Opinion ID: 1228203
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: appeal of the defendant howell

Text: The defendant Howell first assigns as error the failure of the trial court to sustain his objections to four alleged leading questions by the District Attorney. The fourth of these questions was not leading since it did not suggest the answer desired. The other three questions were obliquely leading but two of them related to introductory matter and the remaining question dealt with the relatively trivial matter of the time when the pistol was fired by Braxton in the room of the abandoned house wherein the witness was allegedly raped by each of the defendants. We observe no possible prejudice to this defendant resulting from the form of these questions. It is elementary that counsel should not ask his own witness leading questions on direct examination but is equally well established that the allowance of such questions is within the sound discretion of the trial judge. State v. Greene, 285 N.C. 482, 206 S.E.2d 229 (1974). This assignment of error is without merit. The defendant Howell next assigns as error the overruling of his objections to certain evidence on the ground that such evidence was repetitious. The bits of testimony to which these exceptions are directed were trivial and the defendant was not prejudiced thereby even if this were not a matter in the discretion of the trial judge, which it is. The defendant Howell's next assignment of error relates to nine other miscellaneous rulings of the court overruling objections by this defendant to evidence introduced by the State and to one alleged expression of opinion by the court concerning a hole in the floor of the house, which the investigating officer testified was, in his opinion, caused by a bullet. These various rulings are simply stated in the brief without any argument or authority cited in support of the defendant's position concerning them. The record indicates that the alleged expression of opinion by the court was not a statement by the court at all but a continuation of the testimony of the State's witness. The several rulings of the court to which this assignment relates were clearly correct and no useful purpose would be served by discussing them in detail. The defendant Howell's Assignment of Error No. 3 is that the court erred in not instructing the jury that two specified portions of the State's evidence did not apply to the defendant Howell. The first such portion of the testimony was in response to the District Attorney's question to the victim of the assaults as to what the four defendants were doing while the victim was firing, within the car, five shots from the pistol which she had seized from the defendant Burden. In overruling the objection of this defendant's counsel to that question, the judge directed the witness to be specific as to which defendant was doing what. Her reply was, All four of the men in the car had started yelling at each other, which, under the circumstances, was, to say the least, quite plausible testimony. The witness then stated that Braxton, McIver and the third man, subsequently identified by her as Howell, were yelling at Burden and asking him why he gave her the gun. She testified that Burden's response was that he did not give it to her; she took it and had shot him in the finger. Thereupon, she testified, Burden retook the gun from her and Braxton took it from him and reloaded it. This bit of evidence clearly related to all of the defendants. The other portion of the evidence to which this assignment relates was the testimony of the State's witness Clawson, the barber, that he shaved all the hair from Braxton's head the morning after the offenses are alleged to have occurred. It was not necessary for the court to instruct the jury that this testimony did not relate to the defendant Howell. The trial court was entitled to assume that the jury had sufficient intelligence to know that without being so instructed. There is no merit whatever in this assignment of error. Howell's Assignment of Error No. 5A relates to the ruling of the trial court concerning certain items found by the investigating officer in the McIver automobile while the automobile was still in the yard of the McIver residence. On voir dire examination, there was a direct conflict between the testimony of the investigating officer and the testimony of McIver's brother and mother as to whether the mother, who was the registered owner of the car, then gave the officer permission to search the car. The court ruled that such consent had not been shown by the State and, therefore, ruled that the items then taken from the car were not admissible as against McIver but were competent evidence as against the other defendants because they had no standing to object to the search of the car. In his brief the defendant Howell concedes that he did not have standing to object to that search of the automobile. We find no error in this ruling of the trial court prejudicial to the defendant Howell. This assignment of error also includes the court's admission of testimony of the investigating officer who searched the car after it was removed to the Sheriff's office with the consent of McIver's mother, the registered owner of the car. This was not the same officer who had removed certain articles from the car while it was in the McIver yard. The testimony of this second investigating officer was that in his search of the car at the Sheriff's office, which the court found to have been with the consent of the registered owner, he found in the inside rear of the car bloodstains and a hole in the side panel and, adjacent thereto, an indentation of a bullet which had not penetrated entirely through the panel. The defendant Howell now contends that his motion to strike this testimony should have been allowed because this was pure conjecture on the part of the officer. The testimony tended to corroborate that of the prosecutrix with reference to the firing of the pistol within the car. Obviously, the witness, a detective on the Sheriff's staff with 35 years experience in law enforcement and military service, would be competent to express an opinion as to the cause of the damage to this interior panel of the automobile. The record does not indicate any statement by this defendant, or any of his codefendants, as to the basis of the objection