State v. White6/13/1996
deliberation and of lying in wait. "The finding of premeditation and deliberation indicates a more cold-blooded and calculated crime." State v. Artis, 325 N.C. 278, 341, 384 S.E.2d 470, 506 (1989), sentence vacated on other grounds, 494 U.S. 1023, 108 L. Ed. 2d 604 (1990). Also, the victim was killed in her own home. A murder in the home "shocks the conscience, not only because a life was senselessly taken, but because it was taken an especially private place, one [where] a person has a right to feel secure." State v. Brown, 320 N.C. 179, 231, 358 S.E.2d 1, 34, cert. denied, 484 U.S. 970, 98 L. Ed. 2d 406, 108 S. Ct. 467 (1987). Further, the jury found that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. While this aggravating circumstance was also found in State v. Bondurant, 309 N.C. 674, 309 S.E.2d 170 (1983), in which the Court found the death sentence to be disproportionate, in Bondurant, the Court focused on the fact that the killing, consisting of one gunshot wound to the head, was not "torturous" and focused on the defendant's attempt to obtain medical assistance for the victim. In this case, defendant committed no such act of compassion. Instead, defendant left the victim in her bedroom unclothed, beaten, and bloody, with her hands tied behind her back.
We conclude that the present case is more similar to certain cases in which we have found the death sentence proportionate than to those in which we have found the sentence disproportionate or those in which juries have consistently returned recommendations of life imprisonment. E.g., State v. Frye, 341 N.C. 470, 461 S.E.2d 664 (1995), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 134 L. Ed. 2d 526 (1996); State v. Rouse, 339 N.C. 59, 451 S.E.2d 543 (1994), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 133 L. Ed. 2d 60 (1995).
Having considered and rejected all of defendant's assignments of error, we hold that defendant received a fair trial and capital sentencing proceeding, free from prejudicial error. Comparing this case to similar capital cases and considering the crime and defendant, we hold that the sentence of death entered in the present case is not excessive or disproportionate. Therefore, the sentence of death entered against defendant must be and is left undisturbed.
NO ERROR.
Justice WEBB Dissenting.
I Dissent from the majority because I believe it was error to admit evidence of two prior sexual assaults by the defendant. I believe the only use that could be made of this evidence was to prove the defendant's character to show he acted in conformity therewith. This is in violation of N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 404(b).
The majority quotes with approval the court's instruction to the jury that it could consider the testimony only "to show motive, purpose, intent, opportunity to commit, and if there existed in defendant's mind a plan, scheme, system, or design or preparation for the offense as to the charge of first-degree murder." I do not believe evidence of previous assaults could prove any of these except by an inference that if the defendant committed the assaults he must have had these things in mind. This is what Rule 404(b) is designed to prevent.
I vote for a new trial.
|