required to prove premeditation and deliberation, nor do the lesser offenses of second-degree murder or manslaughter need be submitted to the jury unless there is evidence to support such a finding. State v. Swift, 290 N.C. 383, 226 S.E.2d 652 (1976). There is no evidence in the record of the present case that would support a finding of either second-degree murder or manslaughter. Defendant went to the Fremont Drug Store with the intention of committing armed robbery. During the course of the robbery he fired his weapon twice. One of those shots inflicted a fatal wound on Mr. Stewart. Furthermore, the gun was a single action revolver and had to be cocked after each firing. We reject defendant's contention that he is entitled to an assumption of the lowest degree of culpability. Such an assumption, if allowed at all, would have to be based on evidence that the gun was accidentally fired. There is no evidence in the record to support such a theory. Defendant's second argument is also without merit. Submission of the aggravating factor of pecuniary gain does not relitigate the question of intentional killing or any element of the offense of first-degree murder under the felony murder rule. Our decision in State v. Oliver, 302 N.C. 28, 274 S.E.2d 183 (1981) is on point. In Oliver, defendants were convicted of felony murder, with the underlying felony being armed robbery. This court held that the circumstance of pecuniary gain was not an essential element of the capital offense of felony murder. This circumstance examines the motive of the defendant rather than his acts. While his motive does not constitute an element of the offense, it is appropriate for it to be considered on the question of his sentence. Id. at 62, 274 S.E.2d 183. In the present case, as in Oliver, it was the hope of pecuniary gain that provided the impetus for the killings. The aggravating circumstance of pecuniary gain will almost always be appropriately submitted to the jury where a murder is committed during the course of an armed robbery. Pecuniary gain was, therefore, properly submitted to the jury for their consideration during sentencing. The last assignment of error that we consider is that the trial court erred in submitting kidnapping as an aggravating circumstance. This assignment has merit. Earlier in this opinion we held that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction for kidnapping. In light of that finding, the aggravating circumstance of kidnapping should not have been submitted to the jury at the sentencing hearing. The question then arises, was the error prejudicial to defendant? In State v. Goodman, 298 N.C. 1, 257 S.E.2d 569 (1979), in answering this question in that case we held that the test is whether there is a reasonable possibility that the erroneous submission of an aggravating circumstance tipped the scales in favor of the jury finding that the aggravating circumstances were sufficiently substantial to justify imposition of the death penalty. Ibid. 29, 257 S.E.2d 569. In the case at hand issues were submitted as to whether the murder was committed (1) for the purpose of avoiding a lawful arrest, (2) while defendant was an aider or abettor in the commission of the crime of kidnapping, or (3) for pecuniary gain. The jury answered the first issue in favor of defendant and the other two issues against him. We are unable to conclude that if the issue as to kidnapping had not been submitted, the jury would have found that the pecuniary gain circumstance was sufficiently substantial to justify imposition of the death penalty. That being true, we conclude that there must be a new trial on the sentencing phase. The result is: We find no error in defendant's trial for attempted armed robbery and in the guilt determination phase of his trial for first-degree murder. The judgment entered in the kidnapping case is reversed. The judgment imposing a death sentence in the murder case is vacated and the cause is remanded to the Superior Court for a new sentencing hearing and an appropriate judgment predicated thereon. Attempted armed robbery case: No error. Kidnapping case: Reversed. Murder case: Partial new trial. MEYER, J., did not participate in the consideration or decision of this case.