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North Carolina v. Garcia-Lorenzo6/1/1993
nt Maddry started breathing on his own. In about twenty minutes, Maddry's heart failed, and he died.
Defendant argues that his act of hitting Maddry with his car, which sent Maddry's body three to four car lengths down the road and disrupted the attachment between Maddry's head and his upper spinal column, was not the proximate cause of Maddry's death. This argument is based on the testimony of the medical examiner who stated that Maddry was not brain dead and that he could have remained alive on a respirator indefinitely and the testimony of Dr. Baker who stated that some observers felt that Maddry responded to input.
"Brain death", as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-323, is not the sole criteria in determining whether a person is dead. The statute states, "This specific recognition of brain death as a criterion of death of the person shall not preclude the use of other medically recognized criteria for determining whether and when a person has died." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-323 (emphasis added).
At trial, Dr. Baker testified that in his opinion, Maddry "died from a combination of a very severe head injury with a severe injury to the brain stem, in addition to a severe spinal cord injury." Dr. Baker testified also that nothing medically could have been done to improve Maddry's vegetative state and that Maddry would never have been able to breathe on his own again. Further, Dr. Baker testified that based on the autopsy, "the part of the brain that allows people to be awake was pretty much destroyed" and that he personally did not get Maddry to follow commands.
Maddry was a healthy, young adult prior to defendant's act, and but for defendant's act of hitting Maddry, he would not have been in this vegetative state, unable to breathe on his own or to regain consciousness, and subsequently he would not have died. Thus, we hold that sufficient evidence existed at trial for a jury
to find that defendant's act of hitting Maddry was the direct, or proximate cause of Maddry's death. Based on the evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the State, therefore, we hold that the trial court did not err in denying defendant's motion to dismiss. Accordingly, we overrule this assignment of error.
IV.
Finally, defendant contends the trial court erred by finding as a factor in aggravation of punishment that the automobile constituted a device knowingly used by the defendant which created a great risk of death to more than one person. We find no error.
Defendant bases his contention on the ground that the factor the court found in aggravation constituted an element of the offense for which defendant was convicted and that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.4 does not allow evidence necessary to prove an element of the offense to be used to prove any factor in aggravation.
In the present case, the trial court found as a factor in aggravation that "the defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person by means of a weapon or device which would normally be hazardous to the lives of more than one person." Defendant has failed, however, to include a transcript of the charge conference or jury instructions so that this Court could determine what elements the trial court instructed the jury were necessary to convict the defendant of involuntary manslaughter. We must therefore presume the trial court instructed the jury properly as to the law arising upon the evidence as required. State v. Murphy, 280 N.C. 1, 7, 184 S.E.2d 845, 849 (1971).
The law arising from the evidence in the present
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