Court Opinion

ID: 9582938
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:33:00.416658+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:38:46.267881
License: Public Domain

TYSON, Judge,
concurring in part, dissenting in part.
I. Sneedv Trial
I concur with that portion of the majority opinion which holds that defendant failed to establish the prejudice necessary to show a violation of his right to a speedy trial. While length of delay is not alone determinative of whether a defendant has been deprived of this right, State v. Grooms, 353 N.C. 50, 62, 540 S.E.2d 713, 721 (2000) (delay of 3 years, 326 days held not to violate right to speedy trial absent showing of prejudice), post-accusation delay becomes presumptively prejudicial at approximately one year. Id. (citing Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647, 120 L. Ed. 2d 520 (1992)). A year’s delay triggers application of the balancing test set forth in the majority opinion, as enumerated in Lundy and Grooms.
I agree with the majority’s holding that defendant failed to show facts to meet the fourth requirement from Lundy, that the delay was prejudicial. I note, however, that (1) the length of defendant’s incarceration was presumptively prejudicial; (2) that the State’s justification for the delay: (a) that three older capital trials had occurred during the pendency of this matter, and (b) that the district attorney requested additional sessions of court, and “that the dockets in this county are congested,” and the trial court’s findings that the delays were not “purposeful” or for “tactical advantage,” should not affect defendant’s own constitutional right to a speedy trial; and (3) that defendant properly and timely asserted his right to a speedy trial by never requesting a continuance and by filing five separate motions for a speedy trial during his incarceration.
II. Reversal of Conviction for First-Degree Murder
I dissent from that portion of the majority opinion which holds “that insufficient evidence was presented to show that defendant acted with premeditation and deliberation” to sustain defendant’s conviction for first-degree murder. The majority lists six nonexclusive factors from State v. Hamlet, 312 N.C. 162, 170, 321 S.E.2d 837, 843 (1984) which are to be considered in determining whether *533defendant committed murder with premeditation and deliberation. I would find sufficient evidence in “(2) the conduct and statements of the defendant before and after the killing,” and “(3) threats and declarations of the defendant before and during the course of the occurrence giving rise to the death of the deceased.” Id.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the State, as required on such a motion to dismiss, see State v. Miller,-N.C. App.-, 543 S.E.2d 201 (2001), the evidence shows that defendant initiated the event when he stepped towards the victim, Gregory, pushed him back with his hands, and held Gregory to let Jackson and June Man continue fighting. After being pushed and held by defendant, Gregory struck defendant in the mouth. Defendant, without warning, then escalated the encounter by introducing a deadly weapon into the fist fight. Defendant pulled out a pistol, extended his arm, aimed at Gregory’s head, and shot him. After the shooting, defendant did not attempt to assist Gregory himself, or call for assistance. See State v. Hunt, 330 N.C. 425, 428, 410 S.E.2d 478, 481 (1991). Rather, defendant fled the scene by jumping into the trunk of a vehicle. The vehicle then stopped at the end of the driveway to the Fireside Disco. Defendant exited the trunk of the vehicle, entered the driver’s seat, and drove away from the scene.
After the murder, defendant was not at his residence when Sheriff’s Captain Charles E. Ward went there, nor was defendant at Jack Clanton’s residence where the vehicle was parked that defendant used to flee the scene. Only after the officer left word for defendant to go to the Sheriffs office did defendant turn himself in to authorities the following afternoon. Such actions before, during and after the murder are consistent with the jury’s finding of premeditation and deliberation. See Hunt at 428, 410 S.E.2d at 481 (evidence supported finding of premeditation and deliberation where, during scuffle with the victim, the defendant took out his pistol, aimed, and shot the victim several times, after which the defendant “left the deceased to die without attempting to obtain assistance for the deceased.”).
After hearing and considering all the evidence, and judging the credibility of the witnesses, the jury found the defendant guilty of first-degree murder. I would hold that defendant received a fair trial free from prejudicial error. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s holding to reverse defendant’s conviction of first-degree murder, and to remand this case for entry of a judgment for second-degree murder.