Court Opinion

ID: 9624353
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:59:24.657459+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:44.764157
License: Public Domain

Justice TIMMONS-GOODSON,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree with the majority that the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion to suppress, and I therefore concur fully with Section II of the majority opinion. I do not agree, however, that the trial court’s erroneous instruction and the admission of defendant’s entire driving record had no probable effect upon the jury verdict. Thus I respectfully dissent as to Sections III and IV.
As to the trial court’s instruction, the Court of Appeals unanimously agreed that it was erroneous. See State v. Maready,-N.C. *626App.-,-,-, 654 S.E.2d 769, 779, 783 (2008). However, the dissenting judge in the Court of Appeals disagreed with the majority’s conclusion that the instructional error amounted to plain error.N.C. App. at-, 654 S.E.2d at 783 (Tyson, J., dissenting). Thus the only question regarding this issue properly before this Court is whether the instruction amounted to plain error. The majority concludes that the erroneous instruction had no probable effect upon the jury verdict. I disagree.
The State’s case against defendant was not' overwhelming. Defendant did not confess, and he conducted a vigorous defense. Defendant particularly contested the intent element of the charges of second-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, assault with a deadly weapon, and fleeing to elude arrest. Defendant argued that he fled from the officers bécause he feared for his personal safety. In support of this argument, defendant presented a neutral witness, Rhonda Arnold, who worked at a hardware store across the street from where the deputies stopped defendant. Ms. Arnold witnessed the deputies’ interaction with defendant and testified, in contrast to the deputies’ testimony, that both officers had their weapons drawn and pointed at defendant, and that they were yelling at him to get back in his car. Defense counsel contended that, as a result of the deputies’ actions, defendant panicked and fled, which was “clearly a bad decision” but was nevertheless motivated by his desire for “safety and fear of what might happen to him.” Thus, the intent element of the second-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, assault with a deadly weapon, and fleeing to elude arrest charges was closely contested.
Moreover, the majority omits from its analysis certain facts that I believe are relevant to the plain error analysis here. First, the jury wrote a note inquiring about the intent element in the assault charges and sought clarification of the jurors’ interpretation of intent. The jury asked the trial court whether the word “intent” could “be interpreted strictly only as [defendant] absolutely intended to hit the other cars” or whether “intent” could be “interpreted as the sum total of the actions caused the collision [and] this implies intent.” The trial, court informed the jury that intent “can be interpreted as the sum total of the actions caused the collision and this implies intent.” The jury also specifically requested reinstruction on the intent element of the fleeing to elude arrest charge. Further, the prosecutor emphasized defendant’s lengthy DMV record during the trial and argued that such records proved defendant was “acting intentionally.”
*627The jury’s concern with the intent element of the crimes, combined with the State’s emphasis on defendant’s DMV records to show intent, demonstrates that the erroneous instruction probably influenced the jury verdict. See State v. Goodman, 357 N.C. 43, 577 S.E.2d 619 (2003) (per curiam) (reversing the Court of Appeals decision reported at 149 N.C. App. 57, 560 S.E.2d 196 (2002), for reasons stated in the dissenting opinion, which found plain error when the jury (1) requested to have the definition of malice read twice, and (2) later requested a written definition of malice, along with the defendant’s driving record, to consider during its deliberations, id. at 72-73, 560 S.E.2d at 206 (Greene, J., dissenting)). In addition, the trial court’s erroneous instruction — that the jury could use defendant’s past convictions to find intent on all the charges — was particularly prejudicial because of the similarity between his past convictions and the charges in the present case. See State v. Badgett, 361 N.C. 234, 247, 644 S.E.2d 206, 214 (stating that “it is error to admit evidence of the defendant’s prior conviction when the defendant does not testify”), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 169 L. Ed. 2d 351 (2007); State v. Wilkerson, 356 N.C. 418, 571 S.E.2d 583 (2002) (per curiam) (reversing the Court of Appeals decision reported at 148 N.C. App. 310, 559 S.E.2d 5 (2002), which opined, inter alia, that “any similarities between the offense of which defendant was previously convicted and the current charged offense (as opposed to similarities in the facts and circumstances underlying such offenses) manifestly increases the danger of unfair prejudice”, id. at 327, 559 S.E.2d at 16 (Wynn, J., dissenting)).
I do not agree that defendant’s own statements constitute such significant evidence of intent on all of the charges as to render the erroneous instruction harmless. Nor do I find defendant’s concessions during closing argument relevant to whether the State presented substantial evidence of the intent element of the charges of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, felony fleeing/eluding arrest with a motor vehicle, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and misdemeanor larceny. I moreover conclude that the admission of defendant’s entire driving record also had a probable effect upon the jury verdict. I would therefore hold that defendant has demonstrated plain error, and I would affirm the Court of Appeals.