to the testimony or any indication of a desire by them to inquire into the qualifications of the witness. Furthermore, the testimony in question was not given before the jury but in its absence during the course of a voir dire examination. We find no merit in this exception. Defendant Howell's Assignment of Error No. 5E is to the failure of the court to grant his motion to suppress the evidence of his own statement to the investigating officer. In this assignment also there is no merit. In one of the numerous voir dire examinations conducted throughout this trial, prior to the court's ruling upon Howell's motion to suppress evidence of this statement, the officer, who interviewed Howell and who took the statement from him, testified that he, prior to questioning him, advised Howell as to his constitutional rights pursuant to the full Miranda formula. This officer further testified that Howell was then awake and alert and indicated that he fully understood these rights, that no promise or inducement was made him in order to obtain the statement and no coercion whatever was exerted upon him to persuade him to make it. According to this officer's testimony on the voir dire examination, this advice as to his rights was given to Howell just moments prior to the interview in which Howell's statement was made, this being at approximately 11:40 a. m., following Howell's arrest at approximately 5 a. m., which, in turn, was some four or five hours after the alleged offenses. Howell testified on this voir dire to the effect that he was not advised by any of his constitutional rights, either by the arresting officer or the one who interviewed him, saying: No, he didn't read no rights to me. Ain't no Sheriff or no detective read rights to me. Ain't nobody read any of them to me. He further testified that while he did make a statement to the officer, it was not the one offered in evidence by the State. He acknowledged that he signed the paper purporting to be his statement but said the officer would not let him see it and did not read it to him. He also acknowledged that at the time of his arrest he signed a paper purporting to be a waiver of his constitutional rights, but said he did not read it and simply signed it as he was directed by the officer to do. He went to the Eleventh Grade in school and said he could write a little but could not read well. At the conclusion of this voir dire, the court entered an order containing findings of fact, in accordance with the testimony of the officers, that when Howell was first arrested at approximately 5 a. m., he was advised of his rights by the arresting officer and signed a waiver thereof, that at approximately 11:40 a. m., he was again advised of his rights by and made a statement to the interviewing officer, no promise or threat having been made and no coercion having been exercised upon him. Upon these findings, the court concluded that all of his constitutional rights were properly related to Howell, that Howell signed the waiver of rights understandingly and made the statement to the officer voluntarily and understandingly. The court thereupon denied the motion to suppress evidence of the statement. Prior to the introduction of Howell's statement in evidence before the jury, another voir dire was conducted with reference to events at the time of his arrest, which was approximately 5 a. m., some six and a half hours prior to the making of the statement. On this second voir dire, a police officer testified: He was one of three officers who went to the McIver home in search of the McIver automobile; when McIver subsequently arrived at the residence, he took the officers to Howell's residence, advising them that he had been with Howell all night; at the request of the officers, Howell then accompanied the officers and McIver to the McIver residence. Howell was not then under arrest and was so advised; he, McIver and the officers then went, in the officers' car, to the Sheriff's office where detectives talked with Howell and McIver separately. The officer in whose car Howell rode from his own residence to that of McIver, and thence to the Sheriff's office, testified on this second voir dire that he advised him of his rights when he got into my car, this being the thing that we usually do to anyone that we are questioning or talking with. On this second voir dire, Howell also testified. He again denied that the above mentioned officer advised him of any rights and said he first refused to go to the Sheriff's office but then went at the insistence of the officers. Thereupon, Officer Thompson, a member of the Sheriff's staff, testified on this second voir dire: He first saw Howell in a room by himself at the Sheriff's office about 4:30 a. m., then knowing Howell was a suspect in this case; he then went into the room where Howell was and read him his rights from a form sheet and explained those rights to him; Howell then signed a waiver of those rights and thereafter Officer Thompson asked Howell if he knew anything about the rape case; Howell stated that he did not know anything about it. Subsequently, Officer Thompson procured a warrant for Howell's arrest and arrested him. At the conclusion of this second voir dire, the court again denied Howell's motion to suppress the evidence of his statement and permitted an edited version thereof to be read to the jury, the editing having been done by the court and all counsel so as to delete from the original statement, as written by the interviewing officer, any references therein to the other three defendants in order to comply with the rule laid down in Bruton v. United States, supra. The findings of the court upon the said voir dire examinations, being supported by evidence, are conclusive. State v. Fox, supra; State v. Gray, supra. They establish that the statement by Howell was made freely and voluntarily, was not induced by threats or promises and was made after he had been fully advised of and understood his constitutional rights as set forth in the Miranda formula. The defendant Howell next contends that the edited statement introduced in evidence before the jury was not the statement actually made by Howell. Obviously, it was not the complete statement as originally signed by Howell for, in order to comply with the rule of Bruton v. United States, supra, certain references in the original statement to the other