Opinion ID: 1202647
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: appeal of the defendant barry michael harvell

Text: By an assignment of error, the defendant Harvell contends that the trial court erred by admitting the improper opinion testimony of the security guard, Mary Smith. Smith testified that Harvell said something else to me that indicated to me that he was planning to shoot a woman. However, when Smith was asked what the defendant had said to her in this regard, she answered, I don't remember what he said. The defendant contends that the admission of Smith's opinion testimony violated Rule 701 of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence which provides, in pertinent part, that opinion testimony of a lay witness or testimony as to an inference by a lay witness is allowed where the witness's opinion or inference is rationally based on the perception of the witness and helpful to a clear understanding of his testimony or the determination of a fact in issue. N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 701 (1988). Assuming arguendo that the admission of this part of Smith's testimony violated Rule 701, we conclude that the error was harmless. A defendant is prejudiced by errors arising other than under the Constitution of the United States when there is a reasonable possibility that, had the error in question not been committed, a different result would have been reached at trial. N.C.G.S. § 15A-1443(a) (1988). Smith had already testified that the defendant Harvell, while armed with a shotgun, had expressly stated to her that the bitch started it and I'm going to finish it. Additionally, the testimony of eyewitness Patricia Long tended to show that as the defendant Harvell approached the victim and the victim's girlfriend with the shotgun in his hand, Harvell said, bitch, you started it and I'm going to finish it. In light of such strong and unequivocal evidence of direct threats against a woman, made by the defendant while she was in his presence and he was armed with a firearm, we conclude that there is no reasonable possibility that the testimony complained of in this assignment affected the result reached by the jury at trial. Therefore, any error in the admission of this testimony was harmless. Id.; see State v. Fields, 315 N.C. 191, 200, 337 S.E.2d 518, 524 (1985) (evidence that a defendant was carrying a gun supported an inference that he anticipated a confrontation and gave some forethought to how he would deal with the situation). This assignment of error is without merit. By another assignment of error, the defendant Harvell contends that his trial counsel, without his consent or authorization, argued that the jury should find him guilty of voluntary manslaughter, thus depriving him of his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel. During closing arguments, his counsel argued that the defendant Harvell was not guilty of first or second-degree murder. His counsel then stated, I submit to you that based upon the evidence presented in terms of a criminal offense, that the one that most closelyor the one that is most closely kind [sic] to this is the offense of voluntary manslaughter, that being there was provocation. At issue in this case is whether the defendant's trial counsel admitted to the jury that the defendant Harvell was guilty of voluntary manslaughter. In State v. Harbison, 315 N.C. 175, 180, 337 S.E.2d 504, 507-08 (1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1123, 106 S.Ct. 1992, 90 L.Ed.2d 672 (1986), we held that a defendant has been denied effective assistance of counsel if his counsel admits his guilt to the jury without his consent. We have also held that an argument that the defendant is innocent of all charges, but if he is found guilty of any of the charges it should be of a lesser crime because the evidence came closer to proving that crime than any of the greater crimes charged, is not an admission that the defendant is guilty of anything, and the rule of Harbison does not apply. State v. Greene, 332 N.C. 565, 572, 422 S.E.2d 730, 733-34 (1992). In the present case, the defendant's counsel never conceded that the defendant was guilty of any crime. He merely noted that if the evidence tended to establish the commission of any crime, that crime was voluntary manslaughter. This was not the equivalent of admitting that the defendant was guilty of any crime. Accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit. By another assignment of error, the defendant Harvell contends that the trial court erred in permitting the prosecutor to make improper and prejudicial remarks during his opening statement and his closing argument to the jury. The defendant argues that the prosecutor's opening and closing remarks contained statements tending to inflame the jury. As a general proposition, counsel is allowed wide latitude in jury arguments. State v. Soyars, 332 N.C. 47, 418 S.E.2d 480 (1992). Counsel is permitted to argue facts supported by evidence which has been presented, as well as reasonable inferences which can be drawn therefrom. State v. Williams, 317 N.C. 474, 346 S.E.2d 405 (1986). Where, as here, a party fails to object to an opening statement or closing argument, our review is limited to determining whether the remarks were so grossly improper as to require the trial court's intervention ex mero motu. State v. Craig, 308 N.C. 446, 457, 302 S.E.2d 740, 747, cert. denied, 464 U.S. 908, 104 S.Ct. 263, 78 L.Ed.2d 247 (1983). The standard of review is one of gross impropriety. Id. In the present case, the defendant argues that two portions of the prosecutor's opening statement and closing argument were grossly improper. We will address each of the defendant's contentions individually. During his opening statement to the jury, the prosecutor made the following remarks: A warm Sunday afternoon here in Stanly County, Dean Russell and some of his friends decided to go to Badin Lake.... Unbeknownst to Dean Russell and the group in which he was a part, three men from Montgomery County, Gary Hamilton and the two defendants, Mr. Ingold and Mr. Harvell, were also going to Badin Lake that same day. During his closing argument, the prosecutor made the following remarks: I ask, ladies and gentlemen, that by your verdict you do justice. I ask that by your verdict you do justice not only to yourselves, but to Stanly County as well, because as jurors in this case with your verdict you act and speak as the representative of your community. That is your function. I ask, ladies and gentlemen, that by your verdict you draw a line, and ask that you draw that line between Stanly County and these men here and find them guilty of first-degree murder. The defendant contends that the prosecutor impermissibly chose to frame this case as one of Stanly County against Montgomery County and, thereby, improperly appealed to the passions and prejudices of the jury. It is well settled that a prosecutor's remarks reminding the jury that, for purposes of the defendant's trial, it is acting as the voice and conscience of the community are proper. State v. Soyars, 332 N.C. 47, 418 S.E.2d 480 (1992); State v. Scott, 314 N.C. 309, 333 S.E.2d 296 (1985). In addition, the prosecutor did not emphasize the fact that the defendants in this case were from Montgomery County; he mentioned this fact on only one isolated occasion. We conclude that there was no gross impropriety involved in such remarks. The defendant next contends in support of this assignment that the following argument of the prosecutor was grossly improper because it appealed to the passions, prejudices and fears of the jury: Let's end this with a correct verdict. Let's do what we can to heal what I regard as a wound, not just to Dean Russell, but a wound that's been inflicted upon Stanly, and its a wound, ladies and gentlemen, that without your verdict speaking the truth, its a wound that's going to fester. Its going to fester. In State v. Pittman, 332 N.C. 244, 262, 420 S.E.2d 437, 447 (1992), the prosecutor stated that if the defendant was found not guilty, justice in Halifax County will be dead. We held that this argument was not improper because it was a hyperbolic expression of the State's position that a not guilty verdict, in light of the evidence of guilt, would be an injustice. Id. Similarly, the prosecutor's statement here was a hyperbolic expression of the State's position that a not guilty verdict would be an injustice in light of the evidence of guilt. There was no gross impropriety. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the remarks of the prosecutor which are the subject of this assignment of error were not grossly improper. Accordingly, this assignment of error is overruled.