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State v. Jones4/6/2004
An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Appealing his conviction of voluntary manslaughter, Defendant Mark Jones argues the trial court (I) erred by failing to dismiss the charge of voluntary manslaughter under the theory of imperfect self-defense; (II) committed plain error in its instructions to the jury on the theory of imperfect self-defense; and (III) erred by failing to consider and find mitigating factors submitted at sentencing. After careful review, we find no error.
At trial, the State introduced evidence tending to show the following: On the morning of 22 December 2001, Robert Davis "walk up and smack [Defendant] in the back of the head." Defendant turned and told Davis "to go ahead, he didn't want no trouble." As Defendant turned, Davis again struck the back ofDefendant's head. Defendant repeated his statement that he wanted "no trouble." Defendant walked away, and Davis struck him on the back of the head for the third time. Defendant then turned and stabbed Davis in the chest with a knife. Davis, apparently unaware of his injury, laughed at Defendant and asked him, "What was that supposed to do?" Defendant "took off running" and Davis pursued him. After chasing Defendant down the street, Davis collapsed approximately 214 feet from where Defendant had stabbed him. Law enforcement officers later recovered a broken knife blade at the scene, but they could not locate the knife handle. Davis died from his injuries en route to the hospital.
The regional forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on Davis testified that Davis bled to death from a single stab wound in his chest. After the knife passed through Davis's chest, it entered the front side of the right ventricle of the heart and exited through the back side of the left ventricle. While the regional forensic pathologist was unable to quantify the specific amount of force required to create Davis's wound, he did note "this would be a substantial pressure to push it all the way through all the muscles of the chest and through the heart. Virtually the whole blade had to have gone in." He testified that the knife blade recovered by law enforcement officers could have caused the wound. Davis was five feet, eleven inches in height and weighed 188 pounds. Blood tests revealed that Davis had a blood alcohol level of 0.19% and traces of cocaine in his system.
After being taken into custody, Defendant waived his Mirandarights and gave a statement to officers. He stated that he knew Davis well, having previously resided with Davis and his family. Defendant did not know why Davis had accosted him, and he admitted stabbing Davis. He informed Davis that he was bleeding after Davis chased Defendant. Defendant told someone to call the police after Davis collapsed, and he then fled the scene.
Defendant made motions to dismiss the charge of first-degree murder and all lesser charges at the close of the State's evidence. The trial court dismissed the charge of first-degree murder, but denied the motion to dismiss the remaining lesser charges. Defendant then testified on his own behalf. He stated that he was five feet, one inch in height and weighed about 170 pounds. Defendant said he knew Davis well, for he had previously resided with Davis's family and considered Davis to be "like family." When Davis approached him on the date in question, Defendant realized he was under the influence of either alcohol or drugs. Defendant knew Davis was often violent in such condition.
Def
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