defendants had been deleted. This editing made the statement somewhat incoherent, but a comparison of the original statement with the edited copy fails to show any prejudice to Howell resulting from the editing. Howell, in his brief, concedes that the edited statement complies with the dictates of Bruton v. United States, supra. His contention that the use of his statement so edited deprived him of his right of confrontation and of due process of law is completely baseless. As against him, the entire statement was admissible. The edited statement was no more prejudicial to him than would have been the entire original statement, nor did the editing distort the meaning of the statement as to him. There is no merit in this assignment of error. Prior to trial, the defendant filed a motion for discovery pursuant to G.S. 15A-902(a). An order of discovery was entered by the court directing in full the discovery sought in the defendant's motion. The defendant now contends that the court erred in admitting evidence of which the defendant had not been advised, pursuant to the said discovery order. This consisted of the following: (1) A photograph of the defendant Howell, himself, which a witness, one of the investigating officers, testified correctly portrayed his appearance when that officer observed him at the Sheriff's office the night the offense occurred. At the time this was introduced in evidence, the defendant Howell objected without any statement of reason for his objection and made no reference to his motion for discovery. (2) The testimony of the physician who examined the prosecutrix following the alleged assaults. When this witness was called to the stand, the defendant Howell objected to his being allowed to testify, for the reason that he had asked for a copy of the physician's report in the discovery motion and the District Attorney had then stated he did not have such report in his possession. In response, the District Attorney informed the court that he still did not have a medical report and, furthermore, such report would, in his opinion, be privileged as between the physician and his patient. (3) The admission in evidence of partially burned articles found by investigating officers in or near the house where the rapes are alleged to have occurred and identified by the prosecutrix as portions of her clothing and other personal articles. To the introduction of this evidence, the defendants objected on the ground that, with reference to these articles, the order of discovery had not been obeyed. The court conducted an extensive voir dire and concluded that, as to these articles, the State had complied with the order of the court and the provisions of the discovery statute. (4) The entire testimony of the prosecutrix. The basis for this objection to this evidence was that the order for discovery directed the State to disclose all aliases by which the prosecutrix had been known. The District Attorney replied at that time that he did not know of any such aliases. The defendant Howell contends that the maiden name of the prosecutrix should have been disclosed. The court ruled that the District Attorney had complied with the discovery order. There is no merit whatever is this contention by the defendant Howell. Obviously, a married woman's maiden name is not an alias. Furthermore, G.S. 15A-910 provides that the court may forbid the introduction of evidence not disclosed to the adversary in accordance with a discovery order. Thus, the admission or exclusion of such evidence is left in the discretion of the trial court. State v. Thomas, 291 N.C. 687, 231 S.E.2d 585 (1977). There was no abuse of discretion in the court's ruling and there is no merit in this assignment of error. The defendant Howell's next assignment of error is that the court abused its discretion in finding that the identification of Howell by the prosecutrix was of independent origin. We have previously discussed the admissibility of the witness' identification of the defendants in connection with the appeal of Braxton. No further detailed discussion of this matter is required in connection with the appeal of Howell. With reference to the identification of the defendant Howell, the court conducted a voir dire examination in the absence of the jury, the evidence at which clearly disclosed ample opportunity of the prosecutrix to see and remember the appearance of Howell during her long ride in the car with him from the point of abduction to the point of her release on the lonely road in Robeson County. It was a bright moonlight night and, in the course of the ride, they passed through a small town with street lights and lighted filling stations. At that time, Howell turned around from his position in the front seat beside the driver and the prosecutrix saw his full face. The house in which the multiple rapes occurred was not dark because of the bright moonlight. Both there and at the time when he, according to her testimony, raped her in the automobile, she was obviously in close proximity to him long enough for her to observe and remember his appearance. There is no merit in this assignment of error. The defendant's motion for judgment of nonsuit was properly overruled, for reasons heretofore discussed in connection with the appeal of the defendant Braxton. His motions to set aside the verdict as being against the weight of the evidence and for a new trial were, as heretofore stated, addressed to the discretion of the trial court and, in the denial thereof, there was no error. His motion for arrest of judgment was properly denied, there being no defect appearing upon the face of the record proper. For the same reason, his exception to the signing and entry of the judgment requires no discussion. This defendant, like his codefendants, has had a fair trial in accordance with the law of this State. His conviction and sentence will not be disturbed. As we said in State v. Overman, 269 N.C. at 470, 153 S.E.2d at 58, Contributory negligence by the victim is no bar to prosecution by the State for the crime of rape, so the prosecutrix' going alone in the evening to the part of the City of Fayetteville where she was abducted does not affect the validity of the judgment here entered. As to the Defendant Braxton: No Error. As to the Defendant Burden: No Error. As to the Defendant Howell: No Error. As to the Defendant McIver: No Error.