Court Opinion

ID: 9588518
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:35:05.365996+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:00:59.310908
License: Public Domain

Justice MARTIN
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The only evidence of the value of the stolen items was presented through the testimony of Mr. Gouch. On direct examination he was asked:
Q. Do you know the approximate value of [the Lawn Boy mower and the edger]?
A. I would say $500.00 for the pair, for both of them.
Q. All right.
A. Just estimating.
*647During cross-examination Mr. Gouch was asked:
Q. Mr. Gouch, how long had you had that lawn mower and edger?
A. How long have I had it?
Q. Yes, sir.
A. Oh, probably had the edger a year and probably two years on the lawn mower, I would say. Now, all that’s just estimates. I don’t know for sure.
Q. Do you remember how much you paid for them when you bought them?
A. Really, I don’t. I just estimated the cost at $500.00 to replace them. So, I don’t really know what I paid for them.
Defendant did not object to or seek to strike any of this testimony. The defendant also did not object to the trial court’s instructions to the jury that for defendant to be found guilty of felonious larceny the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that either the property must have been taken after a breaking or entering “or that the property was worth more than $400.00, on this night in question.” In the absence of a request by defendant for further instructions on value, the trial judge was not required to instruct the jury that the proper measure of value under the statute of the stolen goods is not replacement value but fair market value at the time the goods were stolen. E.g., State v. Davis, 291 N.C. 1, 229 S.E. 2d 285 (1976); State v. Everette, 284 N.C. 81, 199 S.E. 2d 462 (1973).
It is well settled that a defendant is entitled to have a lesser included offense submitted to the jury only when there is evidence to support it. E.g., State v. Barts, 316 N.C. 666, 343 S.E. 2d 828 (1986); State v. Strickland, 307 N.C. 274, 298 S.E. 2d 645 (1983); State v. Shaw, 305 N.C. 327, 289 S.E. 2d 325 (1982).
Submission of a lesser included offense when there is no evidence to support the milder verdict is not required when the indictment charges felony murder, arson, burglary, robbery, rape, larceny, felonious assault, or any other felony whatsoever. In all such cases if the evidence tends to show that the crime charged in the indictment was committed and there is no evidence tending to show commission of a crime *648of lesser degree, the court correctly refuses to charge on unsupported lesser degrees. The presence of evidence tending to show commission of a crime of lesser degree is the determinative factor.
State v. Poole, 298 N.C. 254, 259-60, 258 S.E. 2d 339, 343 (1979) (Huskins, J., dissenting). In the present case there was no evidence before the jury that the value of the stolen goods was less than $500. Mr. Gouch’s best estimate that their value was $500 was not rebutted by defendant and thus constituted the only evidence on the element of value. In the absence of any evidence that the stolen goods were worth less than $400, it was not error for the trial court to refuse to submit lesser included offenses to the jury. E.g., State v. Barts, 316 N.C. 666, 343 S.E. 2d 828.