Court Opinion

ID: 9586587
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:13:05.291201+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:32:44.140644
License: Public Domain

Chief Justice Bobbitt
concurring in results.
I agree that the evidence offered by the State was insufficient to warrant submission of the malicious burning charge. I disagree with the portion of the opinion which, based on quotations' from State v. Bruton, 264 N.C. 488, 499, 142 S.E. 2d 169, 176 (1965), holds that evidence offered by defendant tending to establish an alibi may be considered in resolving the nonsuit question. I refer specifically to the testimony of defendant and of Kennedy to the effect that defendant was in the Deep Run Barber Shop, five or six miles from the scene of the fire, when the fire whistle blew and the fire truck passed. To consider this type of defense evidence in resolving the nonsuit issue is to nullify the rule that the evidence must be considered in the light most favorable to the State.
The majority opinion stresses this paragraph from the opinion in Bruton, at 499, 142 S.E. 2d at 176: “On a motion for nonsuit, the foregoing rule also permits the consideration of defendant’s evidence which rebuts the inference of guilt when it is not inconsistent with the State’s evidence. S. v. Oldham, 224 N.C. 415, 30 S.E. 2d 318 [1944].”
The following is an excerpt from the opinion in Oldham: “The general rule on a demurrer to the evidence is that only the State’s evidence is to be considered, and the defendant’s evidence is not to be taken into account, unless it tends to explain or make clear that offered by the State. [Citations.] However, in vagrancy cases where the evidence of guilt is purely negative in character, positive and uncontradicted evidence in explanation which clearly rebuts the inference of guilt and is not inconsistent with the State’s evidence should be taken into consideration on motion to nonsuit. [Citations.]” (Our italics.)
In Oldham, the evidence offered by the State tended to show the defendant’s frequent presence in and around the bus station and the nearby cafe and his association there with vari*20ous persons. The defendant’s evidence simply explained why he was at the bus station and nearby cafe and what he was doing on these occasions when observed by the officers. The State’s evidence was insufficient to establish guilt. Unexplained, it might have raised a suspicion or inference of guilt. The court simply held that in vagrancy cases the defendant’s explanations as to what he was doing on the occasions when observed by the officers was for consideration with reference to dispelling any inference of guilt.
In my view, it was perfectly proper to consider defendant’s explanation with reference to the boot tracks, automobile tracks and purchase of gasoline. These are matters referred to in the State’s evidence. In my view, defendant’s evidence to the effect that he was at a barber shop miles away when the fire broke out is evidence that would be proper for consideration only by a jury in determining the ultimate question of guilt or innocence.
With the exception noted, I concur in the results and in the majority opinion.
Justice Sharp concurs in this opinion.