Court Opinion

ID: 9624915
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:21:25.995359+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:56.489398
License: Public Domain

Justice Webb
concurring in the result.
I concur in the result reached by the majority but I believe evidence that the defendant had committed a murder seventeen years previously should have been excluded pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 404(b).
The majority says this evidence was admissible to prove intent and was thus not barred as evidence showing the defendant’s propensity to commit the crime with which he is charged in this case. The majority says this is so because, “The fact that defendant had previously killed a person in the same way demonstrated . . . that defendant knew what he was doing, knew that his actions would result in the victim’s death, intended to kill the victim, and did not simply lose control.”
The evidence showed the victim had thirty-four stab wounds to the body, stab wounds to the head that penetrated the skull, and an extensive fracture at the base of the skull. It is inconceivable to me that on this evidence it was necessary to show the defendant had previously committed murder in order to prove he knew his action would cause the death of the victim. The defendant is bound to have known that his action would cause the victim’s death.
The evidence of the previous murder was of no probative value in proving the defendant’s intent. It was probative of the defendant’s propensity to commit murder. It should have been excluded.
Because of the strong evidence against the defendant, I am satisfied there is not a reasonable possibility that there would have been a different result had this error not occurred. I would hold it is harmless error.