Court Opinion

ID: 9625672
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:47:19.921761+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:13.163623
License: Public Domain

BIGGS, Judge
concurring in the result with separate opinion.
While I believe the defendant received a fair trial free of prejudicial error; the admission of his confession was in violation of N.C.G.S. § 7A-595(b) (now N.C.G.S. § 7B-2101(b)), and therefore error, albeit harmless.
N.C.G.S. § 7A-595(b) provides in pertinent part:
When the juvenile is less than 14 years of age, no in-custody admission or confession resulting from interrogation may be admitted into evidence unless the confession or admission was made in the presence of the juvenile’s parent, guardian, custodian or attorney.
The trial court concluded “that Al-Neisa Jones was the defendant’s guardian within the spirit and intent of N.C.G.S. § 7A-595 and was present . . . during a confession by the defendant.” The majority adopted similar language in its conclusion that “Al-Neisa Jones was defendant’s guardian within the spirit and meaning of the Juvenile Code.” The rules of statutory construction however are clear that there is no room for judicial construction where the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous. State v. Green, 348 N.C. 588, 596, 502 S.E.2d 819, 823-24 (1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1111, 142 L. Ed. 2d 783 (1999). See also In re Declaratory Ruling by N.C. Comm’r of Ins., 134 N.C. App. 22, 517 S.E.2d 134, disc. review denied, 351 N.C. 105, 540 S.E.2d 356 (1999) (court held that is the function of the judiciary to construe a statute only when the meaning *548is in doubt). Where the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, the court is without power to interpolate, or superimpose, provisions and limitations not contained herein. State v. Green, 348 N.C. at 596, 502 S.E.2d at 824.
In the case sub judice, while the term guardian does not appear in the section marked “Definitions”, another provision in the Juvenile Code sets forth the appointment, authority and responsibilities of a guardian. See N.C.G.S. § 7A-585 (now N.C.G.S. Chapter 7B (1999)). In this provision, the term guardian requires court appointment and supervision. Moreover, a second rule of judicial construction is that all statutes dealing with the same subject matter are to be construed in pari-materia i.e., in such a way to give effect, if possible, to all provisions. Further, where one statute deals with certain subject matter in particular terms and another deals with the same subject matter, in more general terms, the particular statute will be viewed as controlling in the particular circumstances absent clear legislative intent to the contrary. State ex rel. Utilities Comm. v. Thornburg, 84 N.C. App. 482, 485, 353 S.E.2d 413, 415, disc. review denied, 320 N.C. 517, 358 S.E.2d 533 (1987). Had the legislature intended for (guardian) to have one meaning in N.C.G.S. § 7A-595(b) and another in other provisioñs in the Juvenile Code, it could have said so. It was not permissible for the trial court and the majority of this Court to go outside of the Juvenile Code to define a term where such term is clearly defined within the Code.
Accordingly, I conclude it was error for the trial court to conclude that Al-Neisa Jones was a guardian under N.C.G.S. § 7A-595(b). Thus the confession should have been suppressed. However, error alone will not justify a reversal. Only where there is a reasonable possibility that, without the error complained of, a different result might have been reached, the error is prejudicial and the defendant is entitled to a new trial. State v. Moctezuma, 141 N.C. App. 90, 539 S.E.2d 52 (2000) (Court awards new trial, stating that error is prejudicial if it is reasonable possible that erroneously admitted evidence determined outcome); State v. Robinson, 136 N.C. App. 520, 524 S.E.2d 805 (2000) (holding that error warrants new trial only if defendant can show he was prejudiced thereby; prejudice occurs when there is a reasonable possibility that without the error, the result of the trial would have been different).
In the present case, there is substantial evidence of guilt without the confession. The evidence against defendant included witnesses who saw him on a bicycle leading Tiffany Long to the house where *549she was killed. An eye witness saw the defendant on a blue, Huffy Mountain bike on the afternoon of the murder and identified the “Stone Cold Steve Austin T-shirt” and the light blue Tommy Hilfiger jeans, both of which, Dr. Butts concluded had fecal matter on them, as the clothing defendant was wearing on the afternoon of the murder. The jeans also had blood on them and that blood matched the DNA profile of Tiffany Long. Defendant conceded that the blue, Huffy, mountain bike outside Ms. Jones’s apartment belonged to him. The bicycle had a chemical indication of blood on one pedal and the tread of its tires was consistent with the tread marks crossing the bloody trail in the back yard of 614 Lakeside. A pubic hair containing defendant’s DNA was found in the perineal fold of the victim — a ten-year-old girl who had not reached puberty, who had no pubic hair, and who took a bath every night almost as ritual.
Defendant cannot demonstrate prejudice where the evidence of guilt is so compelling. Accordingly, I concur with the majority that defendant is not entitled to a new trial.