Court Opinion

ID: 9617169
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:52:58.788489+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:14:42.419296
License: Public Domain

Justice EDMUNDS
dissenting.
The majority holds that the trial judge abused his discretion by allowing a recess that the majority concludes was too short. I believe the majority is substituting its judgment for that of the trial judge and, in so doing, will cause confusion in the trial bench as judges attempt to determine how long such a recess must be to be long enough. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
*84In State v. Goode, cited by the majority, we found that the trial court abused its discretion when it refused to allow the defendant a recess at the conclusion of the State’s evidence. 300 N.C. 726, 730, 268 S.E.2d 82, 84 (1980). In Goode, the defendant’s request for a recess was made in the presence of the jury. Id. When the trial judge summarily denied the request, the jury watched as a dispute erupted between the defendant and his attorney over whether defendant would testify. Id. at 728, 268 S.E.2d at 83. Although we concluded that, under these facts, the judge in Goode abused his discretion by denying the request for a recess, we went on to observe that “[n]o defendant is automatically entitled to a recess at the close of the State’s evidence because such motion is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court.” Id. at 730, 268 S.E.2d at 84. That statement is still good law.
Goode provides little guidance for the case at bar. Here, the State allowed open-file discovery so that defendant began trial knowing the State’s theory of prosecution, the witnesses who might be called, and the substance of those witnesses’ anticipated testimony. Although defendant’s offense was grave, the State’s presentation of the evidence was short, lasting from approximately 3:40 p.m. the first day until approximately 4:00 p.m. the second. The transcript does not suggest that there were any surprises. Defendant and his counsel thus knew that the decision whether or not to present evidence was imminent, and, as defense counsel later stated, he and defendant on numerous occasions had discussed “the pluses and the negatives” of defendant’s decision whether to testify. Defendant’s request for a recess, made outside the presence of the jury, was allowed, albeit for a period shorter than requested. Counsel then advised the court after the recess that he and defendant had talked with defendant’s family and agreed that defendant would not present evidence.
Reviewing courts should not be quick to find abuse of discretion, which results when “the court’s ruling is manifestly unsupported by reason or is so arbitrary that it could not have been the result of a reasoned decision.” State v. Hennis, 323 N.C. 279, 285, 372 S.E.2d 523, 527 (1988). A trial court is in a better position than we to observe what is happening in court and to control proceedings, see State v. Little, 270 N.C. 234, 240, 154 S.E.2d 61, 66 (1967), and appellate courts should be “loth to review or to disturb” the trial court’s exercise of discretion, State v. Sauls, 190 N.C. 810, 814, 130 S.E. 848, 850 (1925).
*85Because the reviewing court does not in the first instance make the judgment, the purpose of the reviewing court is not to substitute its judgment in place of the decision maker. Rather, the reviewing court sits only to insure that the decision could, in light of the factual context in which it is made, be the product of reason.
Little v. Penn Ventilator Co., 317 N.C. 206, 218, 345 S.E.2d 204, 212 (1986).
I do not disagree with the majority that the cold record suggests a longer recess might have been advisable. However, we were not in the courtroom. We did not see what the trial judge saw and we did not hear what the trial judge heard. The trial judge gave defendant what he asked; our only question is the duration of the recess. I am unwilling to substitute my judgment for that of the learned and experienced trial judge in this case. Accordingly, I believe defendant has failed to establish that the trial judge abused his discretion in allowing only a short recess after the State rested its case.
Because I can discern no abuse of discretion, there is no need to consider possible prejudice to defendant.
Chief Justice PARKER and Justice NEWBY join in this dissent.