Court Opinion

ID: 9854797
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:14:15.984233+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:23:25.018081
License: Public Domain

Justice Lake
dissenting.
The defendant appeals from a sentence to imprisonment for life for the crime of being an accessory before the fact to a murder committed in the perpetration of an attempt to commit *584robbery with a firearm. The jury found him guilty of that offense. The evidence fully supports the verdict. There was no prejudicial error in the admission of that evidence. There was, however, error in the failure of the trial judge to instruct the jury as to all the elements of the offense with which the defendant was charged and of which he was convicted. This the trial judge was required to do by G.S. 1-180.
The judge instructed the jury:
“Now, the defendant was originally charged with murder in the first degree. However, you will not be called upon to find the guilt or innocence of the defendant on this charge, but you will be called upon to find the guilt or innocence of the defendant on a lesser included offense, that is, accessory before the fact of murder in the perpetration of attempt to commit robbery with a firearm, commonly called armed robbery, the meaning of which I will explain to you later on. (Emphasis added.)
“Now, lady and gentlemen, as I said, the defendant has been accused of accessory before the fact of murder in the perpetration of an attempt to commit robbery with a firearm, which in common language is armed robbery.
“Now, I charge that for you to find the defendant guilty as an accessory before the fact of murder in the perpetration of attempted robbery with a firearm, the State must prove the following things beyond a reasonable doubt. First, the State must prove and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that murder in the perpetration of attempted armed robbery was committed by Billy Devine. Now, in order to find that Billy Devine committed murder in the perpetration of an armed robbery, the State must prove 2 things beyond a reasonable doubt, that is, that Billy Devine shot William B. Potts while committing or attempting to commit armed robbery, and, second, that the shooting proximately caused William Benjamin Potts’ death.
* * *
“So I repeat, in order to find the defendant guilty of this charge, you first must find that murder in the perpetration of attempted robbery was committed by Billy Devine, and in order to find that you must find Billy *585Devine shot Mr. Potts while committing or attempting to commit armed robbery, and that the shooting proximately caused Mr. Potts’ death.
“Coming back to what the State must prove, again, that before the crime was committed, the defendant, that is, Harry Hunter, counseled, procured, commanded or knowingly aided Billy Devine to commit or attempt to commit armed robbery. And finally, the State must prove that the defendant was not present when the killing of William Benjamin Potts occurred.
“Therefore, lady and gentlemen, I charge if you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about February 7, 1975, Billy Devine committed murder in the perpetration of attempt to commit robbery, that is, that Billy Devine shot William Benjamin Potts while attempting to commit armed robbery and the shooting proximately caused William Benjamin Potts’ death and that before the killing was committed the defendant, that is, Harry Hunter, pointed out the Potts residence and store to Billy Devine and told Billy Devine Mr. Potts had a large sum of money and told him that he couldn’t locate the money and that he would have to rob Mr. Potts when he was at home, and that the defendant was to get part of the money, and that in so doing the defendant, Harry Hunter, counseled or procured or commanded or knowingly aided Billy Devine to attempt to commit armed robbery and that the defendant was not present at the time of the killing, it would be your duty to return a. verdict of guilty of accessory before the fact of murder.”
In a charge otherwise free from error the trial judge inadvertently failed to instruct the jury as to the elements of the offense of robbery, the underlying felony which made the killing of Mr. Potts murder.
Since robbery (or attempt to rob) is an essential element of the offense for which the defendant was put on trial, G.S. 1-180 required the judge to instruct the jury as to the elements of robbery. We may not lawfully assume that this was nonprejudicial error on the theory that everyone knows what robbery is. No such assumption may lawfully be made when a defendant is charged with the crime of robbery itself. See: *586State v. Logner, 269 N.C. 550, 551, 153 S.E. 2d 63 (1967); State v. Fulford, 124 N.C. 798, 32 S.E. 337 (1899). Similarly, no such assumption may lawfully be made when he is charged with a crime of which robbery is an essential element.
“A correct charge is a fundamental right of every accused.” State v. Orr, 260 N.C. 177, 181, 132 S.E. 2d 334 (1963). As Justice Barnhill, later Chief Justice, said in State v. Friddle, 223 N.C. 258, 261, 25 S.E. 2d 751 (1943), “The chief object contemplated in the charge of the judge is to explain the law of the case, to point out the essentials to be proved on the one side and on the other, and to bring into view the relation of the particular evidence adduced to the particular issue involved.” G.S. 1-180 confers upon litigants, including defendants charged with crime, a substantial legal right to have the jury instructed as to the law upon all substantial features of the case. State v. Everette, 284 N.C. 81, 199 S.E. 2d 462 (1973); State v. Brady, 236 N.C. 295, 72 S.E. 2d 675 (1952); State v. Ardrey, 232 N.C. 721, 62 S.E. 2d 53 (1950). The judge must charge the jury as to what constitutes the essential elements of the offense for which the defendant is brought to trial. State v. Hairr, 244 N.C. 506, 94 S.E. 2d 472 (1956).
To convict the defendant of the offense of being an accessory before the fact to a murder committed in the perpetration of an attempt to commit robbery, the jury would have to find that the killing was committed in the course of an attempt to commit robbery. To so find, the jury would have to know what constitutes robbery. The instructions given the jury do not contain any definition of that offense.