Court Opinion

ID: 9626060
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:00:57.523943+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:20.250947
License: Public Domain

Judge John C. Martin
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur fully with the majority in finding no prejudicial error in defendant’s trial. I also concur in those portions of the majority opinion which affirm the trial court’s finding, in aggravation of punishment, of the aggravating factor contained in G.S. § 15A-1340.16(d)(8), and the trial court’s refusal to find, in mitigation, the mitigating factors contained in G.S. § 15A-1340.16(e)(3) and G.S. § 15A-1340.16(e)(15). However, I must respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion which affirms the trial court’s finding of the aggravating factor contained in G.S. § 15A-1340.16(d)(15) that “defendant took advantage of a position of trust or confidence to commit the offense.”
The State has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the existence of factors in aggravation of punishment. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.16(a); State v. Small, 328 N.C. 175, 400 S.E.2d 413 (1991). Here, the trial court found:
I find that the defendant took advantage of a position of trust or confidence to commit the offense. That is, it would plainly appear that but for the position of trust and confidence that he held with the mother and family of this young boy, he would not have had the opportunity to gain custody of the child, so I find that as an aggravating factor.
However, the record contains no evidence as to how the child came to be in the company of defendant on the date of the offense, and therefore, does not support the trial court’s finding that defendant gained custody of the victim by reason of a relationship between himself and the child’s mother and family. Moreover, the majority’s reasoning that “[t]he fact that the child was in the car with defendant from the outset was predicated on his close relationship with defend*327ant” is purely speculative; there was no evidence to show whether the child’s presence in defendant’s car was voluntary or involuntary.
Where a trial court finds an improper aggravating factor, it cannot properly balance the aggravating and mitigating factors; in such instances the case must be remanded for resentencing. State v. Whitley, 111 N.C. App. 916, 433 S.E.2d 826 (1993). Therefore, I vote to find no prejudicial error in defendant’s trial, but to remand the case to the Superior Court of Buncombe County for a new sentencing hearing.