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State v. Jacobs11/15/2005
An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority.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.
Defendant Furman Jacobs appeals from judgments entered upon his convictions of first degree murder and second degree rape. We affirm.
Defendant was indicted for first degree murder, first degree kidnaping, and first degree rape, all arising from events allegedly occurring 18 April 2003. He was tried non-capitally in April 2004. The State's evidence at trial is summarized as follows: Aniko Ross (Ross) testified that she and the defendant met in 2000 and dated for two years. Ross lived with her parents, and defendant met Ross's parents on numerous occasions while they were dating. Her parents sometimes referred to the defendant as "Swindell." In February 2003 Ross began dating Gerald Williams. Ross and Williams planned to go out for supper on the evening of 18 April 2003. At around 5:00 p.m. on the 18th, while Ross was at home getting ready to go out, she saw defendant outside the house. She waited about fifteen minutes, then went outside and asked defendant to leave. He began kissing her neck and asking Ross to "give a little bit." When Ross pulled away and told the defendant that her father was in the house, the defendant said he would "fix that" and went to his car. Ross thought defendant was going to leave; instead, he returned from the car with a handgun. He pushed past her into the house, and went to the bedroom where Ross's father, Charles Ross, was sleeping. Defendant fired one shot at Charles Ross, grazing his leg and entering his abdominal area.
After he shot Charles Ross, defendant warned Ross she "was going to give it up, one way or another"; forced her at gunpoint into his car, and drove to an isolated rural cemetery. At the cemetery, defendant ordered Ross to get out of the car, lie down on the ground, and to remove her pants. Defendant then raped her. After assaulting Ross, defendant ordered her back into the car, and they drove to a country store a few minutes away. As defendant and Ross were walking into the store, Ross began screaming for help, whereupon the defendant "took off" and drove away. Store personnel called an ambulance, and Ross was taken to Pender Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released. While Ross was at the hospital, she was interviewed by law enforcement officers. The testimony of other witnesses generally corroborated Ross's trial testimony, including testimony by: Laurie Tompkins, clerk at the store where defendant released Ross; Mary Ann Stanley, nurse at Pender Memorial Hospital; Larry Guyton, investigator with the Bladen County Sheriff's Department; and Gerald Williams, Ross's boyfriend. Williams testified that on 18 April 2003 he drove to Ross's residence at around 6:00 p.m. On his arrival, Williams saw Charles Ross lying in the open doorway of the house. Charles Ross's leg was bleeding, and he was on the telephone with a 911 operator. Charles Ross kept repeating that 'Swindell' shot him and took his daughter. Charles Ross was having trouble breathing, so Williams took the phone and continued the conversation with the 911 operator. In a few minutes, an ambulance arrived and Williams left to find Ross. He and Ross met later at the hospital.
The jury heard a tape recording of the call Charles Ross made to the 911 operator. Expert medical evidence was introduced that Charles Ross died from internal bleeding caused by a single gunshot wound. Several law enforcement officers testified about their investigation, the arrest of defendant, and about the officers'
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