Opinion ID: 1227665
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Avoiding arrest

Text: Defendants next contend that the trial court erred in submitting as an aggravating factor that the crime was motivated by a desire to avoid detection and apprehension. G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(4). Each defendant now alleges that G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(4) is unconstitutionally vague as applied and that the alleged error deprived them of their constitutional rights. This Court has approved the submission of G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(4) to the jury when there is evidence that one of the purposes behind the killing was the desire by the defendant to avoid detection and apprehension for some underlying crime as opposed to submitting it only if the killing took place during an escape from custody or lawful arrest situations. In State v. Goodman, 298 N.C. 1, 257 S.E.2d 569 (1979), we held that evidence of a death is alone insufficient for submission to the jury of this factor and that such evidence must be coupled with evidence from which the jury can infer that at least one of the purposes motivating the killing was defendant's desire to avoid subsequent detection and apprehension for his crime. Id. at 27, 257 S.E.2d at 586. See State v. Hutchins, 303 N.C. 321, 279 S.E.2d 788 (1981); State v. Barfield, 298 N.C. 306, 259 S.E.2d 510 (1979). The evidence supports the submission of this aggravating factor with respect to defendant Moore in the Watts' murder. Moore was credited with saying you would have to be crazy to leave any witnesses. Oliver's act in murdering Hodge and attempting to murder Hodge's seven year old grandson, the only other witness, justifies submission of this aggravating factor in Oliver's sentence with respect to Hodge. See State v. Goodman, 298 N.C. 1, 257 S.E.2d 569 (1979). However, relying on the same reasoning which resulted in our finding error in the submission of G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(9) (heinous, atrocious, or cruel) on Oliver's individual culpability for the Watts' murder, we agree, for the same reason, that the trial court committed error in submitting G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(4) (killing to avoid detection) upon Oliver's conviction of the murder of Allen Watts, the store attendant. We noted earlier that the only evidence justifying the submission of G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(9) was the fact that Moore had stated to Johnny Lee Lewis that Watts begged for his life prior to being murdered. The only evidence to justify the submission of G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(4) was Moore's statement to Lewis that you would have to be crazy to leave any witnesses. This, too, was inadmissible hearsay against Oliver, spoken after the conspiracy had been completed and out of the presence of Oliver. Thus, we hold, as we did in our discussion of G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(9), that the use of Moore's statement against Oliver to support the aggravating factor (G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(4)) was improper. Without this statement, there was only the weakest evidence upon which the trial court could have predicated the submission of G.S. § 15A-2000(e)(4) as to Oliver's individual culpability in the murder of Watts. That is, the evidence that Oliver intended to eliminate Watts as a witness, given the clear indication that Moore was the trigger man in that murder is insufficient to support the submission of this factor.