Court Opinion

ID: 9570916
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:27:33.405818+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:23:23.463269
License: Public Domain

HEDRICK, Chief Judge.
Defendant assigns as error the trial court’s denial of his motion to dismiss at the close of all evidence. He contends the evidence of defendant’s guilt offered by the State was insufficient for submission to the jury. We disagree.
*201A motion of nonsuit in a criminal case requires the trial judge to consider all evidence “in .the light most favorable to the State, take it as true, and give the State the benefit of every reasonable inference to be drawn therefrom.” State v. Bass, 303 N.C. 267, 270, 278 S.E.2d 209, 212 (1981). Where the State relies on fingerprint evidence at the scene of the crime, a motion for nonsuit must be denied if there is “substantial evidence of circumstances from which the jury can find that the fingerprints could have been impressed only at the time the crime was committed.” Id. at 272, 278 S.E.2d at 212. What constitutes “substantial” evidence is a question of law for the trial court. State v. Miller, 289 N.C. 1, 220 S.E.2d 572 (1975).
In an earlier breaking and entering case, the Supreme Court held the presence of the defendant’s fingerprints at the crime scene, when coupled with testimony by the owner/attendant of the premises that she had never seen defendant before the date of the crime, was sufficient to send the issue of the defendant’s guilt to the jury. State v. Tew, 234 N.C. 612, 68 S.E.2d 291 (1951). In the present case, defendant’s fingerprints were found on the frame of the window broken by the alleged perpetrator. Furthermore, he was spotted at the crime scene shortly before the break-in occurred. Upon examination of the record on appeal and in light of the facts and result reached in Tew, we conclude the denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss was proper. The testimony placing defendant at the crime scene shortly before the break-in was evidence of defendant’s opportunity to commit the offense in question. As such, it was “substantial” enough to warrant submitting the issue of defendant’s guilt to the jury.
In support of his claim that circumstantial evidence of guilt was not “substantial” in this case, defendant cites State v. Bass, supra. In Bass, the defendant was convicted of burglary and larceny when his fingerprints were found on a screen outside the victimized house, and the prosecuting witness testified she could not identify him and did not know him. The Supreme Court, however, overturned the conviction holding the evidence presented did not reasonably eliminate the possibility that the fingerprints had been impressed at some other time. To support its holding, the Court relied on the defendant’s admission that he broke into the house on a prior occasion, and his story was corroborated by police testimony confirming a break-in three to four weeks earlier. Moreover, the Supreme Court pointed out that the State pro*202duced no additional evidence to connect the defendant with the offense in question.
The present case is clearly distinguishable from Bass. Not only did the State produce additional evidence connecting defendant with the crime (his presence at the scene just hours before the incident), but also defendant failed to present any alternative explanation, like that offered in Bass, for the presence of defendant’s fingerprints on the kitchen window frame. While defendant did indicate he had been to the house on prior occasions, he failed to provide any convincing reason why his fingerprints were found on the frame of the kitchen window. These critical factual differences make it clear that the holding in Bass is not controlling.
Defendant also contends the trial court erred by denying his request to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of misdemeanor breaking or entering. Instruction on a lesser included offense is proper only where there is evidence that would permit a jury rationally to find a defendant guilty of the lesser offense and acquit him of the greater offense. State v. Strickland, 307 N.C. 274, 298 S.E.2d 645 (1983). The possibility that a jury might partially accept or reject the State’s evidence against a defendant is not sufficient to require instruction on the lesser included offense. State v. Hicks, 241 N.C. 156, 84 S.E.2d 545 (1954).
Finally, defendant claims the trial court improperly permitted Benjamin Nichols, the victim of the break-in, to give his opinion as to who committed the crime. This testimony, however, is not opinion testimony. Nichols was only asked to repeat what he previously told a police officer investigating the matter. Furthermore, assuming arguendo that this testimony was improperly admitted, defendant was not prejudiced thereby. Nichols testified he thought defendant committed the crime only because defendant had been at Nichols’ house a few hours earlier. Moreover, the fact that Nichols saw defendant on his front porch was already in evidence when Nichols testified. Upon consideration of defendant’s argument and evidence presented at trial, we find no unfair prejudice against defendant by admission of the testimony in question.
Defendant had a fair trial free from prejudicial error.
No error.
Judge Arnold concurs.
*203Judge BECTON dissents.