Court Opinion

ID: 9618302
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 05:10:23.177962+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:04:27.889944
License: Public Domain

Justice CARLTON
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent in case #80CR3051. In my opinion, the majority, contrary to the plain language of the statute, has judicially imposed upon the State an impossible burden of proof with regard to the element of endangering another’s life in armed robbery cases.
The Legislature itself has defined the crime of armed robbery and listed the elements which make up that offense. Under our statutes, armed robbery is defined thusly:
Any person or persons who, having in possession or with the use or threatened use of any firearms or other dangerous weapon, implement or means, whereby the life of a person is endangered or threatened, unlawfully takes or attempts to *492take personal property from another or from any place of business, residence or banking institution or any other place where there is a person or persons in attendance, at any time, either day or night, or who aids or abets any such person or persons in the commission of such crime, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than seven years nor more than life imprisonment in the State’s prison.
G.S. § 14-87(a) (Cum. Supp. 1979). The elements are (1) possession, use or threatened use of a firearm or other dangerous instrumentality, (2) the endangering or threatening of another’s life, and (3) the unlawful taking or attempt to take the personal property of another. From the listing of these elements it is clear that, absent an actual threat to use the firearm, the endangerment requirement can be proved only by circumstantial evidence. It is further obvious, I think, that the only circumstances relevant to this element are the possession or use and the taking of or attempt to take personal property, the remaining elements of armed robbery. In my opinion, whenever the State has shown these two elements there arises a permissible inference of endangerment and the case should be submitted to the jury. Were it otherwise, possession of a firearm during a robbery or attempted robbery could never constitute the crime of armed robbery as the Legislature says it can. The majority opinion would require proof of something more than mere possession. I submit that when a firearm is possessed during a robbery and there is no threat of use, there is never “something more” that the State can show to prove, either directly or circumstantially, the element of endangerment. In short, the majority opinion has construed the word “possession” in the armed robbery statute to be meaningless. Under its interpretation of the statute, possession of a firearm during a robbery can never be armed robbery, contrary to the plain language of the statute. I do not believe that our prior case law dictates the majority’s result. If, indeed, it does support the majority’s conclusion, it ought to be overruled.
I vote to hold that once the State has produced substantial evidence of possession of a firearm during a robbery or attempted robbery, a permissible inference of endangerment arises and the case must be submitted to the jury. In my opinion, the evidence of armed robbery presented at trial was sufficient to warrant sub*493mission of the case to the jury and to support defendant’s conviction.
Justices HUSKINS and MEYER join in this dissenting opinion.