Opinion ID: 1201220
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Admission of Evidence from Guilt Phase at Penalty Proceeding

Text: Defendant argues the trial court erred in admitting during the penalty proceeding evidence that defendant, following the murders, possessed items that belonged to the victims. Defendant contends admission of this evidence was erroneous because he was acquitted of robbery of the victims. We disagree. Although defendant did file a motion in limine to exclude evidence that defendant possessed Gillard's ring and watch and Leavy's ring, defendant did not object when the evidence was admitted. While we generally would not review defendant's claims on the merits, we elect to do so under Rule 2 of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure. Defendant's argument is that State v. Scott, 331 N.C. 39, 413 S.E.2d 787 (1992), controls here rather than State v. Agee, 326 N.C. 542, 391 S.E.2d 171 (1990). We disagree and find Agee to be on point. While the North Carolina Rules of Evidence that controlled in Agee and Scott are not binding in a capital penalty proceeding, they do provide this Court guidance. See State v. Duke, 360 N.C. 110, 124, 623 S.E.2d 11, 21 (2005) (citation omitted), cert. denied, 549 U.S. 855, 127 S.Ct. 130, 166 L.Ed.2d 96 (2006). In Scott this Court concluded that evidence of a prior rape of which the defendant had been acquitted was inadmissible as a matter of law in a subsequent case in which the defendant was charged with the rape of another woman. 331 N.C. at 42, 413 S.E.2d at 788. In Agee this Court held that evidence that the defendant possessed marijuana, a charge of which the defendant had been acquitted, was admissible against the defendant in a subsequent case involving the same transaction in which the defendant was charged with possession of LSD. 326 N.C. at 546-50, 391 S.E.2d at 173-76. In distinguishing Agee, the Court in Scott wrote: The `chain of circumstances' link that arguably made [the marijuana] evidence probative in Agee by virtue of its temporal relevance to the crime for which the defendant was on trial is absent here. 331 N.C. at 46, 413 S.E.2d at 790-91. As in Agee, the evidence presented during the penalty proceeding here was not offered to prove that defendant had robbed his victims. Instead, the State used the evidence to prove its single aggravating factor for each murder-that defendant had engaged in a course of conduct that involved a crime of violence against another person or persons, namely the murder of another. Defendant's possession of the victims' items in and of itself would not be sufficient to prove robbery beyond a reasonable doubt. However, evidence that defendant possessed these items was relevant to linking defendant to both victims. Moreover, as in Agee, defendant's possession of the items was temporally relevant to the chain of circumstances surrounding defendant's crimes. The trial court did not err in admitting the evidence. See N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000(a)(3) (2007) (stating, inter alia, that in the penalty proceeding, [a]ny evidence which the court deems to have probative value may be received). Defendant's assignments of error are overruled.