Court Opinion

ID: 9592870
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:17:37.920627+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:15:34.759706
License: Public Domain

Justice MEYER
dissenting.
I dissent from that portion of the majority’s opinion which finds error in the guilt phase of defendant’s trial on the basis that the evidence was not overwhelming as to whether defendant counseled, procured, or commanded Stuffel to murder her husband. I also disagree with the majority’s holding that, even assuming that defendant did procure or counsel Stuffel, it is “not readily apparent that said counsel caused Stuffel to commit the murder.”
The facts as outlined in the majority’s opinion and in the record would support defendant’s conviction for murder in the first degree as an accessory before the fact. Jerald Tart testified that while visiting Stuffel at Dix, Stuffel gave him a map and a key to the church, which Stuffel said defendant had given to him. Defendant was to send her husband, Dan, back to the church to get her purse after choir practice on Wednesday night, 4 July 1984. Tart testified that he decided not to commit the murder and later returned the key to Stuffel. Tart further testified that, on 7 July 1984, defendant asked him if he could help them with their problem.
Stuffel testified that defendant initially approached him about killing Dan. He asked her to consider a divorce, but she responded that a divorce would be too hard on the children. Her first sugges*146tion was to have someone attack Dan at night while he was walking the dog. On her next visit to Stuffel, she brought a key to the church. Stuffel testified that Tart actually went to Clinton on 4 July but was unable to carry out the plan because there were police officers in the area. Stuffel testified that he talked with defendant on the day before the murder, and she confirmed that she still wanted her husband dead. She also told him again that she would leave her purse at the church. Defendant told police in her written statement that she agreed for Stuffel to come to Clinton on Wednesday night, but testified at trial that Stuffel never said that he was definitely coming that evening.
Telephone records indicate that numerous phone calls were made between the Tart home, where Stuffel lived, and the Arnold home between 12 July and the murder on 18 July. Defendant eventually admitted that she had talked with Stuffel during that period.
On the evening of 18 July, the Arnolds attended the weekly service at their church and afterwards held choir practice. Michelle Honeycutt left the church with the Arnolds around 9:30 p.m. Mrs. Honeycutt and her daughter accompanied them so that Mrs. Honeycutt and defendant could practice the piano. Mrs. Honeycutt testified that during the session, defendant began to have trouble with her contact lenses. She discovered that she had left her purse at the church. Defendant went into the bedroom, got Dan up, and told him she had forgotten her purse. Defendant told her husband that she would go and get it, but he told her to continue practicing and he would retrieve it. Mrs. Honeycutt further testified that defendant told Dan that she did not really need her purse because she had “stuff” at home. Thirty minutes later, defendant, who seemed worried, called Dan’s office at the church but did not get an answer. Defendant told Mrs. Honeycutt that she was going to the church to check on Dan. Mrs. Honeycutt replied that she would ride by, but defendant said, “No, you’re not going over there by yourself either.” Defendant suggested that they take a neighbor with them, but Mrs. Honeycutt dismissed the suggestion. Mrs. Honeycutt drove defendant and their children to the church, where they found Dan’s body in the parking lot. Defendant’s pocketbook was lying at Dan’s feet.
The State introduced three copies of letters Stuffel received from defendant after he was released from Dix. Defendant admitted that the handwriting appeared to be hers, but denied having writ*147ten those letters. An SBI handwriting analysis revealed that there was a “high degree of belief” that the letters. could have been written by defendant. Jerald Tart’s mother had found the original letters among Stuffel’s belongings while he was living at the Tart residence. She had taken them to Jerald’s lawyer, who told her to return them to Stuffel. She made photocopies and returned the originals to Stuffel, who burned them. The first letter submitted reads:
“Wed. Dearest Carl, on my way downtown, so thought I’d scribble a quick hello before I go. Please excuse fancy writing paper. I love you and hope your day is going well. Am so proud of you for going through the detox program and I pray that you will never again be troubled by drugs or alcohol again. Your body is too precious to ever be messed up again. I know you are happy to be breathing some good fresh air and I am really happy for you. Hope your job hunting will be successful. How I long to be near you Carl. Love always, Donna.”
A second letter, in an envelope addressed to Carl E. Stuffel and dated 11 July 1984, reads:
“Friday. Dear Carl: Hellow [sic]. Hope you are having a good day today. Have been thinking of you constantly. How is your new job? Do you have to travel far from Jerald’s to go to work? Words cannot fully express to you how anxious I am for Wed. to be here. I have real fears for your safety though.” “Our some day is so close. Please know that I love you with all my heart and want so very much for you to be happy. We will make a good team. Hope you are smiling. The girls and I miss you so much. All my love, Donna.”
(Emphasis added.) The third exhibit submitted was a card in an envelope addressed to Carl E. Stuffel and dated 10 July 1984. A note at the top of the card is printed and reads:
“They are telling you you are thought about just happens now and then [sic]. You come to mind in special ways time and time again.”
The words, “time and time again,” are underlined. The card continues, in handwriting:
*148“Carl, have a really great day and know that I am thinking of you and loving you in every way. Keep focusing on our some day. Love always, Donna.”
As the majority noted, to support the third element of murder in the first degree as an accessory before the fact, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant procured, counseled, or commanded Stuffel to commit the murder. State v. Woods, 307 N.C. 213, 297 S.E.2d 574 (1982). However, it is sufficient to prove the element if defendant advised and agreed or urged Stuffel or in some way aided Stuffel to commit the offense. State v. Bass, 255 N.C. 42, 120 S.E.2d 580 (1961); see State v. Branch, 288 N.C. 514, 220 S.E.2d 495 (1975), cert. denied, 433 U.S. 907, 53 L. Ed. 2d 1091 (1977); State v. Benton, 275 N.C. 378, 167 S.E.2d 775 (1969); see also State v. Hewitt, 33 N.C. App. 168, 234 S.E.2d 468 (1977) (“counsel” describes the offense of a person who, although not actually having committed the felonious act, by her will contributed to it); State v. Sauls, 29 N.C. App. 457, 224 S.E.2d 702, rev’d on other grounds, 291 N.C. 253, 230 S.E.2d 390 (1976) (an accessory before the fact is one who furnishes the means to carry out the crime, whose acts bring about the crime in connection with the perpetrator, or one who instigates it), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 916, 53 L. Ed. 2d 226 (1977).
There is plenary evidence in the record to support a finding that defendant advised, contributed, instigated, or, at a minimum, in some way aided Stuffel to commit the murder. Defendant first suggested that Dan be attacked while he was walking the dog at night. Later, she procured a key to the church where Dan was to be killed. Defendant and Stuffel agreed that she would leave her purse at the church after evening choir practice and use this as a ruse to get Dan to return to the church.
Furthermore, the majority concludes that even assuming the third element is satisfied, because a “myriad of reasons” existed for Stuffel to kill Dan Arnold, it is not “readily apparent” that defendant’s “counsel” caused Stuffel to commit the killing. Possible multiple reasons for committing a murder do not preclude the finding that defendant did cause Stuffel to kill her husband. There is overwhelming evidence that defendant caused the chain of events that ultimately ended in Stuffel murdering her husband.
Having concluded that there was overwhelming evidence that defendant counseled or procured Stuffel to murder her husband *149and that her acts caused Stuffel to commit the murder, I vote to find harmless error beyond a reasonable doubt in the guilt phase. This error was not prejudicial to the defendant because, had the jury not had the option of convicting on the lesser offense, it would have convicted on the greater offense, subjecting defendant to harsher penalties.